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"The right is not given, Henry. It is taken. It is taken by blood, by murder. Where is God in that?"
Elizabeth

A British-American historical fiction miniseries that aired on Starz for eight episodes in 2017. It is based off of Philippa Gregory's 2013 novel of the same name, and is also a sequel to The BBC's 2013 miniseries The White Queen.

In this series, the Wars of the Roses is effectively ended by the marriage of Henry VII (Jacob Collins-Levy) and Elizabeth of York (Jodie Comer), which unites the houses of York and Lancaster into The House of Tudor... which wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that said houses aren't exactly on good terms with each other. Their respective mothers, Margaret Beufort (Michelle Fairley) and Elizabeth Woodville (Essie Davis) use their children to plot and scheme. The Yorkist faction continues to be a thorn in Henry's side and produces a rival claimant to the throne, Perkin Warbeck (Patrick Gibson). All this threatens the stability of their recently reforged kingdom.

Followed by The Spanish Princess, which chronicles the marriage(s) of Henry and Elizabeth's son, Henry VIII.


The White Princess provides examples of:

  • Adaptational Villainy: In the book Elizabeth is horrified by Perkin and Teddy's death. In the series she is the one who orders their death.
  • Altar Diplomacy: Henry and Elizabeth are married to unite the houses of Lancaster and York, thus ending the Wars of the Roses. The birth of their son Arthur further cements this.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Though Richard of Shrewsbury is clearly shown escaping at the start, one can never be sure if the man who turns up in Burgundy is really him. His female relatives more or less believe that he is but there is still the niggling doubt that he is just a very convincing imposter, as Richard Pole says — Lizzie notes his resemblance to her father; meanwhile, their grandmother Cecily thinks that his eyes may or may not be the right color. note 
  • And Then What?: Lizzie invokes this when she visits her brother Richard in the Tower; after he tries to convince her that once he's restored to the throne, she and her sons will have nothing to fear, Lizzie shoots his argument down with several accurate points; her husband will never willingly give up the crown, and even if he could be persuaded, his mother and his loyalists would never allow it. Even if they managed to kill Henry on the battlefield, there would always be Tudor loyalists ever after trying to put Prince Arthur or Henry on the throne, and the Cycle of Revenge would carry on.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: Lizzie begs Henry not to fight against the Yorkist army. Paranoid Henry simply assumes that he wants her to have him surrender the crown. Lizzie insists that she wants him to come back to her to an unconvinced Henry. Lizzie blurts out, "How can I prove I am with you, except to ask you not to die?"
  • Annoying Arrows: Deeply subverted; at the battle of Stoke, Tudor archers lay waste to the York army fighting for Lambert Simnel before Henry's cavalry sweeps in to deal with the survivors.
  • Arranged Marriage: Several marriages are arranged in order to snuff out any signs of unrest, the most notable being Henry and Elizabeth.
  • Artistic License – History:
    • While we can't ever say for sure Henry VII absolutely never raped Elizabeth, historians agree that this is unlikely. Henry was known to be a ‘most prudent’ king, who did not act impetuously. It would have been an extremely consequential scandal that would have enraged York loyalists. Though this is used to explain why their first son was born eight months early, there are more likely explanationsnote . The notion that Margaret Beaufort would have considered "testing Elizabeth's fertility" is also unlikely, as she was married and impregnated at age twelve and was so small and slight that her son’s birth when she was thirteen nearly killed her.
    • Elizabeth of York was not in love with, let alone lost her virginity to Richard III. The real Elizabeth wouldn't have had much cause to like him very much considering what did to her family: he took the throne that rightfully belonged to her brother, imprisoned the Princes in the Tower (which directly lead to their disappearances, with foreign contemporaries believing that Richard had killed them), and declared her parents’ marriage invalid and she and her siblings bastards. Richard III also publicly denied their rumour of marriage.
    • Elizabeth Woodville didn't conspire against Henry VII. It just wouldn't make sense - her sons were imprisoned, most likely dead, and she could ensure a good future for her daughters by collaborating with the new regime. The betrothal she and Margaret Beaufort agreed on for Elizabeth and Henry benefited her, as it created an alliance against Richard III.
    • Richard III was not 'buried alive' in a shallow grave. Following his death, Richard's body was stripped naked and taken to Leicester where it was put on public display for two days (it was common practice for a royal body to be put on display as proof of death), before being buried in the choir of the Greyfriars at Leicester and in 1495, ten years after the burial, Henry VII paid for a marble and alabaster monument to mark Richard's grave, Sir George Buck wrote that it was "a fair tomb of mingled colour marble adorned with Richard's image". The discovery of Richard's skeleton in the 2010's confirmed this.
    • The show justifies continued rivalry between immediate families of Elizabeth and Henry by claiming one of her brothers survived. In reality, the man who claimed to be him was revealed to actually be named Perkin Warbeck and was most certainly an impostor, for several reasons. The series using Warbeck as the real Richard of Shrewsbury has one BIG issue: Warbeck laid the blame for the murder of his "brother”, Edward V, directly at Richard III’s feet, and claimed to only have escaped because an unnamed “lord” felt sorry for him; this clashes with the show having the murder being done by Margaret Beaufort.
    • Elizabeth and Henry didn't travel to Spain to negotiate the marriage of Arthur and Catherine of Aragon. That's what envoys were for. The Cathedral is seen despite being finished in 1507 only. The reception consists of the Princess and courtiers flashmob-dancing to Flamenco, a Romani dance from the mid-18th century. To top it off, the bethrothal was actually arranged at Medina del Campo, not even in Andalusia, and in 1489.
    • Neither Margaret Beaufort, nor Elizabeth would be allowed to sit on the Privy Council, that was the king’s council comprised of officials such as the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Treasurer as well as other major Nobles of the Realm. Both Queen and Queen Mother would have been more busy visiting Abbeys and giving to charity rather than running the government.
    • While she was rather charitable, Elizabeth of York would not have been throwing money to the people who dying of the sweating sickness, as England had been left bankrupt after the reigns of her father and uncle.
    • The series has Elizabeth Woodville dying after Jasper Tudor, where this happened the opposite way in real life (she died in 1492 while Jasper died in 1495).
    • There's no historical evidence that supports the claim the series made that Margaret Beaufort and Jasper Tudor were ever in love with each other. Their relationship was more akin to Like Brother and Sister as she had been the widow of his older brother Edmund and the mother of his nephew that he raised.
    • In the show, Mary of Burgundy falls off her horse while racing Lord Strange across a field, and dies later the same day. In actuality, her riding accident occurred while she was hunting in the woods with her husband and knights of the court; her horse tripped and threw her into a ditch, then fell on top of her, and she died of her injuries several weeks later.
  • Ascended Extra: Compared to previous series The White Queen:
    • The central characters of this series are King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry was a small child when The White Queen started and appeared only sporadically until the later episodes. Elizabeth wasn't even born until the second episode, and doesn't get a major speaking role until the eighth.
    • Teddy Warwick is introduced as the main rival to Henry's rule. His execution is the climactic moment of the finale. In the first series he was briefly seen as a baby then pretty much forgotten. His sister Margaret had barely been mentioned.
    • Richard of Shrewsbury, Edward IV's second son, was a baby in the sixth episode and still a child by the end, having very few lines when he is seen. He is briefly seen at the opening of this series, then disappears until the end of episode 4, from which point he becomes the driving force behind most of the remaining plot.
  • Awful Wedded Life: At first for Lizzie and Henry to the point that Henry at one point asks Lizzie if she can promise that she won't try to kill him. She can't.
  • Bad "Bad Acting": When Bishop Mortimer refuses to obey her orders to distribute coin from the royal treasury as alms to the sick during the sweating sickness outbreak in London, Lizzie threatens to give birth on the spot. When the Bishop calls her bluff, Lizzie starts making hilariously over the top sounds of going into labour.
  • Bait-and-Switch:
    • After an outbreak of the sweating sickness in London, Lizzie orders the treasury guards to kick the door down so the money can be distributed as alms to the sick. Bishop Mortimer orders them to stop and another guard pushes the two men away...then promptly hacks the padlock off the door with an axe.
    • On the road back to London after the disastrous progress to York, while riding through a village, peasants stream out of their houses and block the road for Henry's procession. Fearing an ambush, the guards draw their swords...only for the crowd to fall to their knees and give thanks to the king for the money and alms Lizzie distributed in his name.
  • Better Living Through Evil: Lizzie's sister Cecily becomes a supporter of Margaret Beaufort because the latter treats her more kindly than their mother.
  • Blatant Lies: After Richard and Teddy's execution, when Maggie brings up the matter of the curse and the fact Lizzie has doomed her own children, Lizzie insists there never was a curse in the first place, even repeating Margaret Beaufort's dismissal of "A widow and a virgin spitting oaths at their enemies because words are all they have left is not a curse". Maggie calls Lizzie on it, bluntly stating the latter is lying to sooth her conscience.
  • Bloody Hallucinations of Guilt: After Elizabeth Woodville reappears at court, Margaret Beaufort is once more haunted by her murder of the Princes in the Tower, even hallucinating the water she's washing her hands in to be blood.
  • Casting Gag: It may be hilarious to realize that Lady Margaret Beaufort is played by Catelyn Stark and Queen Mother Elizabeth Woodville by Lady Crane/Play!Cersei Lannister—characters from Game of Thrones whose lives and actions are pretty much lifted of their own historical record (albeit in reverse).
  • The Chains of Commanding: In the first episode, Henry states to Elizabeth that even a king does not have freedom of choice.
  • Conflicting Loyalty: The central conceit: heroine Elizabeth of York is torn between her scheming mother and the rest of the Yorkist faction, who are not taking their defeat lightly, and the marriage and family she is building with Henry Tudor.
  • Consummation Counterfeit: Henry VII, having already raped Elizabeth prior, takes a knife to their wedding bed and cuts her foot for proof that the marriage was consummated that night.
  • Crucified Hero Shot: The adult Perkin Warbeck is first introduced with his arms outstretched in front of stained glass. In context, he's being measured by a tailor, but symbolically, it emphasizes that he is the new champion of the Yorkist cause. He does the same pose as his head is about to get lopped off, proclaiming himself the true king of England until the last moment.
  • Desecrating the Dead: It's treated as a Gory Discretion Shot, but the show opens with shots of Richard III being killed and his corpse stripped and dumped in the mud at Bosworth Field.
  • Downer Ending: Elizabeth secures her position and that of her children, but at the cost of having Perkin note  and Teddy beheaded.
  • Egocentrically Religious: Margaret Beaufort is ALL about this. Anything she does, including murdering two innocent boys, is always "God's Will." Lampshaded by her husband, who snarks that God's will conveniently always aligns with hers.
  • Escalating War: After finally winning the crown, Henry's first act is to repeal the Duchess of Burgundy's trading rights in England, in retaliation for their support to Richard III and their previous attempts to capture or kill him. In response, Duchess Margaret starts carrying out pirate attacks on English merchant ships.
  • Everyone Has Standards:
    • Jasper Tudor might be loyal to Henry and in love with Margaret, but he is appalled when he learns she orchestrated the murder of the Princes in the Tower to help put Henry on the throne.
      Margaret Beaufort: They were Yorks!
      Jasper Tudor: They were CHILDREN!
    • Duchess Cecily Neville is somewhat disgusted by her daughter, the Duchess of Burgundy's willingness to risk the life of a peasant child (Lambert Simnel) in her vendetta against the Tudors.
  • The Fate of the Princes in the Tower: Perkin is the real deal, and it was Margaret who arranged the death of Edward V and the unfortunate imposter boy.
  • Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: Ultimately, even when both Teddy and Richard are imprisoned, one made a slave and the other made impotent, their very existence still provides a rallying cry for Henry VII's enemies. At Lizzie's behest, he executes them both, as their continued living was in itself a threat.
  • Frontline General: Zigzagged. Henry usually leads his troops into battle, and he tends to fight on the frontlines. He only doesn't do so at the battle of Stoke against the forces of the pretender Lambert Simnel because Lizzie begs him not to, lest he's killed, leaving her a widow and their newborn son without a father.
  • Full-Circle Revolution: Henry VII keeps two York boys, Edward & Richard, locked in the Tower of London and eventually has them quietly executed to eliminate rival claims to the throne—exactly the complaint he made of Richard III. His mother even lampshades this.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Margaret is incredulous that Teddy is being freed so she stages a scene to get him back in the Tower. Her scene unfortunately gets real peasants riled up and makes the moderate Jack de la Pole to turn against the Tudors and rebel.
  • He Knows Too Much: Margaret kills Jasper after he threatens to tell Henry that she ordered the Princes in the Tower killed.
  • Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Ferdinand and Isabella will only negotiate with Elizabeth and Henry in Spanish — a power move, as Henry can't speak it. It turns out that Elizabeth can. They tell her that they will only betroth their daughter to Prince Arthur if the York claimants to the throne are killed. She keeps this from Henry, telling him at their request that the delay is due to a papal dispensation.
  • Historical Badass Upgrade: The real Elizabeth of York seems to have been a typical queen consort of the time, performing her representative duties and not meddling in politics. Here she's a major political player who has a hand in many of the major events of Henry VII's early reign.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade:
    • Historical record shows that Henry VII's marriage to Elizabeth of York seems to have been happy and remarkably peaceful, with no extramarital affairs. While their relationship here largely reflects that, it starts off with him raping her. He also later has an affair with Catherine Gordon.
    • Margaret Beaufort was undoubtedly ambitious - she supported her son in his efforts to gain the throne and after he became king, she demanded to be treated as a queen, pushing Elizabeth of York to the wayside. However, other than that, she is mostly remembered as a kind, pious and intelligent woman who used her considerable influence on the court for good. She supported artists and academics, and when Cecily of York married a commoner against the will of her son, she spoke in her favor to Henry. Definitely a far cry from the crazy, shrewish religious fanatic and effectively a villain of the story this show portrays her as...
    • What's known of Cecily of York has next to nothing to do with the character presented. It is true that she was very close to Margaret Beuafort, as Margaret later convinced Henry VII to forgive Cecily for having an unapproved (second) love-marriage with an essential peasant. But she was not likely envious and spiteful to Elizabeth of York. Her marriage seems to have indeed been Perfectly Arranged Marriage, from her later words regarding her husband's death, but there was no reported incident at her wedding. She also, contrary to a throw-away line in later episodes, visited her mother the most of Elizabeth's surviving children.
  • History Repeats: Henry makes note of the fact that once again, two York heirs, potential threats to the throne, are trapped in the same tower, in the same room, as was done one generation hence, as seen in the previous series. Margaret Beaufort's insistence for Henry Tudor to execute them this time tips him off on the truth as to what happened to the two York boys last time.
  • Hope Spot: Jasper Tudor is dispatched to Burgundy to negotiate a stop to the pirate attacks on English shipping that Duchess Margaret, Richard III's sister, is carrying out. Despite some initial setbacks, Jasper seems to be getting through the Duchess, almost convincing her to accept a peace with the Tudors, arguing that doing so will ensure no more of her family dies like her brothers. Then the Duchess's daughter dies in an unfortunate riding accident racing Jasper's companion Lord Strange, the grieving Duchess throws Jasper out of her court and becomes even more determined to undermine Henry VII.
  • Hunting "Accident": Ultimately subverted; when Henry insists on forcing Richard to come on a hunt as a servant, Lizzie and Maggie are convinced he's done it to kill him. Although Henry and his mother try to take a few pot shots at Richard, they miss.
  • In-Series Nickname: Several, if only for disambiguation:
    • Elizabeth of York is mostly called to as "Lizzie", which although not typical for the period at least works for distinguishing her from her mother, also Elizabeth.
    • Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, is called "Teddy" throughout to differentiate him from numerous other Edwards. The same nickname was also used once in the previous series to refer to his double-cousin Edward of Middleham.
    • Perkin Warbeck, even into his twenties, is often referred to as "The Boy", by those who are unsure of his real identity.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Sir Anthony Lovell, a York loyalist, tries to kill Henry VII while his guard is down. At the battle of Stoke, he's killed when a Tudor soldier stabs him from behind while he's focused on another enemy.
  • Last of His Kind:
    • Teddy Warwick is the last man standing for the House of York. His execution extinguishes the agnatic line not only for York but also for the whole Plantagenet dynasty.
    • Perkin claims to be another, so he gets the chop as well.
  • Manchild: As a result of being locked in a single room through most of his formative years, Teddy has the same ideas, vocabulary, and likes as he was when he was eight years old.
  • Mama Bear: Lizzie cites this as the reason why she would never betray Henry for the Yorks, because it would mean putting Arthur at risk as well. This is also, ultimately, the reason why she pushes Henry to have Teddy and Richard executed despite being their cousin and sister respectively; as long as there is a York claimant still alive, their sons will never be safe.
    Lizzie: The birth of Arthur puts me on your side whether I like it or not because I will never act against him!
  • Manly Tears: Henry is clearly heartbroken by his uncle Jasper's death. He also breaks down after telling Lizzie his mother killed the Princes in the Tower, and that one of their sons will die as a result of the curse Elizabeth Woodville put on their killer.
  • Marital Rape License: In the first episode, Henry VII extends this to pre-marital. He forcibly impregnates his fiancé to be assured that she is fertile before he commits to making her queen.
    Lizzie: Your mother told you to rape me?!
    Henry: It isn't rape, we are to be married!
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Several characters, including Elizabeth Woodville herself, wonder if the Woodville women's witchcraft is just words and good luck (not that it stops Elizabeth from repeatedly spellcasting, nor does it prevent great coincidences in her favor). Lizzie fully believes in the curse they set on the killers of the Princes in the Tower but pivots to "mundane" to cope with having a man claiming to be her brother and one of said princes killed.
  • Might Makes Right: Invoked by Lizzy in the finale. She tells Henry that the right of kings is taken and held by force. This means he can, nay must, kill her brother and cousin to secure his own power.
  • Momma's Boy: Henry VII is in his mother's palm. She has higher status than either his wife or the Dowager Elizabeth, even getting the Queen's suite of rooms in the first few episodes. Certainly justified given the lengths to which she went in order to install her son on the throne. Lampshaded in the premiere by Elizabeth, who wonders if Henry intends to ignore her and wed his mother instead. This changes rather abruptly in the finale, when Henry discovers that Margaret was responsible for killing the Princes in the Tower. He almost strangles her to death on the spot, and orders the rest of the court to abandon their deference to her.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Henry feels this way during the final episode; having learned that Richard III was innocent of the murder of the Princes in the Tower and that his mother was guilty, Henry is appalled that he led a rebellion against an anointed king, that he gleefully took part in the Cruel and Unusual Death inflicted upon Richard and that his entire rule is based on a lie.
  • Never My Fault:
    • Margaret Beaufort. Anything bad she does like ordering the Princes in the Tower killed is simply God's Will.
    • Lord Strange. During the peace talks in Burgundy, he couldn't accept that the young Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret were constantly one upping him in their games. This caused their mother, Duchess Mary of Burgundy, to challenge him to a horse race out of pity (where he had an actual chance to win). This inadvertently led to her early death. When they returned to England, he shifts the blame to Jasper Tudor and the recently deceased Duchess.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • "Not So Different" Remark:
    • Comes as an epiphany moment during an argument between Henry and Lizzie as Henry declares that he spent his life as a tool for his mother's ambitions. Lizzie sympathetically says that it was the same with her and her mother.
    • Margaret says this to Elizabeth at the end of the series in regard for how far both of them will go for their children's benefit. She tells her to shut up.
  • Obnoxious In-Laws: Margaret Beaufort, who constantly moves to impose her will on the two Queens Elizabeth, her son's wife and her mother. note 
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Margaret Beaufort, who has been dignified and disdainful towards Lizzie throughout the season, runs over and all but begs her to tell Henry, who is losing his mind out of fear of the curse, that it isn't real.
  • Old Soldier: Jasper Tudor. In a conversation with the Duchess of Burgundy, he laments that he's spent his entire life on the march or the battlefield and has never had time to pursue a life of his own.
  • Out-Gambitted: Margaret attempts to assert her authority by arranging marriages for the York girls and telling Elizabeth how she is settled in rooms Henry personally gave her. Elizabeth responds by arranging a marriage for Jasper Tudor with her aunt Kate Woodville under the guise of her immense fortune that will benefit Henry's cause.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: Cecily, Dowager Duchess of York, complains of this when it looks as if Perkin note  is heading off to war. She eventually died in 1495 at the very impressive age of 80, having outlived ten of her twelve children and several of her grandchildren.
  • Parting-Words Regret: Invoked: Henry urges Lizzie to go and reconcile with her dying mother, noting that he regrets never getting to speak to Jasper on the night he died.
  • Perfectly Arranged Marriage:
    • Henry and Elizabeth eventually bond as they are both dissatisfied with being used as pawns by their families as well as the birth of their son Arthur.
    • Also, Maggie Plantagenet is terrified of being forced into marriage with Richard Pole, but he manages to win her over with his kindness, promising to be a worthy husband to her as well as visiting her imprisoned brother and whatever else she may need. She then expresses a liking to her new surname, Pole and tells Richard that everyone calls her Maggie, prompting a smile from him.
    • Even though Jasper loves Margaret and his marriage to Kate was arranged in order to get back at Margaret by Elizabeth, Kate Woodville does manage to win him over with her kindness and they're often shown walking arm in arm, showing they're at least close.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • Despite them not being close, Lizzie's sister Cecily comforts her and insists their mother is just being spiteful when it seems Elizabeth Woodville is ill-wishing Arthur to clear the way for Richard's return. Both of them also display a Big Sister Instinct toward Maggie, who's nervous over her wedding.
    • Henry also spares Lambert Simnel at the urging of Richard Pole, who points out the boy was nothing but an Unwitting Pawn for the Yorkists.
  • Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Lizzie tells Maggie the only reason she's not being executed for plotting with the Duchess of Burgundy to free Richard and Teddy is because her husband begged the king and queen to spare her. She also uses this to stop Henry and his guards from beating Richard to death in a fit of anger.
  • Prince Charming: Real York heir or no, Henry bitterly notes that Perkin Warbeck is a very charismatic and handsome princeling who easily wins people to his cause. In his final scene, he's even comforting Teddy before the latter is executed, knowing it will soon be his turn.
  • Post-Rape Taunt: Henry attempts to rape Elizabeth before they marry. After he finishes she turns it around on him:
    • Elizabeth taunts that she "barely noticed" that he had finished.
    • Henry then claims that he "thought about [her] sister, Cecily."
  • Rage Breaking Point: A furious Lizzie gives Henry a tight slap after he forces her to have sex with him to ensure she can give him an heir and then taunts her by claiming he imagined he was bedding her sister to make the task bearable.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • Jasper uses his last words to give Margaret Beaufort one of these, after learning she orchestrated the murder of the Princes in the Tower to clear the way for Henry.
      Jasper Tudor: [dying, talking to Margaret] I've never loved anyone else. But this...did I love you without ever knowing who you truly were?
    • Elizabeth Woodville also gives her one before she is escorted out of court.
      Elizabeth Woodville: [to Margaret] I do not fear death. I have done my duty to God and when my time comes, he will reunite me with my Edward. But there is fear in your eyes. What will you say to God when you see him? How will you explain all that blood on your hands?
    • Her own son gives her one after realising she killed Prince Edward in the Tower and doomed his sons to the curse Elizabeth Woodville put on the murderer's line, all while throttling her in a furious rage.
      Henry VII: You've cursed my sons. You've damned them! YOU, their grandmother! You've put the mark of death on them. You are a butcher of innocents, you are a killer of children, and now, you have killed mine! You're a monster. You should have left me in France. I wish to Christ I was still there now, away from your poison! (Henry throws his mother out of his chambers in front of the entire court) She does not come near me. She does not speak to me. She does not speak for me. Nobody listens to her! If you defy my orders, I'll have your heads myself!
    • Richard also gives one to Lizzie after Teddy's execution and before his own, telling her she's a kinslayer and has no right to look away from the consequences of her actions.
  • Rightful King Returns: The York faction attempts to depose Henry VII and put their champion Prince Richard, the rightful York heir, on the throne. But he is captured and beheaded.
  • Retcon: Several details are changed between Queen and Princess
    • The first episode begins with a flashback to the Battle of Bosworth, which bears almost no resemblance to how it was depicted in Queen.
      • Richard III has different hair and body composition to Aneurin Barnard.
      • The crown is a different design.
      • The crown falls from Richard's head, rather than being grabbed from his corpse.
      • It's actually in a field this time, whereas Queen set it in a forest for some reason. The battle was also moved from winter to a more accurate summer.
    • Elizabeth of York changes from ginger to blonde.
    • Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort both age about thirty years in one jump to make up for lost time.
    • An in-universe example occurs when Henry VII has his reign legally backdated to the 21st August 1485—the day before the Battle of Bosworth—so that he was the king on the field and so Richard's supporters were the traitors.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The well-behaved and obedient Arthur is the blue to the bratty Harry's red.
  • Rule of Three: Three reasons get listed while arguing for a betrothal between Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon; Lizzie states that telling Arthur he's being betrothed to a beautiful Spanish princess might help take his mind off the fact a lord he liked has been executed for treason, Bishop Mortimer points out that the dowry would go a long way to refill their coffers and Henry concedes an alliance with the power of Spain might discourage other European rivals from acting against the Tudors.
  • Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Lady Cecily Neville, Lizzie's paternal grandmother, definitely subscribes to this, particularly in the presence of Henry Tudor and his faction.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!:
    • Henry has his reign dated from one day before the Battle of Bosworth; that way he can brand anyone who fought for King Richard a traitor and justify confiscating their lands.
    • Lizzie also does this to one of her own decrees; after insisting for a long time that Arthur will choose his own bride when he's old enough, when she learns Spain is the only nation in Europe not backing the Yorks, she tells Henry they're scrapping that in favour of betrothing their son to a Spanish princess.
  • Sore Loser: George Stanley, Lord Strange. His agitation at losing to young Prince Phillip and Princess Margaret of Burgundy was very obvious, despite the fact that they were children and have more experience with the games they've been playing.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers:
    • Jasper and Margaret are never able to be together due to the political circumstances they are in. Both instead settle on marriages arranged for them. And she is eventually forced to kill him when he threatens to reveal to Henry that she had the York princes murdered.
    • Perkin Warbeck and Cathy Gordon. They clearly do love each other, but the fates are against them.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: After the Duchess of Burgundy proclaims her nephew Richard as Duke of York, Lizzie suggests to Henry they counter it by making a grand show of naming their younger son Henry to the title. She promptly double-takes when Margaret Beaufort agrees with her.
  • Succession Crisis: Ongoing throughout the series as the Lancasters and Yorks both rush to birth potential heirs to hold onto power.
  • Suddenly Shouting: When Henry VII learns that many former York loyalists are coming out in support of Edward, Earl of Warwick...
    Margaret Beaufort: They want that idiot boy king over Henry?!
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Many character roles are handed down a generation:
    • Both series begin with a newly-victorious king marrying a woman from the rival faction. In 'Queen this was Edward IV marrying Elizabeth Woodville, in 'Princess it was Henry VII marrying her daughter, Elizabeth of York.
    • The elder Elizabeth in turn spends most of the series casting spells in secret, as her own mother Jacquetta had done years before. note 
    • The story arc of Margaret Plantagenet—small, shy woman who eventually learns to stand up to the men around her—is much like that of her double-aunt Anne Neville.
  • These Hands Have Killed: Margaret does this after she suffocates Jasper.
  • Wedding/Death Juxtaposition: The show emphasizes the differing roles of kings and queens by cutting between Henry leading his forces against that of the pretender Lambert Simnel on the battlefield with Elizabeth and the rest of the court's high ladies attending the arranged wedding of Elizabeth's cousin Margaret.
  • We Used to Be Friends: Lizzie and Maggie were once extremely close as cousins, but Lizzie's marriage to Henry and her growing ruthlessness to protect her family drive them apart.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Prince Richard and Cathy Gordon's son Edward is taken from them when she is tricked into coming to court. Margaret Beaufort insists he will be brought up by a London family as a guarantee to his parents' good behaviour, but the boy is never seen again. Everyone pretty much takes it as written Margaret had the boy killed to eliminate the threat of another York prince.
  • Young Future Famous People:
  • You're Not My Mother: Lizzie disowns her mother Elizabeth after she ruins Prince Harry's enoblement by declaring that Prince Richard is alive and the true Duke of York.


 
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Elizabeth of York is already pregnant with Henry Tudor's son at the time of their wedding, so he cuts her foot to dribble blood on the sheets for her and their child's reputation.

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