The White Princess (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - Old Curses - full transcript
Previously on The White Princess...
The enemy of England,
the York pretender!
I want to find his wife and child.
What if I don't wish to be your guest?
Then you may leave your son
and freely return to Scotland.
He will be tended to by midwives. No.
We will change our plan.
I will give up my claim. No.
You can't deny your birthright.
And if you did, the Scots and
all of Europe would abandon you.
The only thing that keeps you safe
is if you hold fast and they back us.
Duchess of Burgundy
bids you come to Cheapside.
They will never let your brother out.
Your only hope of freeing him
is putting Richard on the throne.
If you even think there is a chance
that that boy is your brother Richard,
then you cannot hurt him, Lizzie.
No. They're poisoned.
He puts poison in my
clothes to make me sick!
Stop it! Stop it, please.
Quickly. There is a fire.
You must disappear forever.
You would not go against your
husband for a boat builder's son
but you would to save your brother.
I am the son of King Edward, the IV
and I will have the throne of England!
Where is Richard?
The Tower.
We slipped out whilst
everyone was sleeping.
They're all exhausted from the fire.
Even the guards.
Henry beat him so badly.
You must write to King James.
Tell him we need Scotland,
we need his armies now.
Duchess, you have spies,
set them to find out where my son is.
Edward must be with me.
I will have them search.
Go and write your letter.
Her child is already dead.
Do you think it will
help to tell her that?
I want her writing to Scotland,
not weeping for her infant.
Henry will kill Prince Richard
before our messenger is out of London...
No, he won't...
I say we gather behind Warwick,
even if he is simple minded...
Lizzie will not let Henry kill him.
She knows he is her brother.
Summon your men, my lords.
The duchess is right.
The time to strike is now.
All this time,
I thought you were
the petite fleur tremblante.
But now look at you.
A blazing white rose.
Be my eyes and ears?
Cathy will stay here with you.
She has no reason to return to Court.
They will simply think she's run.
Wait here.
I told you, I told you over
and over that you must decide
and you did not.
The fire is an attempt on your life,
and the lives of the princes!
And the Spanish say
that you must kill him.
He must hang.
Yes, Mother. He must.
The Spanish?
Their ambassador, De Puebla is here.
They will not grant the marriage
between Princess Catherine
and Prince Arthur
until the boy is dead.
And the Earl of Warwick too.
De Puebla said Queen Isabella
already told you this.
Yes.
Do you want your son married?
You can deal with Warwick later
but must get rid of the pretender now.
You have a charge.
He set the fire.
He did not set the fire.
I did.
What?
Why?
Leave us.
Leave us.
By all the saints,
I wonder how you
walk in a straight line,
your wits are so dismally few.
Lady Mother.
I hoped he would escape.
Escape.
Yes.
Why?
Why would you want him to escape?
Because...
Because...
Henry, you must not kill him.
My mother called down a curse on
the murderers of the princes.
I knelt next to her, Henry,
I said the words with her,
that the murderers of the princes
would never see their
own sons grow to men,
that their whole male
line would be blighted,
all of their sons,
all of them, dead,
in revenge for the princes.
You mustn't kill him.
You mustn't.
And you are saying that
this curse would fall on me
because he is your brother.
He is Prince Richard.
Our sons, Henry.
Our boys. Our precious, beautiful boys.
He is your brother.
After all this time,
and now you tell me that it's true.
You cannot kill him.
You must find another way.
We, we must find another way.
There is no other way. There is.
There has to be, if we just think.
Henry...
Henry.
Arthur, stop it. Give me the arrow.
I want the princes busy at
their favorite pursuits today.
They can do what they want
but they must be kept occupied.
Your Grace.
I looked for you, earlier.
Before it was light.
I could not find you.
I was here.
I was walking in the courtyard.
The smell of burning made me feel ill.
Where is Cathy Gordon?
I do not know, Your Grace.
I have not seen her.
Oh, well done, Prince Arthur!
Senor De Puebla. Your Grace.
I carry a private message
from Queen Isabella to you.
From one mother to another.
She thought you understood each other
and now she wonders if you
insult her and her daughter?
There is no insult.
I have the matter in hand.
Come.
Move him to be with the Earl of Warwick.
Now.
Your Grace?
Scotland is readying
armies to come against us.
Who brought you this news?
The New Clerk.
Burgundy and Ireland
wait for the tides and the
weather to be in their favor.
Well, my aunt has been busy,
has she not?
I require your assistance.
Oh, Your Grace, you must allow me...
No, my Lord Cardinal.
You are busy
and my lady, the king's mother,
may need you.
Him.
Name?
Noah Luff.
Crime?
Defilin' a church.
Tutor him.
He must be word perfect.
Your Grace.
The boy has been moved
to the same cell as the Earl of Warwick.
By whose order?
The king's.
I will deal with it.
If it's the king's wish.
What is he thinking?
The king should be
sending for his lords,
he should be marshalling his forces
but instead he sends for his mother?
Who rules us, him or you?
Thank you for coming.
You do not need to thank me,
I come as soon as I am bid.
Henry.
Henry, you have moved the
imposter to be with the idiot...
You have eyes everywhere.
It will look to your lords,
to everybody,
as if you believe him.
There's a symmetry to it,
don't you think?
Then as now, two York boys
with a claim in the one room.
The boy is who he says he is.
Then King Richard was careless.
And now you must finish
it and get rid of him.
It is what is necessary.
Mother,
I am of your flesh.
You made me.
I have been advised
by so many who do not know
what it is to be standing
where I am standing,
to make decisions,
to do what is necessary
and I would be counseled by you
because I believe that you do know.
I know?
Mother.
I believe it was you who
killed the boys in the Tower.
No. Your past actions would resolve me,
help me to do what must be done.
Was it you?
Sometimes, Henry,
politics takes place
under the cloak of night.
You did it.
There are things that are necessary,
for the greater good,
things that must be done.
And now you are resolved.
We will be together on this, Henry.
Let your mother guide you.
There's a curse.
What curse?
Lizzie told me that
her mother placed a curse
on the killer of her sons.
A blight on their male line.
No heirs.
They will sicken and die.
A story to scare peasants,
but not a king.
Elizabeth Woodville had the craft,
everyone said so.
The only craft she ever had
was making herself pleasing to men.
You've cursed my sons.
You've damned them! You!
Their grandmother!
You've put the mark of death on them...
You are a butcher of innocence!
You are a killer of children!
Argh! And now you have killed mine.
You're a monster.
You should have left me in France.
I wish to Christ I was still there now,
and away from your poison.
She does not come near me.
She does not speak to me.
She does not speak for me.
Nobody listens to her.
If you defy my orders,
I'll have your heads myself.
Oh, I've missed you,
Oh, I can't breathe...
I have missed you.
I have brought you warm shirts
and, um, fresh...
Fresh bread and meat and apples.
The duchess of Burgundy is close by.
Cathy is safe with her.
Armies gather for you.
This tower will be torn open
and they will carry you
on their shoulders to Westminster.
I will walk.
And what will you have, Teddy?
When we are freed?
A dog. A friendly dog.
You may have as many as you wish.
A hundred dogs, all of them friendly.
What is it? What's happened?
King Richard was innocent.
It wasn't him who killed the boys.
It was my mother.
What?
How does it work?
The curse. Is it both boys?
I don't know.
But it's one of them.
Without a doubt,
one of our sons will die, but which one?
I don't know, Henry.
She killed the rightful king
and put me on the throne.
It's all been lies.
Our boys.
Our beautiful boys are damned.
Come.
I want to show you something.
Who is this?
His name is Noah Luff.
He is sentenced to be
publicly whipped and hanged.
He has struck a deal
for a simple hanging only,
with a good noose so that it is quick.
And coins for his wife.
In return for what?
I, Perkin Warbeck,
the humble son of a
boatman from Tournai,
confess to a plot to kill the
king and the royal family.
I did falsely impersonate
the dead King Richard,
Duke of York, and I... Stop, stop now.
Henry,
listen to me,
all that people talk about is that
there is a prince in the Tower
and that they are ready
to fight for him.
So we show them this man.
This man hangs at Tyburn,
he confesses in public
and what do people see?
Not a prince but a criminal,
a fraud,
an imposter telling his crimes freely
and so the rebellion is broken,
there is no war because there is no-one
to put on the throne instead of you.
That man there is
"the other way" we had to find.
And then what?
The boy stays in the Tower.
A nameless prisoner. He does not die,
he lives out his life there.
I will not sanction this.
Take him away. The York lords will
bring war if they believe he lives.
They are bringing it now.
I have loved you, Lizzie.
How I have loved you.
I didn't know that I could love.
You have been the grace of my life.
But I never deserved you.
And whatever happens, you must be safe.
Go to the Tower.
Speak to him.
Argh!
Taken a tumble?
That wasn't there last night.
Well, it's there now.
Call my ladies. I want to dress.
There's no one outside.
Of course there is!
Where are they?
Once you've seen my lady,
the king's mother,
half-throttled by her beloved son,
you're a lot less willing
to jump to the stick.
Find my ladies.
Demand they attend me.
I am still who I am!
For now.
All that power you had, Margaret.
All that hard fought for power.
Can you feel it all slipping
through your fingers?
Because I can.
You have the look of our mother.
And that doesn't please you?
I loved her very much but
I didn't always like her.
I hated her ambition.
What it did to us.
Nothing else mattered but power.
She was a queen.
And look where we are from her ambition.
I would like to ask her
if it was all worth it.
Lizzie, two boys died in this Tower
but these two men will not.
We will walk free.
We will be restored.
There will be justice.
A vicious wrong will be set right.
And what would happen to us?
Your children are my
nephews and my niece.
They will be honored.
And you are the king's sister.
You will be a great lady.
And my husband?
He's a soldier, isn't he?
He has his honor.
He will fight to the death.
And that would be the end of it.
We would be widowed and
fatherless but stay at court,
no other factions rising for
children with a Tudor claim.
There would be peace.
It is God's will, Lizzie.
The bird took the bread!
He took it.
Oh, dear God.
You are so like my
father when you laugh.
Henry?
Henry, please.
Henry?
Henry, please open the door.
Henry.
Henry sees no one.
Sits in darkness.
His mind turns against itself.
His lords plan for war without him.
And Lizzie, what does she do?
Doesn't she have you followed?
Of course,
but her ladies believe in Richard too,
so they look the other way.
From King James.
How does your son?
Well, thank you. The duchess'
spies hear nothing about mine.
I'm sorry.
When I am Queen, Margaret
Beaufort will be shown no mercy.
None at all.
She's young.
She will have more children.
Scotland has been generous.
Two thousand men
are waiting on the tides
to bring my armies and the
Irish here to join them.
Yes!
We will cut Henry's men down
and all these years of Tudor filth
will seem nothing at all.
I should go before I'm missed.
Your husband will be
among those loyal to Henry.
He's loyal to me, Duchess.
Of course.
You'd let a Tudor loyalist live?
You have to go to Henry.
You must tell him there is no curse.
But there is.
A widow and a virgin
hurling oaths against their enemies
because words are all they have.
That is not a curse.
Tell me, my lady the king's mother,
how do you stand there in the
sight of God with that sin,
that stain of child murder on your soul?
We are going to lose everything.
That little boy you
removed from Cathy Gordon,
that baby you sent away for nursing,
has he been nursed into his grave?
How do you sleep?
How are you not bowed down with shame?
How do you not howl with the
grief of what you have done?
Was this always your plan?
Get close to the crown,
un-man the king with some...
...sour whore's trick
so your family can steal
it back for themselves?
When have I ever had a plan?
Even now, at my husband's orders
I must broker the safety
of what sons I have left
after the chaos you have unleashed.
Elizabeth.
If you are not shocked by what
you will do for your children,
if you are not appalled
by how far you will go for those
they drag out of you while you screamed,
then you are not a woman
worthy of the name.
Mother...
You're frightened.
No, of course not.
Are we in danger?
Will we go to the Tower?
My darling boy,
no harm will come to you,
not ever, not you, my darling boy.
Scorched brick and burning wood.
It smells of war.
If I close my eyes,
it's as if I'm back at Bosworth
and no time at all has passed.
Bosworth is a long time passed.
You never knew the truth
of how your uncle Richard died, did you?
He was beaten to death.
No,
not to death.
Beaten, yes.
Beaten and beaten. But he wouldn't die.
One eye stamped from his head
and the other still rolled and blinked.
He was still breathing,
blood bubbling on his lips.
The men violated his
body again and again
and I did nothing. I...
Didn't stop them.
I saw that he lived
and I encouraged them
to do what they wanted,
like animals, tearing at him.
Please stop... We rolled him into a pit
and threw earth on him and he was
still alive when it hit his face.
And I thought...
"Is this what happens to a king?"
He rises in the morning
and he is above all men,
second only to God
and by nightfall, he is an obscenity
of flesh and splintered bone,
choking on the mud
that stuffs his mouth.
"Is this what happens to a king?"
And then I put the thought from me,
because the crown was placed on my head.
I believed I had been given
the right by God to rule,
but I hadn't.
I was never given the right.
The peace we have had was hard won
and now we are heading
towards another war.
Did you go to the Tower?
He says...
He says we will be safe.
I trust him to honor his word.
And the Tudor lords?
And do you trust them?
They will fight tooth and nail
till the whole country looks like this.
I'm trying to protect my sons...
The only way you can protect our sons
is by telling the world
you've killed the boy.
You are the king.
In name only.
I wasn't given the right.
The right is not given, Henry.
It is taken.
It is taken by blood,
by murder, where is God in that?
The king's divinity is a tale men tell
themselves but the right is taken.
It is taken by force,
and held by force.
So take the right, Henry.
Take it.
Bring him out!
How can they do this?
How can she execute her brother?
I have to go... I forbid it.
They will have spies there.
If you go, you look like a sympathizer.
Perhaps I am!
Are you carrying messages?
You always said you had
no interest in the court,
that you wanted no part of it...
And I don't, but I want my brother back!
All my life I have been good.
I have been biddable.
I've been quiet.
I married who I was told to marry
and I thank God every day for you, I do,
but I will not be biddable anymore.
I want my brother back
and I will have him
because the York lords have
what they've always wanted.
They have a king
and Teddy is free to just be Teddy,
not the Earl of Warwick
with a claim to the throne.
He can just be my brother
and we can be happy.
And our son?
What of him if you are caught?
Do you even think of him?
You must promise me you will not go.
You will not carry letters.
You must promise me.
My Lady.
Christ, how the mob stinks.
Traitor!
Your men are ready?
They're ready.
I do not want a single hair
on King Richard's head harmed.
I, Perkin Warbeck, the humble
son of a boatman from Tournai,
confess to a plot to kill
the king and the royal family.
I did falsely impersonate the
dead King Richard, Duke of York,
and I confess my crimes freely.
It's not him.
Have your men fall back.
It's not him.
They believe it.
You're certain it wasn't him?
Find a way to get this
to the Spanish Ambassador.
Where have you been?
I was settling my son, My Lady.
He couldn't sleep for all
the stories of the hanging.
What game are you playing?
I should greet him.
Spain is being lied to, Senor De Puebla.
My aunt is in London?
She was at Tyburn?
They have had help.
The duchess and the York lords had help
from inside the palace...
Your Grace.
You tire of the dancing?
You tell us the pretender is dead,
but he isn't, is he?
It's... Of course, he is...
Allow me
to put it in the most simple of terms.
You want Prince Arthur to marry
our treasure, Princess Catalina?
Why should Spain yoke its pearl
to this rotting beast that is England?
You are supposed to be the peace.
Be the peace.
I give you this one night
to consider what I have said.
We have enemies, Henry.
When they come, we will be outnumbered.
You, Arthur and Harry will die.
No.
He made promises, he said he would
honor you and the boys.
Promises are always made.
And they are always broken.
Always.
We have to let him live.
Or we will sacrifice
both our sons to the curse.
My mother once said that perhaps
her craft was just luck,
good timing that she called magic.
But what is certain is that men with
swords are coming and they will not stop.
My aunt will not stop
until they have a York on the throne.
There must be no York left with a claim.
That is the only way to stop them.
I bring news of Lady Gordon's child.
Don't open the door.
No, no.
What are you doing?
Teddy is simple.
He's an innocent.
To them he is power.
And we must take that power from them.
I've missed you, Lizzie.
I have missed you too.
Why have you come to see me?
Can I go home yet?
We hoped you could
help us with a question.
We wondered what
you and Prince Richard talked about?
The plot
against King Henry?
He said I could have a friendly dog.
As many dogs as I wanted.
A hundred!
Teddy, can you write your name?
I knew you could. Show me.
Just there.
You are such a clever boy, Teddy.
The Earl of Warwick's confession
to treason, Your Grace.
You may read here the details
of his plot with the pretender
to usurp the throne.
Lock that away.
We never want to see it again.
What's happening?
The Earl of Warwick?
Why did you make him write his name?
He must be woken.
Where is my sister?
Must we call the guards?
I'll walk.
We will both walk.
I know something is happening.
My lord?
No. I don't want to. I'm here.
I'm here.
We must kneel, Teddy.
No, I don't want to.
I don't want to, I don't like this,
I don't like it,
I'm scared, I'm scared...
Stay back.
Teddy, sweetest boy. You must kneel.
You must.
Come.
It's all right.
It's all right.
What did I do?
What did I do?
I'll be good, I'll be good...
You are so good.
So good. Just look at them.
I'll be good, I'll be good.
You are good. You are good, so good.
Just look at me.
Over very quickly, all over so very,
very quickly, good boy.
Just look at me.
What is it?
Did you look away, Lizzie?
Did you close your eyes?
You closed your eyes, didn't you?
Yes.
Only one coffin.
So I am to disappear.
As if I had never been.
A royal execution.
Henry grants me this dignity at least.
Don't close your eyes.
Because you know what you do this day.
You know what you do.
So witness it.
England receive my blood!
Why?
Why did you give me no choice?
The Earl of Warwick was executed
for treason this morning.
My aunt is returning to Burgundy
where she will live a life
of sober contemplation.
Cathy Gordon is in the palace.
She will become a permanent part
of my household and I will care for her.
Where is Prince Richard?
Your husband begged for your life,
Maggie.
He begged for you.
We were moved and we
have chosen to be kind.
The curse will come down on you.
The curse.
A widow and a virgin hurling
oaths against their enemies
because words are all they have.
You will weep for your children,
Elizabeth.
All your hopes destroyed!
That is the curse
and it is on you!
Embroider something, Maggie.
It soothes the mind.
Teddy!
And now, we will rule.
King Henry.
You will always be by my side?
Always.
They are waiting for us.
Greet your mother.
We are one. Nothing divides us.
You have done us great service.
What is your name?
My name is Wolsey, Your Grace.
You are in our favor, Wolsey.
You will stand with us
and be tutor to Prince Henry.
We welcome the Ambassadors from Spain.
A great alliance has been forged
with the betrothal of Prince Arthur
and Princess Catherine of Aragon.
A triumphant day.
Worth everything.
You and I, Lizzie.
We understand each other.
What we will do.
We are one and the same.
You are too close, Lady Mother.
Step back.
Synchro: Peterlin
The enemy of England,
the York pretender!
I want to find his wife and child.
What if I don't wish to be your guest?
Then you may leave your son
and freely return to Scotland.
He will be tended to by midwives. No.
We will change our plan.
I will give up my claim. No.
You can't deny your birthright.
And if you did, the Scots and
all of Europe would abandon you.
The only thing that keeps you safe
is if you hold fast and they back us.
Duchess of Burgundy
bids you come to Cheapside.
They will never let your brother out.
Your only hope of freeing him
is putting Richard on the throne.
If you even think there is a chance
that that boy is your brother Richard,
then you cannot hurt him, Lizzie.
No. They're poisoned.
He puts poison in my
clothes to make me sick!
Stop it! Stop it, please.
Quickly. There is a fire.
You must disappear forever.
You would not go against your
husband for a boat builder's son
but you would to save your brother.
I am the son of King Edward, the IV
and I will have the throne of England!
Where is Richard?
The Tower.
We slipped out whilst
everyone was sleeping.
They're all exhausted from the fire.
Even the guards.
Henry beat him so badly.
You must write to King James.
Tell him we need Scotland,
we need his armies now.
Duchess, you have spies,
set them to find out where my son is.
Edward must be with me.
I will have them search.
Go and write your letter.
Her child is already dead.
Do you think it will
help to tell her that?
I want her writing to Scotland,
not weeping for her infant.
Henry will kill Prince Richard
before our messenger is out of London...
No, he won't...
I say we gather behind Warwick,
even if he is simple minded...
Lizzie will not let Henry kill him.
She knows he is her brother.
Summon your men, my lords.
The duchess is right.
The time to strike is now.
All this time,
I thought you were
the petite fleur tremblante.
But now look at you.
A blazing white rose.
Be my eyes and ears?
Cathy will stay here with you.
She has no reason to return to Court.
They will simply think she's run.
Wait here.
I told you, I told you over
and over that you must decide
and you did not.
The fire is an attempt on your life,
and the lives of the princes!
And the Spanish say
that you must kill him.
He must hang.
Yes, Mother. He must.
The Spanish?
Their ambassador, De Puebla is here.
They will not grant the marriage
between Princess Catherine
and Prince Arthur
until the boy is dead.
And the Earl of Warwick too.
De Puebla said Queen Isabella
already told you this.
Yes.
Do you want your son married?
You can deal with Warwick later
but must get rid of the pretender now.
You have a charge.
He set the fire.
He did not set the fire.
I did.
What?
Why?
Leave us.
Leave us.
By all the saints,
I wonder how you
walk in a straight line,
your wits are so dismally few.
Lady Mother.
I hoped he would escape.
Escape.
Yes.
Why?
Why would you want him to escape?
Because...
Because...
Henry, you must not kill him.
My mother called down a curse on
the murderers of the princes.
I knelt next to her, Henry,
I said the words with her,
that the murderers of the princes
would never see their
own sons grow to men,
that their whole male
line would be blighted,
all of their sons,
all of them, dead,
in revenge for the princes.
You mustn't kill him.
You mustn't.
And you are saying that
this curse would fall on me
because he is your brother.
He is Prince Richard.
Our sons, Henry.
Our boys. Our precious, beautiful boys.
He is your brother.
After all this time,
and now you tell me that it's true.
You cannot kill him.
You must find another way.
We, we must find another way.
There is no other way. There is.
There has to be, if we just think.
Henry...
Henry.
Arthur, stop it. Give me the arrow.
I want the princes busy at
their favorite pursuits today.
They can do what they want
but they must be kept occupied.
Your Grace.
I looked for you, earlier.
Before it was light.
I could not find you.
I was here.
I was walking in the courtyard.
The smell of burning made me feel ill.
Where is Cathy Gordon?
I do not know, Your Grace.
I have not seen her.
Oh, well done, Prince Arthur!
Senor De Puebla. Your Grace.
I carry a private message
from Queen Isabella to you.
From one mother to another.
She thought you understood each other
and now she wonders if you
insult her and her daughter?
There is no insult.
I have the matter in hand.
Come.
Move him to be with the Earl of Warwick.
Now.
Your Grace?
Scotland is readying
armies to come against us.
Who brought you this news?
The New Clerk.
Burgundy and Ireland
wait for the tides and the
weather to be in their favor.
Well, my aunt has been busy,
has she not?
I require your assistance.
Oh, Your Grace, you must allow me...
No, my Lord Cardinal.
You are busy
and my lady, the king's mother,
may need you.
Him.
Name?
Noah Luff.
Crime?
Defilin' a church.
Tutor him.
He must be word perfect.
Your Grace.
The boy has been moved
to the same cell as the Earl of Warwick.
By whose order?
The king's.
I will deal with it.
If it's the king's wish.
What is he thinking?
The king should be
sending for his lords,
he should be marshalling his forces
but instead he sends for his mother?
Who rules us, him or you?
Thank you for coming.
You do not need to thank me,
I come as soon as I am bid.
Henry.
Henry, you have moved the
imposter to be with the idiot...
You have eyes everywhere.
It will look to your lords,
to everybody,
as if you believe him.
There's a symmetry to it,
don't you think?
Then as now, two York boys
with a claim in the one room.
The boy is who he says he is.
Then King Richard was careless.
And now you must finish
it and get rid of him.
It is what is necessary.
Mother,
I am of your flesh.
You made me.
I have been advised
by so many who do not know
what it is to be standing
where I am standing,
to make decisions,
to do what is necessary
and I would be counseled by you
because I believe that you do know.
I know?
Mother.
I believe it was you who
killed the boys in the Tower.
No. Your past actions would resolve me,
help me to do what must be done.
Was it you?
Sometimes, Henry,
politics takes place
under the cloak of night.
You did it.
There are things that are necessary,
for the greater good,
things that must be done.
And now you are resolved.
We will be together on this, Henry.
Let your mother guide you.
There's a curse.
What curse?
Lizzie told me that
her mother placed a curse
on the killer of her sons.
A blight on their male line.
No heirs.
They will sicken and die.
A story to scare peasants,
but not a king.
Elizabeth Woodville had the craft,
everyone said so.
The only craft she ever had
was making herself pleasing to men.
You've cursed my sons.
You've damned them! You!
Their grandmother!
You've put the mark of death on them...
You are a butcher of innocence!
You are a killer of children!
Argh! And now you have killed mine.
You're a monster.
You should have left me in France.
I wish to Christ I was still there now,
and away from your poison.
She does not come near me.
She does not speak to me.
She does not speak for me.
Nobody listens to her.
If you defy my orders,
I'll have your heads myself.
Oh, I've missed you,
Oh, I can't breathe...
I have missed you.
I have brought you warm shirts
and, um, fresh...
Fresh bread and meat and apples.
The duchess of Burgundy is close by.
Cathy is safe with her.
Armies gather for you.
This tower will be torn open
and they will carry you
on their shoulders to Westminster.
I will walk.
And what will you have, Teddy?
When we are freed?
A dog. A friendly dog.
You may have as many as you wish.
A hundred dogs, all of them friendly.
What is it? What's happened?
King Richard was innocent.
It wasn't him who killed the boys.
It was my mother.
What?
How does it work?
The curse. Is it both boys?
I don't know.
But it's one of them.
Without a doubt,
one of our sons will die, but which one?
I don't know, Henry.
She killed the rightful king
and put me on the throne.
It's all been lies.
Our boys.
Our beautiful boys are damned.
Come.
I want to show you something.
Who is this?
His name is Noah Luff.
He is sentenced to be
publicly whipped and hanged.
He has struck a deal
for a simple hanging only,
with a good noose so that it is quick.
And coins for his wife.
In return for what?
I, Perkin Warbeck,
the humble son of a
boatman from Tournai,
confess to a plot to kill the
king and the royal family.
I did falsely impersonate
the dead King Richard,
Duke of York, and I... Stop, stop now.
Henry,
listen to me,
all that people talk about is that
there is a prince in the Tower
and that they are ready
to fight for him.
So we show them this man.
This man hangs at Tyburn,
he confesses in public
and what do people see?
Not a prince but a criminal,
a fraud,
an imposter telling his crimes freely
and so the rebellion is broken,
there is no war because there is no-one
to put on the throne instead of you.
That man there is
"the other way" we had to find.
And then what?
The boy stays in the Tower.
A nameless prisoner. He does not die,
he lives out his life there.
I will not sanction this.
Take him away. The York lords will
bring war if they believe he lives.
They are bringing it now.
I have loved you, Lizzie.
How I have loved you.
I didn't know that I could love.
You have been the grace of my life.
But I never deserved you.
And whatever happens, you must be safe.
Go to the Tower.
Speak to him.
Argh!
Taken a tumble?
That wasn't there last night.
Well, it's there now.
Call my ladies. I want to dress.
There's no one outside.
Of course there is!
Where are they?
Once you've seen my lady,
the king's mother,
half-throttled by her beloved son,
you're a lot less willing
to jump to the stick.
Find my ladies.
Demand they attend me.
I am still who I am!
For now.
All that power you had, Margaret.
All that hard fought for power.
Can you feel it all slipping
through your fingers?
Because I can.
You have the look of our mother.
And that doesn't please you?
I loved her very much but
I didn't always like her.
I hated her ambition.
What it did to us.
Nothing else mattered but power.
She was a queen.
And look where we are from her ambition.
I would like to ask her
if it was all worth it.
Lizzie, two boys died in this Tower
but these two men will not.
We will walk free.
We will be restored.
There will be justice.
A vicious wrong will be set right.
And what would happen to us?
Your children are my
nephews and my niece.
They will be honored.
And you are the king's sister.
You will be a great lady.
And my husband?
He's a soldier, isn't he?
He has his honor.
He will fight to the death.
And that would be the end of it.
We would be widowed and
fatherless but stay at court,
no other factions rising for
children with a Tudor claim.
There would be peace.
It is God's will, Lizzie.
The bird took the bread!
He took it.
Oh, dear God.
You are so like my
father when you laugh.
Henry?
Henry, please.
Henry?
Henry, please open the door.
Henry.
Henry sees no one.
Sits in darkness.
His mind turns against itself.
His lords plan for war without him.
And Lizzie, what does she do?
Doesn't she have you followed?
Of course,
but her ladies believe in Richard too,
so they look the other way.
From King James.
How does your son?
Well, thank you. The duchess'
spies hear nothing about mine.
I'm sorry.
When I am Queen, Margaret
Beaufort will be shown no mercy.
None at all.
She's young.
She will have more children.
Scotland has been generous.
Two thousand men
are waiting on the tides
to bring my armies and the
Irish here to join them.
Yes!
We will cut Henry's men down
and all these years of Tudor filth
will seem nothing at all.
I should go before I'm missed.
Your husband will be
among those loyal to Henry.
He's loyal to me, Duchess.
Of course.
You'd let a Tudor loyalist live?
You have to go to Henry.
You must tell him there is no curse.
But there is.
A widow and a virgin
hurling oaths against their enemies
because words are all they have.
That is not a curse.
Tell me, my lady the king's mother,
how do you stand there in the
sight of God with that sin,
that stain of child murder on your soul?
We are going to lose everything.
That little boy you
removed from Cathy Gordon,
that baby you sent away for nursing,
has he been nursed into his grave?
How do you sleep?
How are you not bowed down with shame?
How do you not howl with the
grief of what you have done?
Was this always your plan?
Get close to the crown,
un-man the king with some...
...sour whore's trick
so your family can steal
it back for themselves?
When have I ever had a plan?
Even now, at my husband's orders
I must broker the safety
of what sons I have left
after the chaos you have unleashed.
Elizabeth.
If you are not shocked by what
you will do for your children,
if you are not appalled
by how far you will go for those
they drag out of you while you screamed,
then you are not a woman
worthy of the name.
Mother...
You're frightened.
No, of course not.
Are we in danger?
Will we go to the Tower?
My darling boy,
no harm will come to you,
not ever, not you, my darling boy.
Scorched brick and burning wood.
It smells of war.
If I close my eyes,
it's as if I'm back at Bosworth
and no time at all has passed.
Bosworth is a long time passed.
You never knew the truth
of how your uncle Richard died, did you?
He was beaten to death.
No,
not to death.
Beaten, yes.
Beaten and beaten. But he wouldn't die.
One eye stamped from his head
and the other still rolled and blinked.
He was still breathing,
blood bubbling on his lips.
The men violated his
body again and again
and I did nothing. I...
Didn't stop them.
I saw that he lived
and I encouraged them
to do what they wanted,
like animals, tearing at him.
Please stop... We rolled him into a pit
and threw earth on him and he was
still alive when it hit his face.
And I thought...
"Is this what happens to a king?"
He rises in the morning
and he is above all men,
second only to God
and by nightfall, he is an obscenity
of flesh and splintered bone,
choking on the mud
that stuffs his mouth.
"Is this what happens to a king?"
And then I put the thought from me,
because the crown was placed on my head.
I believed I had been given
the right by God to rule,
but I hadn't.
I was never given the right.
The peace we have had was hard won
and now we are heading
towards another war.
Did you go to the Tower?
He says...
He says we will be safe.
I trust him to honor his word.
And the Tudor lords?
And do you trust them?
They will fight tooth and nail
till the whole country looks like this.
I'm trying to protect my sons...
The only way you can protect our sons
is by telling the world
you've killed the boy.
You are the king.
In name only.
I wasn't given the right.
The right is not given, Henry.
It is taken.
It is taken by blood,
by murder, where is God in that?
The king's divinity is a tale men tell
themselves but the right is taken.
It is taken by force,
and held by force.
So take the right, Henry.
Take it.
Bring him out!
How can they do this?
How can she execute her brother?
I have to go... I forbid it.
They will have spies there.
If you go, you look like a sympathizer.
Perhaps I am!
Are you carrying messages?
You always said you had
no interest in the court,
that you wanted no part of it...
And I don't, but I want my brother back!
All my life I have been good.
I have been biddable.
I've been quiet.
I married who I was told to marry
and I thank God every day for you, I do,
but I will not be biddable anymore.
I want my brother back
and I will have him
because the York lords have
what they've always wanted.
They have a king
and Teddy is free to just be Teddy,
not the Earl of Warwick
with a claim to the throne.
He can just be my brother
and we can be happy.
And our son?
What of him if you are caught?
Do you even think of him?
You must promise me you will not go.
You will not carry letters.
You must promise me.
My Lady.
Christ, how the mob stinks.
Traitor!
Your men are ready?
They're ready.
I do not want a single hair
on King Richard's head harmed.
I, Perkin Warbeck, the humble
son of a boatman from Tournai,
confess to a plot to kill
the king and the royal family.
I did falsely impersonate the
dead King Richard, Duke of York,
and I confess my crimes freely.
It's not him.
Have your men fall back.
It's not him.
They believe it.
You're certain it wasn't him?
Find a way to get this
to the Spanish Ambassador.
Where have you been?
I was settling my son, My Lady.
He couldn't sleep for all
the stories of the hanging.
What game are you playing?
I should greet him.
Spain is being lied to, Senor De Puebla.
My aunt is in London?
She was at Tyburn?
They have had help.
The duchess and the York lords had help
from inside the palace...
Your Grace.
You tire of the dancing?
You tell us the pretender is dead,
but he isn't, is he?
It's... Of course, he is...
Allow me
to put it in the most simple of terms.
You want Prince Arthur to marry
our treasure, Princess Catalina?
Why should Spain yoke its pearl
to this rotting beast that is England?
You are supposed to be the peace.
Be the peace.
I give you this one night
to consider what I have said.
We have enemies, Henry.
When they come, we will be outnumbered.
You, Arthur and Harry will die.
No.
He made promises, he said he would
honor you and the boys.
Promises are always made.
And they are always broken.
Always.
We have to let him live.
Or we will sacrifice
both our sons to the curse.
My mother once said that perhaps
her craft was just luck,
good timing that she called magic.
But what is certain is that men with
swords are coming and they will not stop.
My aunt will not stop
until they have a York on the throne.
There must be no York left with a claim.
That is the only way to stop them.
I bring news of Lady Gordon's child.
Don't open the door.
No, no.
What are you doing?
Teddy is simple.
He's an innocent.
To them he is power.
And we must take that power from them.
I've missed you, Lizzie.
I have missed you too.
Why have you come to see me?
Can I go home yet?
We hoped you could
help us with a question.
We wondered what
you and Prince Richard talked about?
The plot
against King Henry?
He said I could have a friendly dog.
As many dogs as I wanted.
A hundred!
Teddy, can you write your name?
I knew you could. Show me.
Just there.
You are such a clever boy, Teddy.
The Earl of Warwick's confession
to treason, Your Grace.
You may read here the details
of his plot with the pretender
to usurp the throne.
Lock that away.
We never want to see it again.
What's happening?
The Earl of Warwick?
Why did you make him write his name?
He must be woken.
Where is my sister?
Must we call the guards?
I'll walk.
We will both walk.
I know something is happening.
My lord?
No. I don't want to. I'm here.
I'm here.
We must kneel, Teddy.
No, I don't want to.
I don't want to, I don't like this,
I don't like it,
I'm scared, I'm scared...
Stay back.
Teddy, sweetest boy. You must kneel.
You must.
Come.
It's all right.
It's all right.
What did I do?
What did I do?
I'll be good, I'll be good...
You are so good.
So good. Just look at them.
I'll be good, I'll be good.
You are good. You are good, so good.
Just look at me.
Over very quickly, all over so very,
very quickly, good boy.
Just look at me.
What is it?
Did you look away, Lizzie?
Did you close your eyes?
You closed your eyes, didn't you?
Yes.
Only one coffin.
So I am to disappear.
As if I had never been.
A royal execution.
Henry grants me this dignity at least.
Don't close your eyes.
Because you know what you do this day.
You know what you do.
So witness it.
England receive my blood!
Why?
Why did you give me no choice?
The Earl of Warwick was executed
for treason this morning.
My aunt is returning to Burgundy
where she will live a life
of sober contemplation.
Cathy Gordon is in the palace.
She will become a permanent part
of my household and I will care for her.
Where is Prince Richard?
Your husband begged for your life,
Maggie.
He begged for you.
We were moved and we
have chosen to be kind.
The curse will come down on you.
The curse.
A widow and a virgin hurling
oaths against their enemies
because words are all they have.
You will weep for your children,
Elizabeth.
All your hopes destroyed!
That is the curse
and it is on you!
Embroider something, Maggie.
It soothes the mind.
Teddy!
And now, we will rule.
King Henry.
You will always be by my side?
Always.
They are waiting for us.
Greet your mother.
We are one. Nothing divides us.
You have done us great service.
What is your name?
My name is Wolsey, Your Grace.
You are in our favor, Wolsey.
You will stand with us
and be tutor to Prince Henry.
We welcome the Ambassadors from Spain.
A great alliance has been forged
with the betrothal of Prince Arthur
and Princess Catherine of Aragon.
A triumphant day.
Worth everything.
You and I, Lizzie.
We understand each other.
What we will do.
We are one and the same.
You are too close, Lady Mother.
Step back.
Synchro: Peterlin