The White Queen

The red rose represented the House of Lancaster, and the white rose symbolized the House of York, during the conflict that became known as the Wars of the Roses. Photo courtesy of the White Queen Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheWhiteQueen.starz

Did anyone watch the White Queen TV series on Starz (in the US)? I was literally obsessed. My husband and I would drop whatever we were doing just to be home in time to watch the show. It was based on three of Philippa Gregory's novels on what she refers to as the "Cousins' War"- the Wars of the Roses. It wasn't particularly historically accurate, but what TV shows are? (Remember The Tudors?)

What I found most interesting was Gregory's assertion that Queen Elizabeth Woodville (wife of Edward IV) was, indeed, a witch. Most intriguing was the curse that she and her eldest daughter, also Elizabeth (later wife of Henry VII- Henry Tudor), placed on whomever was responsible for the deaths of the Princes in the Tower. His firstborn son shall die, they swore, and so shall his grandsons.

Aneurin Barnard portrayed Richard III in the series- here, he sits astride his horse, preparing for the battle at Bosworth that would lead to his death. Photo courtesy of the White Queen Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheWhiteQueen.starz

There were a lot of interesting choices in the show (and the books)- for example, the belief that Elizabeth's second son, Richard, Duke of York was somehow smuggled out of the country and that the leader of a rebellion later on in Henry VII's reign, a Fleming known as Perkin Warbeck, was actually Richard. How Elizabeth managed to find a little boy who looked, talked, and spoke similarly enough to her son Richard that he could fool his uncle, Richard III, is beyond me.

Another thing about the show that irked me was Gregory's insistence that there was something rather creepy going on between Richard III and his niece, Elizabeth of York. I find it hard to believe that Richard would dishonor his brother's memory by courting his own niece.

Richard III and his niece, Elizabeth of York. Photo courtesy of the White Queen Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheWhiteQueen.starz

But back to the curse. It was a fascinating choice by Gregory for one main reason- it left her free, as an author, to never actually accuse anyone at all of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. Why? Because everyone's son died! Richard III  and his wife, Anne Neville, lost their boy, Edward of Middleham. Henry VII's oldest boy, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died at the age of fourteen, soon after his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Henry VII's firstborn grandson, Prince Edward, son of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VII's second son (later known as Henry VIII), died after only eight weeks. Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham (whom author Sharon Kay Penman blames for the tragic murders in her novel, The Sunne in Splendour- an excellent read) was put to death for his part in a rebellion against Richard III- his son, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was also executed later for the Plantagenet blood that flowed through his veins by Henry VIII.

So who to blame for the death of the poor Princes? Every one of our suspects suffered at the hands of Gregory's "curse". I, for one, believe Henry Stafford played a pivotal role in the death of the Princes. But Gregory's choice of a "curse" to punish those guilty of murder is an excellent one- the mystery remains, as ever, unsolved. 

The Princes in the Tower: Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. Photo courtesy of the BBC History page on the Princes in the Tower. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/princes_in_tower.shtml