The White Princess
Elizabeth of York battles to find her place in the Tudor dynasty…
SAT 18 November, 9.00pm DRAMA Drama
This eight-part series, which starts with a double episode, is a follow-up to BBC1’s 2013 historical drama The White Queen. Among the brand new cast is Doctor Foster actress Jodie Comer as Elizabeth and Jacob Collins Levy as Henry VII. As the Wars of the Roses end, Henry claims the throne. But when the rightful king, Prince Richard, is rumoured to be alive, Henry’s new wife, Elizabeth, faces a dilemma.
Royal intrigue, a messy marriage and meddling mothers are all in this follow-up to 2013 series The
White Queen, which picks up in the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses.
Adapted from Philippa Gregory’s novel, the eight-part drama follows Elizabeth of York (Jodie Comer), known as Lizzie, who’s compelled to wed newly anointed Henry VII (Jacob Collins-Levy) after her uncle, Richard III, is killed in the Battle of Bosworth.
Royal wedding
Their marriage will unite the rival Houses of York and Tudor, and bring peace to a divided England. The couple, however, despise each other, and Lizzie is plotting her own rebellion.
‘Lizzie has got a lot of sass,’ says
Doctor Foster star Jodie. ‘She’s young but wise, and was in love with Richard, so she’s being forced into this marriage.
‘She lets the Tudors know she’s the key to it all, though. They need the Yorks.’
Lizzie also has an enemy in Henry’s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort (ex-Game of Thrones star Michelle Fairley), who has a cruel plan this week to test whether Lizzie is fertile.
But with help from her own mother, Elizabeth Woodville (The Last Post’s
Essie Davis), and sister Cecily (played by model Suki Waterhouse), the York women prove a formidable force.
‘Lizzie gets her great strength from her mother, who’d go to any lengths to get what she wanted,’ says Jodie.
She adds that it’s refreshing to star in a historical retelling from the point of view of such powerful women.
‘Behind these great men were amazing women who held them up,’ she says. ‘You never see this side of it, though, and Lizzie brings a great sensitivity to Henry. She contributes a lot to the king that he becomes.’