Lady Anne (Faye Marsay) and Lady Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson) in “The White Queen”.
“To anyone who has any interest in these two women: Please stop writing about Isobel and Anne Nevill as if they were weak women who had no control over their lives. Please stop using their early deaths as a sign that they were Doomed From the Start. Please read something about their father. (Both Hicks and Pollard have done a bang up job here.) Oh, and can we consign the overused, tired and meaningless word pawn to the dustbin of history? Let’s stop the nonsense. It’s starting to get depressing.”
To those of you watching “The White Queen”, please take some time to read this blog about THE REAL Ladies Isabel and Anne. You would be surprised that they are NOTHING like the show has portrayed them. They also didn’t constantly get b’ed out by the queen.
I stumbled on this while I was on the hunt for information for an upcoming post.
I feel that it needs a response, something to balance the books a little. I know, it’s an uphill battle – the view that poor Isobel and Anne were mere pawns (oh, and Doomed) is so entrenched that it’s going to take a miracle to shift it by so much as a millimetre.
Just to set the tone, here are some of the words used to described Warwick and/or his actions:
”political conniving”; “charismatic”; “self-centered”; “arrogant”; “man of moderate military skill”; “merciless”; “exploit”; “had no need to hold [his daughters] in esteem”; “hankering for supremacy and clout”; the only loyalty he held was to himself”; “enmesh in his pursuit for power”; “ego”; “narcissism”; “heedless”; “used his youngest daughter”; “spider web of intrigue”; “hopeless machinations”; “fanaticism for prestige and importance”.
Lady Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Lady Anne (Faye Marsay); daughters of Lord and Lady Warwick.
Lady to Queen
Lady Anne and Lady Isabel of Warwick [fan art by tudorquen6, episode 2]
“Daughter of Lord Warwick “The Kingmaker” (James Frain). Anne is a timid girl who becomes a pawn in her unruly father’s struggle for power. As little girls, Anne and her sister Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson) pretend to be Queen and dream of the royal life along with the finery it will bring. But as Anne grows older, she begins to understand the reality and danger associated with actually wearing the crown. Those who possess it must always watch their back for those trying to take it. And those who want their hands on it will lie, cheat and kill to make it happen. Anne is not sure if constantly living in fear is the life she wants to lead.” — STARZ
The Kingmaker’s Daughter is the gripping story of the daughters of the man known as the “Kingmaker,” Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick: the most powerful magnate in fifteenth-century England. Without a son and heir, he uses his daughters Anne and Isabel as pawns in his political games, and they grow up to be influential players in their own right. In this novel, her first sister story since The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory explores the lives of two fascinating young women.
Lady Anne (Faye Marsay)
At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Married at age fourteen, she is soon left widowed and fatherless, her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy.
Lady Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson)
Anne manages her own escape by marrying Richard, Duke of Gloucester, but her choice will set her on a collision course with the overwhelming power of the royal family and will cost the lives of those she loves most in the world, including her precious only son, Prince Edward. Ultimately, the kingmaker’s daughter will achieve her father’s greatest ambition. (Gregory)
Sir Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and 6th Earl of Salisbury portrayed by James Frain
“The master manipulator who helps King Edward IV attain the throne. As a close confidant of Edward, Lord Warwick uses his powers of persuasion and deception against all the right people to elevate his young protégé to his position atop all of England. When Elizabeth and Edward marry, the power-hungry Warwick loses his grip on the monarchy, leaving his plan to have a say in all things political lying in ruins. Incensed at losing Edward’s ear, Warwick vows to have him replaced in a series of twisted plots designed to bring him back into a position of power. If his daughters meet and marry the right suitors, Warwick could soon find himself back in the political mix.” — STARZ
Lady Warwick (Juliet Aubrey) with her daughters, episode 4.
Lady Anne (later Queen) is portrayed by Faye Marsay and Lady Isabel (Duchess of Clarence) is portrayed by Eleanor Tomlinson.
Their mother, Lady Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick is portrayed by Juliet Aubrey.
Philippa Gregory’s new covers to promote “The White Queen.”
Lady Anne’s titles were as followed:
Lady Anne of Warwick (1456-1470)
Princess of Wales (1470-1471) as wife to Prince Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales.
Dowager Princess of Wales (1471-1472) as widow of Prince Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales.
Duchess of Gloucester (1472-1483) as wife to Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
Queen consort of England (1483-1485) as wife to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became King Richard III in 1483.
Fan art by tudorqueen6
Both Anne and Isabel were nieces of Lady Alice FitzHugh (born Neville) (paternal great-grandmother of Queen Katherine Parr). Parr’s grandmother, Elizabeth FitzHugh, was cousin to Lady Anne and Lady Isabel and served as a lady to Queen Anne. The two families, FitzHugh and Neville (Lord Warwick), were close due to the proximity of the two families; they lived near each other and FitzHugh was close to both the Earl of Salisbury and his son, the Earl of Warwick. Queen Anne personally appointed Elizabeth and her mother Lady Alice much like Woodville did with Parr’s maternal great-grandmother Lady Fogge. Both women were part of the coronation of King Richard and Queen Anne and received gifts from the King. However, Elizabeth’s husband (Parr’s grandfather), refused his part in the coronation and returned north where he died shortly after. I often wonder what their family thought when Edward married Woodville even though Lord William Parr rose highly under Edward IV.
tudorqueen6 