Series / The Spanish Princess

The Spanish Princess is a Starz historical drama series adapted from Philippa Gregory's novels The Constant Princess and The King's Curse. The show centers around Catherine of Aragon's time in England during the latter reign of Henry VII. It premiered on May 5th, 2019. The remaining eight episodes were broadcast in 2020.

It is a sequel to The White Princess and by extension The White Queen.

The titular Spanish Princess, Catherine (Charlotte Hope), arrives in England to marry Prince Arthur (Angus Imrie) to connect the fledgling Tudor dynasty to her parents' Spain. But when Arthur dies, Catherine's already tenuous position at court is cast into doubt, and forces conspire to keep her from marrying his younger brother Henry (Ruairi O'Connor).

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The Spanish Princess provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Margaret Pole is far from enthusiastic about William Compton's interest in her.
• Action Mom: Isabella of Castile is a renowned swordswoman and regularly fights fully armoured on horseback.
• Adipose Rex: Louis XII of France is incredibly fat and Henry is eating himself down the same path as Season 2 goes on.
• Age Lift: Catherine of Aragon, Prince Arthur, and Prince Henry have all been aged up at least a decade for the show here, probably because teenagers in an arranged marriage isn't going to go over well with modern audiences.
• Altar Diplomacy: Isabella marries her daughter Joanna to the Holy Roman Emperor's son, and her daughter Catherine to the heir to England. Princess Margaret is married to the King of Scotland, and Princess Mary is married to the old French King by her brother Henry VIII for the same reason.
• Anti-Hero:
  • Thomas More is brave, chivalrous, strong, intelligent, gentlemanly, talented, educated, helpful, and a loyal and loving husband and father. He is also ambitious, a social climber, supports retributive justice, anti-Protestant and a ruthless enforcer of heresy laws, persecuting Lutherans. He is more sympathetically portrayed here than in Wolf Hall, where everything good about him is twisted and phoney.
  • Wolf Hall portrays him as a sadistic torturer, The Tudors shows him attending the burning of a heretic, Simon Fish (who actually died of an illness in prison, but six other Protestants were burned while he was Lord Chancellor). In The Spanish Princess he does not enjoy torturing Protestants. He thinks that is the only way to protect Catholics from Protestants.
  • In real life, Thomas More allowed his daughter Meg More to marry William Roper, who flirted with Lutheranism but reverted back to Catholicism (unlike his father-in-law, Roper changed his allegiances for whoever was on the throne). He never had William Roper punished. William Roper greatly enjoyed Thomas More's company and spoke favorably of him. Thomas More was also friends with the tolerant Catholic Erasmus. Although he was responsible for the arrest of heretics, locked up at least one overnight at his house, and carried out six death sentences, More vehemently swore in the name of God (and he wasn't a man to take an oath lightly, seeing as that's why he "let" himself die for it) that he never gave any of the accused "so much as a fillup [flick] on the forehead". Claims that Thomas More personally tortured or ordered the "enhanced interrogation" of Lutherans come from Foxe's Book of Martyrs, a virulently anti-Catholic 16th-century propaganda tract. More, like Erasmus and other Humanists, wrote a great deal of criticism of the institution of the Church and the hypocrisy he saw in the powerful. But, like a lot of other orthodox Catholics at the time, he saw attacks on the foundations of Catholicism and calls to denounce the institution of the Papacy - especially in favour of giving more spiritual power to temporal princes - as a disease (of heresy) that required swift, permanent treatment, lest these ideas infect the ignorant populace and lead to violence like in the German Peasants' Revolt, where 100,000-300,000 mostly farmers and labourers were slaughtered.
  • Many 16th and 17th century era humanists supported retributive justice. Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes did. Retributive justice was the dominant form of justice during the 16th-19th centuries.
• Anti-Villain: Cardinal Wolsey is arguably this. He does bad things, but he is not completly unsympathetic. Anne Boleyn is a love rival for Katherine of Aragon, but she doesn't want to see her or any of the other Catholic characters maimed and/or killed. Her relationship with Katherine of Aragon is much more lighthearted and amiable when compared to most other fictionalized potrayals.
  • In Real Life, Anne Boleyn was a fierce and outspoken critic of the abuses going on in the Catholic Church and the excessive and sometimes violent policies of the Catholic Counter-Reformation at the time, but she was not a hardline Protestant as she is usually potrayed as. It is highly unlikely that she wanted to kill the Catholics at the Tudor royal court just because they disagreed with her. She was protecting Protestants who did not have freedom of religion in Catholic majority countries, but it is unlikely she wanted to take away freedom of religion for Catholics the way the Puritans and more fanatical Protestant fundamentalist/evangelical types did.
  • Her relationship with most of the Catholic historical figures at the time was often sour, but that does not mean she did not care about them. She had a mostly good relationship with Cardinal Campeggio, which was mutal. She loved Thomas Howard as a member of her family.
• Artistic License – History: See its own article.
• Ascended Extra: Prince Harry, who wasn't born when The White Princess started (although he did get some notable scenes with Margaret Beaufort towards the show's end). Catherine herself can be considered this — she's mentioned in The White Princess and briefly depicted in it, and becomes the main character in The Spanish Princess.
• Awful Wedded Life: Meg, as the Scottish queen, is absolutely miserable taking care of her king's rowdy children that he refuses to round up or discipline, of which many are not even hers.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Meg Tudor for all her frustration with her husband is crushed when he dies in battle, she tearfully describes him as the father of her sons and "her best friend".
• Balance of Power: Emperor Charles V lands is A, France is B, and England is C and sometimes D.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Catherine for the Spanish royal family, and Princess Mary for the Tudors.
• Becoming the Mask: Harry wrote love letters to Catherine as Prince Arthur. It started as a joke, but he ended up falling in love with her. Also for Catherine, as she seduces Harry so that she will be Queen of England, only to end up wanting to be with Harry more than be Queen.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Just watch Stafford's head fly!
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • While the Catholic characters are the prototypical "heroes" of the story, the Protestant Reformation side is not wrong about the abuses of the Renaissance era Catholic Church and the excessive policies of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The directors/writers/producers seem to sympathize more with the Catholic characters while still having acknowledgement of the legitimate grievances of the Protestant characters. The Protestant characters are not really "evil" villains, either.
  • Anne Boleyn is portrayed as ambitious, but not callous and mean-spirited. Her loyalty and love for Catherine of Aragon is genuine. Her father is portrayed as a good father who loves his family and while they support the Protestant Reformation (in secret) they are not portrayed as plotting to destroy the Catholic Church and/or kill the Catholic characters like in the Tudors.
• Break the Haughty: Margaret Beaufort gets thoroughly broken in the season 1 finale. First her Privy Council and her own grandson turn against her after she frames Dudley for her illegal taxation and has him executed without a trial. Then she tries yet again to stop Henry's wedding to Catherine, which backfires on her and alienates Henry even further. Finally, as she's lying sick in bed, she gets one last "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Maggie Pole before dying alone, hallucinating of the boy princes whom she had murdered.
• The Bus Came Back: Rosa and Catherine are reunited at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
• Composite Character: Lina is a composite of two historical Catalinas: Catalina de Cardenas, a highborn lady-in-waiting, and Catalina de Motril, a Moorish slave.
• Control Freak: Lady Margaret has a surprising number of people on her payroll in secret, including Catherine and Arthur's entire household staff. She jumps to become regent the first chance she gets.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Rosa miscarries just after Lord Stafford bails on her pregnancy.
• Courtly Love: The knights of Britain attempt to romance both of Catherine's retainers.
  • Lord Stafford shows shades of this for the Queen
• Culture Clash: The Spanish retinue insist on following their customs, for instance with Catherine taking a siesta in the afternoon, to the annoyance of the English.
• Death by Childbirth: Like many woman before her, and in a case of Truth in Television, Elizabeth of York goes out in an incredibly disgusting and gruesome childbirth.
• Death by Despair: Joanna claims to Catherine that their mother died of grief for their brother John, who died seven years ago. Truth in Television according to reports from the time.
• Decadent Court: The Tudor court is potrayed this way, even more so then the Spanish and French royal courts.
• Demoted to Extra: Elizabeth of York, protagonist of the previous series, only plays a supporting role this time, before dying in the third episode.
• Double In-Law Marriage: Queen Joanna's son Charles is betrothed to Princess Mary of England, and her daughter Eleanor is betrothed to Prince Henry. Meanwhile, Catherine is angling to marry her own former brother-in-law, Prince Henry.
• Downer Ending:
  • Sure, Catherine has won and she and Harry are about to get married... but he suspects she's lying about not having had sex with his brother Arthur and she suspects he is lying about not having slept with her sister Joanna.
  • The second season have this as well. Henry will dump Catherine for Anne Boleyn, and while they won't have any sons, their only daughter will be one of England's most powerful monarchs. But consequently, Spain will become one of England's rivals.
  • The tension between Catholics and Protestants will only get much worse after king Henry VIII's death, with even the more relatively tolerant monarchs such as queen Elizabeth I and king Henry IV of France get swaped up in the bloody religious conflicts of the time.
• Dowry Dilemma:
  • Just as a marriage is agreed between Prince Henry and Catherine, her mother Isabella dies. Her father's kingdom is too poor to pay a sufficient dowry, and her sister Joanna refuses to pay.
  • Subverted: Princess Margaret doesn't want to marry James IV of Scotland, and manages to convince her grandmother that England is too poor to pay her dowry to Scotland if they haven't received Catherine's dowry from Spain. Other political circumstances eventually push the match ahead, however.
• Dramatic Irony: In one scene, Harry declares that he's "always eating" and his mother replies that he is one of the lucky people for whom "food and good wine do not alter the girth". Give it a few years and... well... by the events of the Field of Cloth of Gold, Henry is sporting a considerably more rotund midsection.
• Driven to Villainy: Princess Mary Tudor is portrayed this way. She is also more sympathetically portrayed in The Spanish Princess than she usually is. The Tudors also portrayed her as a tragic anti-villain.
• End of an Age: The ending of the middle ages.
• English Rose: Maggie Pole is portrayed this way.

• Externally Validated Prophecy: Elizabeth of York's dying prophecy that there will be no more Tudor sons if Catherine marries Prince Henry. Validated by Real Life. Oddly, Elizabeth's prophecy doesn't account for a son that was born after Henry and Catherine married: Henry VIII's son with Jane Seymour, Edward VI, who died at 15. The curse she and her mother cast, however, does account for Edward dying.
• Extreme Doormat: Arthur is mostly controlled by his fear of his family's opinions of him.
• Face Death with Dignity: Lord Stafford.
• Fallen Princess:
  • Catherine's status drops after she is widowed, and again after her mother dies.
  • Margaret Pole falls into poverty after her husband dies.
  • Mary Tudor when she leaves court.
• Fat Bastard: Henry's becoming one as Season 2 heads down it's foregone path.
• The Fate of the Princes in the Tower: Margaret Beaufort is tormented by guilt for having them killed, though one was an imposter.
• Feuding Families: The Yorks and the Tudors. Considerably lessened since The White Queen and The White Princess due to the longstanding marriage between Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, but John de la Pole emerges as a Yorkist claimant to England.
• Flashback Cut: A short clip from The White Princess of Richard of Shrewsbury yelling, "England receive my blood!" just before he's executed is shown when Queen Elizabeth reminisces about the past.
• Foregone Conclusion: Henry VIII will marry Catherine of Aragon... but it won't end well.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Margaret quotes Leviticus to Harry to warn him about marrying his brother's wife. Harry immediately counters with a verse from Deuteronomy that supports marrying your brother's widow.
  • Princess Mary Tudor runs to burn Protestant books, foreshadowing her role as "Bloody Mary."
• Freudian Trio: Rosa as Id, Catherine as Ego, and Lina as Superego.
• The Fundamentalist: Thomas More is revealed to be one, certain that torturing heretics is the way to protect the Catholic Church.
• Gilligan Cut: One of Catherine's servants tells Lady Margaret that Catherine wants to arrive in London in a "special way." Margaret snorts "How does she want to arrive? In a gilded chariot driven by the horses of St. Mark's?" Cut to Catherine arriving behind Arthur's funeral procession (drawn by those very horses) riding a simple mule.
• God Save Us from the Queen!:
  • Joanna of Castile. Subverted as it is revealed that Joanna's temperament stems from her mother abusing her, her father and husband trying to usurp her throne, as well as her husband's many affairs.
  • Joanna herself considers Isabella to be an example of this. Catherine concedes that Isabella could indeed be cruel, torturing Joanna for her lack of piety.
  • Elizabeth of York acts as this for Catherine.
  • Margaret Beaufort is this for everyone.
• Good Girls Avoid Abortion: After getting pregnant from her lover, Rosa asks Lina for help. Lina gets her a potion to cause abortion, but Rosa can't bring herself to use it, instead getting assurances by her lover that he'll care for her and the baby.
• Good vs. Good: The Catholic vs Protestant conflict. While most of the Catholic characters are heroes and good people, they seem to turn a blind eye to some of the abuses of the Catholic Church (such as the Crusades and the Spanish Inquistion) and the sometimes ruthless enforcement of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Protestant characters are potrayed as being more ambitious and irreverent, but not bad. They are more aware of the abuses, but they are generally not malicious towards the Catholic characters. The Protestants do end up exagerrating the abuses that took place in Spain and Portugal however which leads to the "black legend." Truth In Televison.
  • Katherine of Aragon herself regards her mission as a holy and divine Catholic crusade, but she does not kill the Protestants. She also intervines on the May Day Riots and tries to save Lord Stafford. Lina intervenes before Katherine of Aragon goes too far, pointing out the errors of her ways. See What the Hell, Hero? and Nice Job Breaking It, Hero, below.
• Gratuitous English:
  • Catherine speaks in English even when talking to her mother in Spain, and among her Spanish ladies-in-waiting. Justified in that Catherine is training to be the future Queen of England and integrate into the English court.
  • Philip and Joanna of Castile speak almost perfect English, with no attempt by the English to afford them the use of a lingua franca such as French or Latin as Margaret Beaufort did when meeting Margaret. Joanna immediately talks to Catherine in English even when they are in private and could easily speak in Spanish.
  • Lina almost always speaks to Rosa and Oviedo in English, even when they are talking about matters that they might not want an English eavesdropper to find out.

• Heroic Seductress: Bessie Blount and Anne Boleyn.

• Greater Need Than Mine: Margaret Pole gives rent back to her impoverished tenants, even as she falls deep into debt with the Crown following her husband's death.
• Happily Married: The White Princess may have featured both their mothers trying to tear them apart, not to mention Burgundy and half of England, but Elizabeth of York and Henry VII are, finally, at last, happily married, so happily married that Elizabeth begs her husband not to leave her in childbirth - normally, men were not allowed to be present.
• He Knows Too Much: Margaret Beaufort attempts to execute Oviedo and Dudley for this reason.
• Heir Club for Men: Played straight for the English, who want Catherine and Arthur to have a son. Somewhat Averted for the Spanish, who have two ruling queens, Isabella and Joanna.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Spain and Portugal are arguably this, with the "black legend" being imposed against them due to Protestant propaganda around this time. France is potrayed as being a Worthy Opponent to England.
• Historical Beauty Upgrade: Similar to the Tudors and Wolf Hall.
• Historical Hero Upgrade:
  • Henry VII's portrayal is not too inaccurate. The great misleading element is the suggestion that he genuinely had little to do with his infamous taxes and that it was Margaret Beaufort who enforced such policies. While it is genuinely debatable how much Empson and Dudley were simply implementing unpopular policies or unchecked corrupt ministers, their decisions certainly had Henry's approval. Henry's stinginess earned him the nickname "Tight-Fisted Tudor" and why he was little missed when he died.
  • Catherine of Aragon was not at all respectful to the body of James IV. The Scottish King's body was presented to her and she wanted to present his head to Henry VIII. She was dissuaded from doing so by the court and settled for his bloody cloak.
• Historical Villain Upgrade:
  • One last time around for Margaret Beaufort, unsurprising considering her conniving portrayals in the two previous miniseries. Firstly, her incredibly hostile treatment of Catherine of Aragon is dead wrong. As noted below, her traumatic experience giving birth to Henry VII was enough to make her convince Henry VII to hold back on the marriage of Arthur and Catherine until Catherine was 16 rather than the absurd 12. Margaret wanted all of the Tudor men to treat women respectfully which surprisingly Henry VIII would do childbirth wise.^note Henry would cancel travel plans for the King and Queen when Catherine and Anne were expecting. In contrast Francis I made no such accommodations or considerations for his wife. Also, while Margaret probably did not murder the Princes of the Tower, she definitely did not have Empson and Dudley executed. That was absolutely Henry VIII's decision and was his first prominent execution.
  • While it would be interesting if Elizabeth of York had a gift of prophecy, that would definitely be mentioned by the history texts. Beyond portraying Elizabeth as responsible for the death of Edward of Warwick and Perkin Warbeck, which was Henry VII's decision, and as stated in series made to appease Ferdinand and Isabella for the marriage of Catherine to Arthur. But Elizabeth openly liked Catherine, was utterly sympathetic to her and had Catherine be a lady-in-waiting after Arthur's death. Unfortunately her favor did not last as she died soon after.
  • It is certainly a Riddle for the Ages of whether Catherine of Aragon and Arthur consummated their marriage. But Catherine insisted that it had never been consummated as early as during the reign of Henry VII when he bluntly asked if she was pregnant after Arthur's death. In this series she did consummate her marriage with Arthur and lies to the court and Harry.
  • Henry VIII (or more likely Wolsey) arranged for Bessie Blount to be married to a highborn lord after she had given birth to Henry Fitzroy. Not so here.
  • The future Henry VIII is introduced as a near-adult that lusts after, and conspires to 'steal' his brother's bride, to the point of impersonating his brother in order to exchange letters with her before she arrives in the country. In real life, Henry was 9-years-old when Catherine arrived, and 11 when they were betrothed in the aftermath of Arthur's death.
• Hollywood Costuming: One could write many articles about the inaccuracies in the costuming. Fortunately, the fine people over at FrockFlicks did: here and here; and here's Part 1 of an eight-part recap.
• Illegal Religion: Oviedo is a crypto-Muslim, because all Muslims and Jews were forced to convert or leave Spain. He, like those who remained, is officially Catholic. Thus, if this were discovered, the Spanish Inquisition would try him as a heretic, carrying the death sentence if Oviedo didn't repent.
• Insult Backfire: Harry's joking letters to Catherine, as he all but admits that he fell in love with her. Catherine says that he has given her power over him.
• Lady-In-Waiting: Lina and Rosa, for Catherine.

• Lighter and Softer: When compared to Showtime's "the Tudors" and Wolf Hall.
• Like Father, Like Son: Or, rather Like Mother Like Daughter. In both The White Princess and the one occasion she's seen on a horse in this series, Elizabeth of York does not ride side saddle, as would be custom for a woman. When she leaves for Scotland Margaret is not riding side saddle, just like her mother.
• Momma's Boy: Both Arthur and Harry are, most definitely, closer to their mother. Arthur allows her to fuss over him, which he doesn't allow others to do, and Harry is almost completely broken and barely able to function when his mother dies.
• Morning Sickness: The first sign that Rosa is pregnant is when she throws up.
• Mother Makes You King: Margaret Beaufort qualifies as this, as in The White Queen and The White Princess, acting as Henry VII's regent during his grieving for Elizabeth of York.
• Mr. Fanservice: Just try not to drool when you see Henry VIII shirtless...
• My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours: Prince Harry and his grandmother argue the morality of Harry marrying Catherine, now Arthur's widow, by quoting Bible passages that support their point. The one which Margaret quotes, ironically, would later be cited by Henry himself to justify an annulment from Catherine (then divorce when that wasn't granted by the Pope).
• Nice Girl: There are several. Maggie Pole, Alice More, Anne Boleyn, Bessie Blount, Lina to name a few.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The response of the English state helps Protestantism to spread. King Henry VIII will also become a figure of the Protestant Reformation (despite holding Catholic beliefs) alongside Martin Luther, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli.
  • The United Kingdom will also become more closely allied with the Netherlands during this time period, to the point of being very close allies.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood:
  • Mary Tudor's portrayal here is definitely one of the more sympathetic ones, similar to her portrayal on The Tudors. Philippa Gregory's novels are known to portray the Catholic characters in a rather sympathetic light. That and most historians today reject the one-sided Protestant/Puritan propaganda portrayal of her as one-dimensionally and/or irredeemably pure evil.
  • While Mary Tudor did grow old and bitter as queen, the Real Life Mary Tudor was quite kind and caring as a princess. She was treated like dirt as a little girl and had everything and everyone she loved and cared for taken away from her. While it is true that she did execute 300 Protestants as queen, at the same time most academic historians agree that there is more to her story then that.
• Old Man Marrying a Child:
  • Margaret Beaufort recalls to her granddaughter how she was married at the age of twelve, and had only had one period before falling pregnant.
  • Henry VII nearly marries Catherine, overstepping his son.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. There is more of a variety of names than its predecessors due to the focus on foreign royals with different naming conventions, but many characters still have the same names.
  • Henry VII and Prince Henry, naturally, though the latter is often referred to as Harry.
  • There is Princess Margaret Tudor, her grandmother Margaret Beaufort, and her mother's cousin, Margaret Pole - fortunately they're "Lady Margaret", "Meg" and "Maggie".
  • Lina is short for Catalina, and Catherine's name is also an Anglicized version of Catalina.
  • In season 2, Henry's circle of advisors includes Thomas More, Thomas Wolsey and Thomas Boleyn (although Wolsey is mostly referred to by his surname, and Boleyn is rarely addressed by name at all, and then usually called by his title, Wiltshire).
• Only Sane Man: Or, rather, Only Sane Child! Princess Mary, in Episode 7, is the only person basically thinking with her brain... and she realises that Harry is in love with Catherine, so outs his location to her.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York outlive their eldest son, Arthur. Meanwhile, Isabella and Ferdinand outlive their only son, John.
• Parental Favoritism: Joanna claims that her brother John was their mother's favourite. Meanwhile, she claims to have been The Un-Favourite due to her atheism. This is, with a few little exaggerations, mostly Truth in Television.
• Put on a Bus: Rosa in episode 7, who returns to Spain after suffering a miscarriage. This becomes The Bus Came Back when she returns for two episodes of Season 2.
• Realpolitik: Invoked by Henry as the key reason he is marrying Catherine over his grandmother's objections: if England doesn't honor the agreement with Spain by marrying Catherine to royalty, then King Louis will take her and France gets all the Spanish gold England desperately needs. Margaret is forced to agree with the logic, especially after the King and council side with Henry.
• Really Gets Around:
  • Philip of Castile's string of affairs, in plain sight of his wife.
  • Harry has slept with Catherine's sister and is implied to have slept with the whores his grandmother provided for him.
• Religious Bruiser: Isabella of Castile fights off a band of Muslim rebels before Catherine is sent to England.
• Renaissance Man: There are several. King Henry VIII, Thomas More, Meg More and Anne Boleyn among others.
• Riches to Rags: Margaret Pole is the cousin of the late queen, the niece of two kings, the daughter and sister of royal claimants. But after her husband dies, she quickly falls into poverty. The crown seizes her estate's property after she fails to pay off her debts, and she can't even afford eggs.

• Saintly Church: Both the Catholics and Protestants are this overall, minus a few bad apples.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Lina leaves for the Ottoman Empire and Catherine of Aragon retreats with her daughter to live away from the royal court.
• Servile Snarker: When she's told that James IV speaks several languages, Princess Margaret declares that she "wishes him the plague in all of them!"
• Sibling Rivalry: Arthur and Harry. In addition to Arthur being the Blue Oni to Harry's Red Oni, Arthur is annoyed that Harry has written love letters to Catherine in Arthur's name. Harry is envious of Arthur being the heir to the throne, and also wants Catherine.
• Same Story, Different Names: Zig zagged. The Spanish Princess takes more creative liberties than the Tudors and Wolf Hall. It's also told from Catherine of Aragon's point of view, rather than King Henry VIII in the Tudors or Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
  • Catherine's role is very similar to Elizabeth Woodville in Queen and Elizabeth of York in Princess, the main character marrying the king/heir to the throne at the beginning of the series with many political enemies at court.
  • The Catherine of Aragon/Elizabeth of York and Catherine of Aragon/Margaret Beaufort rivalries mirror the Elizabeth Woodville/Cecily Neville rivalry in Queen and the Elizabeth of York/Margaret Beaufort rivalry in Princess.
• The Rival:
  • Zigzaged with Bessie Blount and Anne Boleyn towards Catherine of Aragon.
  • Compared to other dramatized portrayals, Anne Boleyn is not mean-spirited towards Catherine of Aragon in the Spanish Princess. Catherine of Aragon also refuses to kill King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn when she finds out they are a couple.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The relationship between the Catholics and Protestant characters is potrayed this way. It's not as intense as the Tudors and Wolf Hall.
• Token Minority Couple: Lina and Oviedo, the only two black characters on the show, get married. Justified, as their historical counterparts married.

• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain are arguably this. Thomas More could count as this as well.
• Wham Shot: Margaret Pole is walking contentedly through Thomas More's house, when the camera reveals she's seen the bloodstained rack used to torture Lutheran printers.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Margaret Pole gives one to Thomas More and Lina to Catherine of Aragon, about their response to the spread of Protestantism.
  • Margaret Pole and Lina are portrayed as being more tolerant Catholics than Thomas More and Catherine of Aragon. They disagree on how to defend Catholicism from the Protestants. Margaret Pole and Lina believe that Protestants should be properly instructed, educated and listened to, while Thomas More and Catherine of Aragon take a Church Police path.
  • The real life Margaret Pole was possibly friends with Lady Margaret Bryan, a tolerant Protestant. That would explain her displeasure with Thomas More's methods. Lina is secretly married to a Muslim man who is a loyal supporter of Catherine of Aragon. She does not want to see him tortured and executed. Her parents were also possibly victims of the Spanish Inquisition, which would explain why she is afraid of Catherine of Aragon turning out like her parents.
  • The Catholic Counter-Reformation was sometimes enforced brutally. Mary Tudor and Catherine De Medici are examples of real life Catholic monarchs who used brutal methods to suppress the Protestant Reformation.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Henry VII dies, Margaret Beaufort blames Dudley for the oppressive taxation and land confiscation that she herself pushed for, accusing him of treason and executing him before he can tell anyone.

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