Mary’s biography is enormously dramatic, packed with romance, betrayal, imprisonment and violence. Unsurprisingly, it has proved irresistible to film-makers, recreating a time when two queens vied for power - Mary in Scotland and Elizabeth I in England. Their relationship was blighted with mistrust, plotting and espionage.
Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr Joanne Paul, author of ‘The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England’; Jessie Childs author of "God’s Traitors - Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England"; historian and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann; and Prof. Sarah Churchwell, cultural historian and literary scholar. Together they unpick the fact from the fiction and dig into some of the big questions: did Mary and Elizabeth ever meet, what really happened at Mary’s execution, how did the entangled sexual politics play out, and is it ever possible to cram all of Mary’s chaotic action-packed life into a single movie?
As ever in one of our 'Not Just the Tudors…Lates' episodes, the stage is set for frank, hilarious and revealing conversation.
Up Next in Queens and Kings of History
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Painting Elizabeth: Creating a Royal ...
Elizabeth I is one of the most iconic figures from British history - her image can be recognised in an instant. But this was no mistake, for Elizabeth’s portraits were an audacious act of spin to cement her image of female majesty. In this documentary Dr Nicola Tallis and Prof Anna Whitelock take...
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Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon -...
Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn - the first two wives of Henry VIII - are so often portrayed as opposites. Katherine as the loyal, scorned wife - Anne as the bright, bewitching upstart.
But now Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb returns to Hever Castle to explore what Anne and Katherine were really l...
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Henry VIII: Statesman or Tyrant?
On Midsummer's Day in 1509 a 17 year old was crowned king of England. He would go on to transform his realm over almost four decades on the throne. He would revolutionise its religion, reforge its politics and its relations with neighbouring countries, and establish a royal navy. But, by the time...
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