Previously on The White Princess...
Your smile is almost convincing.
My face aches from it.
Our boy must claim his kingdom
or the dangers will be even greater.
Did you write to Francis Lovell?
Order him to kill the King?
We said that we would come against him,
what else did you think that meant?
They say Henry is cursed by God.
He brought the sweating sickness.
Has anybody sent help out to the people?
- Some of your soldiers are changing sides. - To who?
King Warwick!
He's done nothing wrong! Teddy!
Lovell has fled to Burgundy.
Jasper may form the envoy.
He doesn't have a wife to miss him or anyone to pine for.
You must smelt iron in your blood,
if you are to be a queen and lead our house to victory.
Kick it down.
If only we could work together,
we could be a king for England.
I have learned a way to work my will on Henry to help us win.
- Is he coming, Lizzie? - I'll get Lady Margaret.
Burgundy has not responded.
We have no indication
that she'll receive them if they go.
And she's still pirating our ships.
Your Grace,
the Duchess knows your uncle as a commander of armies.
Perhaps not the best choice for a peace envoy.
Strange is loyal and will serve you.
But Jasper is a man of war.
My lady, the king's mother.
Bring me good news.
Maggie, I don't want him to come out.
There is a curse. He will die, Maggie.
What curse?
Please, get me my mother.
She made it with me. She will know what to do.
Quickly, ale to dull the pain.
Please, get me my mother!
To my sister-in-law in Burgundy.
We need your help for freedom.
My Lizzie is two months in her confinement
and he will not let me be with her.
His mother killed my boys in the Tower.
He slaughtered your brother Richard
on the battlefield,
and now he locks Edward Plantagenet,
the York heir, in the Tower.
If you are a York,
rise up with us against him and wage war.
I am afraid.
Push harder, Lizzie.
Please, get me my mother.
Open the shutters, I need daylight.
Just do what Lady Margaret says.
My son is still not born?
I should have gone to her.
Or is my mother right, she is trying to kill him?
Elizabeth has requested that she attend her,
but I have said that she cannot.
They say Burgundian women
are all pleasure-loving nymphs.
We are not sailing there for pleasure.
But the wind peaks for Henry.
The Duchess is sister
to dead King Richard and King Edward before him.
You'll need to keep your wits about you.
Well, you may keep your armor on,
but I shall revel in whatever sins they offer me.
They say they need to toss her in a blanket
- to loosen the baby. - No.
You will not do that.
But she isn't pushing hard enough.
Lizzie, listen to me.
You must push this baby out,
or you will be made to suffer as I was.
I can't.
When I gave birth to Henry, I was just a girl.
I thought I would die from the pain.
But I knew it was my destiny and my child,
if he would live...
would be King of England
because God wished it.
My boy will die.
Do not say that.
The child will live. Do you hear me?
You will give us the heir that Henry needs
to save him from his enemies.
Do you understand?
My God!
Yes, yes, he's here. He's here, Lizzie,
I can see him.
He's here.
Praise God, praise God.
Give him to me.
Henry!
He is here, Henry.
Prince Arthur.
Henry! No, you cannot go to her!
She is in confinement!
I can't believe he's real.
He is so tiny.
But he is strong though.
You see?
Lizzie, what did you mean about a curse?
Nothing.
Let's not think of it.
Henry.
Come in and see him.
He is a boy.
There's no mistake?
No.
He is perfect.
And you are radiant.
May I take him?
I'm a father.
Thank you.
For your efforts I am in your debt.
Will you send my mother to see me now?
Yeah.
Here.
Feed him until he is strong.
Why aren't the bells ringing?
They should be ringing out the news.
And light the bonfires!
And Teddy, Lizzie?
Will you ask him to free Teddy from the Tower?
Of course I will.
I have delivered on my bargain
now he must give something in return.
His happiness will help us.
?
Duchess. From England.
Now I have two.
What does it say, Grand-mère?
Alors, my Rettie.
This one...
is from the Dowager Queen of England,
called Elizabeth.
And she says I must make war.
And this one...
is from the new king, Henry Tudor,
who bids me peace.
Go.
Jasper Tudor and Lord Strange?
I take it you refused them?
I did not reply.
But my spies tell me they're sailing anyway.
The very man who led the Tudor army.
You must stand with Elizabeth
and fight them.
You cannot sit back any longer, Duchess.
Cannot, Francis?
So you would tell me what to do now,
just as England seeks to?
Just because you failed to kill the King
while you were standing right beside him.
My choice...
is to remain a thorn in Henry Tudor's side.
As I've been doing for so many happy months.
Which is why I grant you safety at my court.
If they come, I will refuse to see them
and then they will go.
My step-mother has not mourned her brother King Richard...
She will not even speak of it.
She thinks that she can hide here, and the world will stay outside.
Well, she is wrong.
The time has come to be a York,
and take a stand.
Did they hurt you?
- I tried to come to you. - Mother.
Look.
A boy.
God's ways are strange indeed
but He answers Lady Margaret's prayer.
He answers mine.
He is my own dear boy.
He is perfect.
Did you hear how loudly she screamed?
I thought she would split open.
Cecily, would you fetch me some wine, my throat is dry.
And Lizzie sounds rather hoarse as well.
Guard your heart, my Lizzie.
The child is not your own.
He belongs to the Throne.
And never forget what the red in that rose stands for.
Your family's blood.
Your lover's blood.
Richard is gone now, Mother.
All that there is now is Arthur.
Arthur.
Well...
A new royal name at last.
Perhaps now we have the boy
who will bring back peace to England.
Half York, half Tudor.
He is only Tudor.
And he is not just a boy.
He is my son's heir and heir to the throne of England.
Of that there is no doubt.
There is always doubt,
Lady Margaret.
For I once had two boys
who were destined there themselves.
Nothing is ever certain.
Or can you read the future?
?
Here comes the English fools
Hoping to make peace.
They look so tired and miserable.
Wouldn't you be, Mary?
coming from a Tudor court?
And still no satisfaction when they get here.
Perhaps we will make use of them
for sport though, no?
Don't be fooled by her.
She's formidable and quite the politician.
She is a Maximilian in charge.
It's his wife Mary who has the lineage's daughter
to the late Charles the Bold,
but as you would expect when there's a York around
it's the step-mother who really holds the power.
Most say she ruled the Duchy
long before her husband passed away.
I wonder what he died of.
The christening must take place at once.
Whatever doubts the people have will be forgotten
when they see God smiles on you.
They cannot wait till Lizzie's been churched?
It is not the custom.
And she has no function at the service.
What is important
is that England knows you have an heir.
And your enemies will find much stonier ground
in which to seed dissent.
I will consult with Lizzie.
You...
You are taking counsel...
From your wife?
From somebody who knows the will of England.
She is mother to the child.
Unless I am mistaken.
It is good of you to take the time
to see us, Your Graces.
Well, you have come all this way.
Would you take some wine?
We have so much to drink.
You have lost something, My Lord?
The Duchess doesn't join us?
She doesn't wish to lay eyes on the man
who beat her brother to an early death on Bosworth Field.
With respect, Duchess,
without a death the battle wouldn't end.
We are sorry for her loss.
And to you too, Duchess Cecily.
We commend his soul to God.
How good of you to say so after all this time.
- Let's move to business. - No.
We will respect the Duchess and her grief.
Our business may come later, when she's ready.
If you will grant us leave to stay until that time...
Maximilian?
Wait here?
I can think of worse things.
Do you like to play, Lord Strange?
Play?
What kind of games?
My children love sword fighting
and they can never find opponents.
Well.
If they don't mind losing...
I wasn't, I wasn't ready.
Philip.
Boys are so impetuous.
Why must it be Winchester?
For the christening?
I cannot be so many days away from him.
I have said your mother may come with us.
She is godmother.
This time she is really going, Lizzie.
And I am not.
I have commissioned his own badge for him.
The red rose and the white combined.
A sign of our new unity.
I'd hoped for your approval.
Our mothers will not give it.
I think they like the war between them.
But you do not?
Now that I have given you a son,
will you release Teddy?
I cannot while I am away from London.
Then when you return?
Please, Henry, he's terrified.
- I will consider it. - He is a child.
- You would not wish it on Arthur. - I said I will consider it.
And take a view.
Bring the child. We are leaving.
If you were to christen him in London,
I would not have to be apart from him.
The priest will come on your 40th day to sanctify you
so you can return to court.
Please take care of him.
Duchess.
Leave us.
Your court is very beautiful.
I thought when I returned to England
I'd be happy to leave Europe well behind me.
I miss the light.
But the light is not why you are here.
Enough playacting.
Please relay your message from your king.
King Henry sent a gift.
As a token of his friendship.
A sovereign.
A coin of solid gold
and the King himself is rendered on the front.
Perhaps he fears his reign will be so short,
he must have permanence?
The King feels most confident in his reign
and would have peace with Burgundy.
He wishes to return your trading rights.
And forge new alliances between our nations.
So, now it hurts him to lose his gold and ships,
he finds it in his heart to be our ally?
When Henry was in exile,
you tried to hand him to your brother for execution.
You cannot be surprised
that when he won the throne he sought to punish you.
No, not surprised.
He spent his life in brothels and in cow-sheds.
What would he know of politics?
Or pain.
Who has he lost?
I have lost
three brothers,
and a father and a husband.
This war has cost him nothing.
I cannot bear it.
Being parted from him.
The King said that he would free him,
when Arthur has been christened?
And I will do everything I can to see that he does.
And when I am blessed,
we will go to the Tower immediately
and visit Teddy.
Thank you.
What did you mean?
About a curse?
I know you meant it. I'm worried, Lizzie.
It is nothing that would hurt Teddy.
It was on whoever killed my brother in the Tower.
We laid a curse that their male line would die.
So, if it was at Lady Margaret's orders
that my brother's life was taken...
Lizzie.
But no harm will come to Arthur.
No harm will come.
You said yourself he is strong.
He's strong.
Dowager Elizabeth.
Please,
come with me.
Teddy! Teddy! Come here. It's all right.
It's all right.
I am sorry we have not come to see you, Teddy.
I had a baby boy and Maggie helped me.
I had little baby Arthur.
Can we go now, Maggie?
I'm so sorry you're here.
We are trying to bring you home.
Cousin Lizzie will be queen soon.
And she has told the King that you shouldn't be here.
Because it's a mistake.
And when you are free, we shall go
and live together somewhere quiet.
In a little house
far away from kings and castles.
Well, you'll be home soon, Teddy.
I promise.
I love you, sweetheart, I love you.
Take me home. Please, take me home, Maggie.
?
We know for certain it was Elizabeth.
She wrote to Lovell in a plot to steal your throne
and put the boy Edward Plantagenet upon it.
Now that your son is safely in the world,
you must imprison her.
She will have spread her web to Burgundy already.
No doubt she's exhorting war.
Surely she has nothing she can offer them,
while I now have a son to bargain with.
Jasper will impress this on the Duchess.
He will win her to obedience with the benefits of trade.
Just have faith in him.
I will have faith in God and God alone.
Mortal men must earn it.
Give him to me!
Give him to me.
I have been practicing.
I am to be a married woman.
John Welles.
He's Lady Margaret's half-brother,
so he's very close to the throne.
He's rich and very handsome.
He smiled at me through the whole christening.
Lady Margaret says I'm to have him.
Does he have a say in it?
Where is our mother?
Perhaps you should ask your husband.
Henry.
He cried throughout.
- I suppose that's what they do. - It is.
Where is my mother?
She is locked up in a dungeon.
My mother proved she was behind the Lovell plot to kill me.
She wanted Teddy on the throne
and for that reason, I cannot set him free.
My enemies require a figurehead.
He would be snatched and made to be that symbol.
You said that you would release him.
You promised me you would.
I said I would consider it and take a view.
You must listen far more carefully
to what people say if you wish to be a queen.
You will not leave her in a dungeon. I forbid it.
If she is to be kept away from me
then house her in an abbey.
Put her in retirement if you must.
Let it be Bermondsey Abbey, at least there is a garden.
Prepare for your coronation.
I have ordered it.
No, That's... That's... This line here, that's out.
- That's out. - No, it wasn't.
This is out.
You lost the point.
You should have told me that your friend is such a marvelous court jester.
He is no friend of mine.
But then, I think you know that.
I'm sorry for my clumsiness.
I did not mean to cause you pain.
Will you walk?
I thought you would be celebrating.
My spies tell me Henry has a son.
So, you know, then, that Henry's position is much stronger.
There will be alliances,
a betrothal for the Prince.
And...
Should we choose a French princess
and make our peace with them?
And France is the enemy on our doorstep,
and so you would wage war on us with them.
But if we are already fighting you,
what difference does it make?
You are decided then?
I have no love of war.
But I cannot like your king.
You do not know him.
And you have too strong a mind
to let the past or old scores sway you.
Henry won at Bosworth fairly.
In fact, he was the outside chance.
I think that he has you to thank for that.
I was by his side throughout the battle
and since he was a child.
I am heart and soul for Henry.
I would give my life for him.
What does he do to inspire such loyalty?
When he has a goal he does not waiver.
He was brave in exile, he is strong.
He has greater loyalty than any man I've ever known.
Then he would make someone a very fine dog.
Duchess.
I know that you have Europe on your side
and that you do not need England.
I'm not a politician,
or a lawyer.
I don't have clever words.
I am a man of war,
and while I have not lost my kin to it,
I've lost my life.
- The good years when I should have... - What?
I cannot bring your brothers back.
But if we strike out for peace,
then we can see that no one else you love is stolen from you.
?
This is to be our home?
King Henry shows mercy on you.
You will pray for four hours a day and see no visitors.
What about my daughter, Princess Elizabeth?
She is no longer your daughter,
but King Henry's queen on Sunday.
Air and exercise may be taken in the garden.
For one hour,
at dawn and sunset.
I don't think I should like to be queen.
The clothes are all too ugly.
I should be much happier as wife to John Welles.
It is a love match, anyway.
Deliver this to my mother in Bermondsey Abbey.
Ned will help you.
She will tell us how to help my cousin.
But Lizzie,
shouldn't we find a way to help Teddy ourselves?
If we were caught, it would be worse for him.
I have tried and failed.
My mother is our only hope.
Come on my loves, no more apples.
They'll give you a stomach ache.
Ned. Ned, I've seen her.
Come on, my loves, let's go inside.
You sent for me?
Yes.
I am not yet recovered from my child-bed.
I...
You are thankful?
For the coronation?
That I shall take you as my queen?
I would be thankful if you freed my cousin
from the Tower and let my mother be with me.
I have said why I cannot.
Then you cannot ask me to be thankful.
What will be my role when I am queen?
- Your role? - And what will I do for you?
It is a test.
You mean to prove you know more than I do how to rule.
- It is a question. - It is a jibe.
You compare my efforts to your father's
or the old York king, your lover.
Everywhere I look around me, nobles conspire against me.
Servants slip each other notes.
They smile into my face and then behind me draw their knives.
Well, that is what it is to be king.
My father had the same thing, as did Richard,
from you and Lancaster.
And those who killed my brothers in the Tower.
Well, it is more than I can bear each day.
Waiting, wondering if I'll live till supper.
Wondering if our son will live.
Well, why did you slaughter Richard
if you do not wish to be king?
Because I had been trained to do it all my life.
There was no other life for me.
No other choice. My life had been decided
from the moment I was born.
You must have heard my mother speak of it.
She felt I had a destiny
from the moment that she had me.
I was to be the king for her because she dreamed of power.
Perhaps you cannot understand
being told your whole life what you are,
with never any chance to think about it for yourself.
I sometimes wonder what I would have been.
What I would have chosen had my life been ordinary.
That is what my life has been as well.
A puppet for my mother's own ambition.
It was her who craved the throne for me.
- I would have settled for a man... - A man you loved.
I don't ask that you love me in the way that you loved him.
But I had hoped you may have come to have a tenderness.
At least.
A kindness, even.
And would that be enough for you?
You don't want someone who burns to be with you,
who would ride across the battlefield
just to hear your voice?
I...
Do not know.
I've never had it.
What have they done to us?
We are their creatures.
At least your sister will be happy.
- John Welles is a good man. - What can we do, Henry?
What can we do?
I know you cannot love me.
I know it is beyond what you can give.
I only ask that you do not plot against my life.
At least spare me that humiliation.
But of course, you cannot
even promise that.
?
Bridget.
Come along.
Look at your sisters.
Dear Mother,
please send word that you are safe and well in Bermondsey Abbey.
Teddy is still in the tower and Henry refuses to release him.
I need your help and guidance.
Your daughter, Lizzie.
There's very little York about him.
I think he has my mother's eyes.
I'm glad we can be friends at last.
Now that you have Arthur,
you are joined with us.
And any threat against Henry
is a threat against our boy as well.
And I can see how much you care for him.
And tomorrow, you will be Queen of England.
Lizzie, the message came to Ned from your mother.
It was recited.
She says that you should go to her.
That she will bribe a monk to let you slip into the abbey.
On my coronation day?
She says you must write to Burgundy
and say they must bring war.
- But, Lizzie... - How will that help Teddy?
Or your baby Arthur?
Tell my daughter
if a letter came from her, the Queen of England,
Henry Tudor's own wife,
then she would persuade the Duchess.
Tell her to remember who she is.
Descendant of the water goddess Melusina,
and a true, white York.
Tell her that I love her,
and I miss her,
and I need her.
God save the Queen.
You are the Queen of England now.
Do you feel different?
I feel as though I've aged 1,000 years.
I wonder if he'll feel the same.
If he does succeed me to the throne.
- My enemies may see to it that he does not. - Don't say it.
Never say it, Henry.
What have you decided?
Will you see your mother?
She has paid a monk to let me in.
But if you make him angry, if he catches you...
He will not let poor Teddy out in any case.
But he has to.
Maybe if he learns to trust you?
Now that you are queen, maybe he will want
- to make you happy. - How can I know what to do
now I have Arthur?
If my mother brings an army,
how can I choose between my mother and my son?
I don't think you should go, Lizzie.
But if I don't, when will I see my mother?
Will I ever see her again?
Your Grace.
Lord Strange, you look most sad.
There was no game that you could win?
They are your children. We are your guests.
Of course I let them win.
Poor Lord Strange.
Come.
If it makes you feel better, we will have one race.
And you will at least win something.
I wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself.
I believe that I can ride one race.
We go to the far tree and come back.
I assume she is an expert rider.
Never beaten.
Come, let's leave them to their blood sports.
Shall we walk again?
Tell me, Jasper...
What would you have done with all those years,
had you not been at war or out in exile?
Who knows? Another life.
You have regrets.
You would have liked to marry.
It didn't seem to be
God's plan for me.
Of course there are whore-houses,
but a true companion,
someone you can trust and grow with...
There was someone I loved.
But it wasn't meant to be.
You surprise me, Jasper Tudor.
You are not who I thought you'd be.
Tell her that I love her,
and I miss her,
and I need her.
There is still time.
You are a handsome man.
There is still life ahead.
Perhaps a York and Tudor union might grow to be a fashion.
Damn them.
They have my Cecily.
And now they take my Lizzie, too?
Is this your work?
I will not have it.
Don't.
No.
Damn them all to hell!
Mary?
Can you move?
Help me to carry her inside.
Come here, come here.
They say...
Her back is broken.
Will she live?
What? No.
Enough.
She's gone.
I am sorry for your loss.
You said no one else would die.
If there's anything I can do...
Get out.
You're not welcome here.
I said get out!