Exclusive New Photos of The Spanish Princess Preview the Royal Drama to Come
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For centuries, Tudor-era history has been told from Henry VIII's perspective, and his first Queen, Catherine of Aragon, is all too often reduced to one word in a rhyme about the fate of the King's wives: divorced.
But the Starz drama The Spanish Princess endeavors to tell her side of the story, and to reveal a narrative all too often left out of schoolbooks: that Catherine was a political powerhouse all on her own, and, at least for a time, the love on Henry VIII's life.
"For those who know the story of where Catherine and Henry go, I hope that we have managed to provide a journey that's still full of many surprises," co-showrunner Matthew Graham tells Town & Country. "Although it ends in a place that people who know their history will know, I think it will still surprise dramatically."
The final chapter of Catherine's story premieres Sunday, October 11 on Starz. In the meantime, scroll through exclusive new photos from The Spanish Princess Part 2 along with commentary from Graham and his co-showrunner Emma Frost, about what's to come, below.
Ruairi O'Connor as Henry VIII and Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon
It was important to Graham and Frost that they show Catherine and Henry's love story, despite the way that it ends. "She was the love of his life," Frost says. "He was with her for 24 years, and it was only when he came to believe that God did not smile upon his marriage that Henry started to go mad, and started to think that somehow there was something wrong."
"If they'd have had a healthy son, they would have stayed together and the rest of history wouldn't have happened the way that it did. So their love is something that we celebrate in the show," Frost continues.
Frost describes the history that is often taught about Catherine and Henry's relationship as "an incredibly cliche view."
"It's always Catherine was the unwanted, middle-aged wife who got jettisoned for sexy Anne Boleyn. That's not the truth of it. That's not the whole story by a really, really long way," she says.
"What we're trying to do for both characters is examine: what was the journey? What is their origin story? Who were they before that moment? And there is real vibrancy and love there."
Stephanie Levi-John as Lina de Cardonnes and Aaron Cobham as Oviedo
Motherhood will become a central focus of The Spanish Princess in its second part, for Catherine and for Lina.
"At least initially, everything is going great for Catherine because she has a son and England is thriving," explains Graham. "Obviously we know fortunes are going to change for her, but Lina also raises a family and she raises a family of sons."
The storyline about Lina's children isn't based on history, Graham explains "because we don't know whether the real Lina, Catalina de Cardonnes, had children at all."
"But we felt that was a really important thing to see. Lina and Oviedo, as an ordinary couple and an ordinary family, are able to find a peace that Catherine and Henry are struggling to find, even with all their power and wealth," he says.
"Lina brings such heartfelt empathy in this series," Graham continues. "The way [actress Stephanie Levi-John] portrayed being a loyal friend, it's really beautiful and it just gets more and more moving as the show unfolds because she can't be happy even though she's got all the trappings of happiness. She can't be happy unless her friend, the queen, is happy. So it's really lovely. Sad, as well."
The Women of The Spanish Princess
Frost has what she describes as a "very particular view of so-called history."
"Any given history book says more about the person who wrote it and the time in which it was written, than it does about the so-called facts. So, most history is a litany of white men being successful and begetting heirs and winning wars," she explains. "What we have as a written document is incredibly one-sided. Women's lives and the lives of people of color, you have to find tiny fragments and extrapolate from them." It's a goal of The Spanish Princess to imagine those stories, she says.
Laura Carmichael as Maggie Pole
Graham hints that there could be a love interest for Maggie, or at least a moment of connection between her and a new character, Thomas More.
"There is a story across the show with Laura and a wonderful character, Thomas More, played by Andrew Buchan—I'm sure people will know him from Broadchurch. And that's an interesting story because it's a meeting of minds and hearts in a very interesting way," he says.
But he also hinted her story is unexpected. "By the end of the show, she is at a place that I don't think many of the people in the audience will be expecting her to get to," he says. "It's kind of exciting to take them there ... I'll say this. I didn't realize Laura could be quite so intimidating as Maggie Pole."
Sai Bennett as Princess Mary
One new character this season is Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary. Per Graham, it's been said "that she could be giddy in seven languages."
"It's a lovely insight," he says. "She's seemingly a little bit ditsy and a little bit of a party girl and a bit of an "it" girl, but actually she's incredibly smart and incredibly clever."
Georgie Henley as Margaret Tudor
Frost hints that the storylines for both of Henry's sisters will be pivotal this season. "They are the wind of change that is moving through, two women who are saying, 'I don't care what you say I should do with my life. Maybe I've got a different idea.' And we see it with Meg and Mary in different ways," she says. "A huge part of the joy of this season, as well, is watching these two Tudor sisters, who have all of Henry's entitlement and arrogance in different ways, who both say, 'I don't know, I think I might do it my way, thank you.'"
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