WELCOME TO WALES’ REAL GAME OF THRONES

Revealed: ‘Red Wedding’ and other shocking tales which could have come straight from blockbuster series It’s the Tolkien-esque fantasy which has captured the imagination of a cult following. But while Game of Thrones and its characters may be the work of

Daenerys Targaryen and Henry Tudor (Henry VII)...

This might be a bit premature as the Dragon Queen has yet to take the Seven Kingdoms and regain her father’s throne.

However, considering she has the biggest army in Westeros and three fire-breathing dragons at her side, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.

Despite the difference in gender there are obvious similarities between the Pembroke Castle-born Henry Tudor, later to be crowned King Henry VII, and Daenerys Targeryan.

To begin with they both spent most of their early years in exile, while both felt the pressure of being the last remaining hope for a dynasty. The Young Henry famously fled Pembrokeshire with his uncle Jasper Tudor and spent a number of years hiding from the Yorkists in Britanny during the War of the Roses.

The latter half of the 15th century was marred by civil war and social unrest throughout Britain which is now known as the War of the Roses. It is no secret that Game of Thrones author George RR Martin has based a sizeable amount of his work on this most savage of eras. During this period of backstabbing and warfare the English throne passed through various monarchs belonging to the Houses of York and Lancaster. In the TV series Daenerys’ father, Aerys II or the Mad King, is murdered by his own kingsguard Ser Jaime Lannister, paving the way for Robert Baratheon to take the Iron Throne, resulting in Daenerys and her older brother Viserys heading into exile. While hiding across the Narrow Sea Daenerys acquires a large army, while various members of the nobility who have fallen out of favour with the status quo rally to her side.

Henry Tudor follows a similar path to Daenerys, crossing the channel and landing in his native Pembrokeshire before eventually defeating the Yorkist King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry’s victory puts an end to the Wars of the Roses and establishes the House of Tudor.

It remains to be seen whether the Targaryen queen’s homecoming turns out to be as successful as her real life counterpart, however, given that she

Mother of (Welsh) Dragons: Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen, played by Amelia Clarke, spent years in exile like Henry Tudor

Game of Thrones’ gruesome Red Wedding. On Christmas Day 1175 Abergavenny Castle, below, was the scene of one of the most barbaric acts in the history of medieval Europe

King Henry VII