The White Princess is a British-American historical period drama television miniseries developed for Starz. It is based on Philippa Gregory's 2013 novel of the same name and, to a lesser extent, its sequel The King's Curse. It is a sequel to the 2013 miniseries The White Queen, which adapted three of Gregory's previous novels.
In the eight episode series, the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York effectively ends the Wars of the Roses by uniting the houses of Lancaster and York. However, their mutual enmity and distrust—as well as the political plots of their mothers—threaten to tear both the marriage and the kingdom apart.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Jodie Comer as Elizabeth "Lizzie" of York, the Queen of England
- Rebecca Benson as Margaret "Maggie" Plantagenet, the Queen's paternal cousin, sister of Teddy
- Jacob Collins-Levy as Henry VII, the King of England, Elizabeth's husband
- Kenneth Cranham as Bishop (later Cardinal) John Morton, a confidant of the King's mother
- Essie Davis as Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, the Queen's mother
- Richard Dillane as Thomas Stanley, Margaret Beaufort's husband
- Anthony Flanagan as Francis Lovell, a Yorkist supporter
- Patrick Gibson as Richard of York, a pretender to the English crown and husband of Cathy Gordon, also known as Perkin Warbeck.
- Caroline Goodall as Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, the Queen's paternal grandmother. Goodall is the only actor appearing in both The White Queen and The White Princess.
- Amy Manson as Catherine "Cathy" Gordon, wife of Richard of York
- Adrian Rawlins as John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, husband of Eliza de la Pole
- Vincent Regan as Jasper Tudor, the King's uncle
- Suki Waterhouse as Cecily of York, the Queen's sister
- Joanne Whalley as Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, the Queen's paternal aunt
- Andrew Whipp as Sir Richard Pole, husband of Maggie Plantagenet
- Michelle Fairley as Margaret Beaufort, the King's mother
Recurring[]
- Nicholas Audsley as Lord Strange
- Rhys Connah (child) and Albert de Jongh (teen) as Edward "Teddy" Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, the Queen's cousin, brother of Maggie
- Heidi Ely as Princess Bridget, the Queen's sister
- Oliver Hembrough as John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, the Duke of Suffolk's son
- Rosie Knightley as Princess Anne, the Queen's sister
- Ava Masters as Princess Catherine, the Queen's sister
- Rollo Skinner as Ned, a stable boy
- Susie Trayling as Elizabeth "Eliza" de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk, the Queen's paternal aunt
- Guy Williams as William Stanley, Lord Thomas's brother
- Iain Batchelor as Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
- Dorian Grover as Philip
- Zazie Hayhurst as Rettie
- Billy Barratt as Prince Arthur, the King's first son
- Woody Norman as Prince Harry, the King's second son
- Philip Arditti as Rodrigo de Puebla, the Spanish ambassador
Guest[]
- Rossy de Palma as Isabella I of Castile, the Queen of Castile
- Ned Elliott as Prince Richard, the Queen's brother
- Luc Webb as Prince Edward, the Queen's brother
- Derek Frood as the Mayor of York
- Kitty Smith as Ruth
- Emmanuelle Bouaziz as Mary of Burgundy
- Max True as Lambert Simnel
- Nia Roberts as Catherine "Kate" Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham
- Norman Arthur Eshley as the Abbot
- Marc Danbury as the Priest
- Juan Echenique as Ferdinand II of Aragon, the King of Aragon
- Nicholas Gecks as the Wimborne Priest
- Alex Sawyer as Kofi, Novice Monk
- Mark Edel-Hunt as Thomas Wolsey
- Alasdair McLaughlin as Noah Luff
Episode List[]
Season 1[]
- Ep.1 - "In Bed With The Enemy" - April 16, 2017
- Arriving triumphantly in London as the king after defeating Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth, Henry Tudor is compelled to wed Elizabeth of York—whom he despises due to her purported affair with Richard—to join the warring houses of Lancaster and York. Lizzie hates Henry as well, even more so when he insists that she get pregnant by him before he will commit himself to marry her. Recognizing the influence over Henry that her new pregnancy gives her, Lizzie decides to play the part of dutiful wife as she and her mother, the former Queen consort Elizabeth, plot against the Tudors.
- Ep.2 - "Hearts and Minds" - April 23, 2017
- Henry embarks on a tour of the kingdom to assert his sovereignty. Planning to accompany him to secretly rally York supporters, Lizzie's mother Elizabeth is instead neutralized by Henry's own mother Margaret and locked up in Westminster Palace. Henry survives an assassination attempt by Yorkist Francis Lovell but suspects Lizzie's involvement; she recognizes it as her mother's handiwork, and denounces any intentions to actually kill Henry. In his absence, Lizzie wins favor with the common people by seizing funds from the Royal Treasury to aid those threatened by the sweating sickness. Though she is unable to convince Henry to free her young cousin Teddy Plantagenet from the Tower of London, Lizzie reinforces Henry's growing attachment to her.
- Ep.3 - "Burgundy" - April 30, 2017
- Lizzie gives birth to Prince Arthur, and finds common ground with Henry. Jasper Tudor visits Margaret of Burgundy seeking an alliance, and Lizzie's mother Elizabeth is exiled to Bermondsey Abbey.
- Ep.4 - "The Pretender" - May 7, 2017
- As plans are made to safely marry the York princesses to Tudor loyalists, Margaret of Burgundy raises an army behind a peasant boy she has declared is Teddy Plantagenet. Lizzie convinces Henry to release the real Teddy from the Tower and make a public display that he is happily ensconced with the Tudors. Margaret, the King's Mother, arranges a disturbance that sends Teddy back to the Tower as a threat to Henry's rule. Henry defeats the pretender's forces and shows mercy to the boy. Though Margaret declares the Dowager Queen Elizabeth complicit in the conspiracy, Henry declines executing his wife's mother.
- Ep.5 - "Traitors" - May 14, 2017
- Its 1492, seven years after Bosworth Field. The alleged Richard, Duke of York is getting married in Burgundy and King Henry VII sends Lady Margaret to prove that he is an imposter and pretender to the throne. Queen Elizabeth wants her son Henry named as the Duke of York. During the ceremony, Elizabeth's mother, the Dowager Queen, announces that the real Duke of York is in France and is the rightful King of England. Margaret returns and tells Henry that Richard is an imposter and her husband Sir Richard Pole outs traitors in King Henry's court including Lord William Stanley, the brother of Thomas Stanley. Jasper Tudor discovers that Margaret Beaumont was involved in the murders of the Princes in the Tower and is outraged. Later, to preserve her secret, Margaret smothers a sick Jasper while he is lying in bed.
- Ep.6 - "English Blood on English Soil" - May 21, 2017
- King Henry VII and Lizzie travel to Spain in an attempt to secure their son's betrothal, but news of their country's instability has preceded them. Meanwhile, unrest has been growing in Burgundy and spills over into an English battle.
- Ep.7 - "Two Kings" - May 28, 2017
- A pretender to the throne is held captive at court, confounding the Tudors, and creating a new rift in Lizzie and King Henry's marriage. Lizzie faces an impossible choice, and makes a risky move to try to eliminate the threat to her family.
- Ep.8 - "Old Curses" - June 4, 2017
- A final confrontation with the pretender exposes King Henry's weaknesses, while Lizzie confronts new demons and old curses.
Development[]
The 10-part 2013 television series The White Queen adapted Gregory's previous novels The White Queen, The Red Queen (2010) and The Kingmaker's Daughter (2012). The series was broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on Starz in the United States, and features Freya Mavor as a young Elizabeth of York. Despite initial plans for a second series, on 20 August 2013 the BBC announced they were not commissioning one, possibly due to the lukewarm reception the series received.
However, in October 2013, The Telegraph reported that Starz was planning to develop a sequel miniseries called The White Princess, based on Gregory's novel. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht announced in January 2014 that the network was working with White Queen screenwriter Emma Frost on the project. Starz would produce The White Princess miniseries without involvement from the BBC. Gregory confirmed that the project was underway in August 2015. On 7 February 2016, Gregory announced on Facebook that the sequel was officially confirmed to be in production, with the scripts being written. The series was confirmed to be eight episodes in May 2016.
Production[]
Production on The White Princess began in June 2016, with locations including Bradford on Avon, Bristol including Berkeley Castle and Gloucester Cathedral and in other areas of England including the historic city of Wells, Somerset.
Jamie Payne, who directed three episodes of The White Queen, is directing episodes 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8. Frost is showrunner and executive producer. Lachlan MacKinnon is serving as producer, with Gregory as executive producer. Playground’s Colin Callender and Scott Huff are serving as executive producers with Company Pictures' Michele Buck. In early January, 2017, the producers released a video clip from the series as a teaser trailer
Media[]
