Written by Emma Holbrook and Jessica Faulkner
(Cover image – © Pinterest)
If there is one female historical figure that I will never tire of seeing portrayed on television or in upcoming movies, it is the wonderful and history-making Queen Mary I of England, or Mary Tudor as she is also known as. Mary Tudor was such a fascinating, deeply complicated figure in history; from her relationships with the people around her to how she changed England back into a Catholic country for the first time since the death of her father and her younger brother shortly before she ascended to the throne—there is just so much to unpack about Mary and what better way to highlight the importance of Mary Tudor in history than to explore the numerous representations of her in modern movies, television shows and literature?
Please be aware that this list is not a complete one as we might have missed other portrayals and the fact that more upcoming Tudor movies and/or television shows might include further representation of Mary Tudor. Hope you guys enjoy!
Movies and Television:
Notable mention – For this post, we have decided to focus on some of the more recent or influential representations of Mary Tudor due to the fact that Mary was an underused background character in many of the early films or television shows created about the Tudors. Whilst we have provided seven of our favourite on-screen appearances of Mary for you, we are more than sure that Mary will be finding herself on our screens more than ever, with the interest and research into Mary Tudor expanding more and more by the day!
Quickly, I just want to mention that The Ill-Fated Wives does intend to review the upcoming Firebrand movie focusing on Katharine Parr and her marriage to Henry VIII where actress Patsy Ferran has been credited with playing the role of Princess Mary during the last few years of her tyrant father’s life. We are all looking forward to seeing how well Mary is represented in this movie and whether there have been significant changes made to her character or the events that took place during this time period or whether this movie has tried its best to stick close to the original material. From the look at the costumes, it can most certainly be assumed that Firebrand has done thorough research to ensure that the Tudor period has been reflected appropriately as we have long been forced to see inappropriate and inaccurate costume designs on popular historical television shows such as Reign or The Tudors, just to name a few.
The following list is written in chronological order.
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1. Nicola Pagett in ‘Anne of The Thousand Days’ (1969)
This portrayal of Mary Tudor by the late British actress Nicola Pagett is a very good example of Hollywood adding scenes that might not be historically correct but were warmly received by audiences regardless. In her small scene in Anne of The Thousand Days, Mary can be seen comforting her dying mother, Catherine of Aragon, by relaying the court gossip of how her father’s new wife, Anne Boleyn, is still failing to provide the King with an heir and how his eye is already wondering to what will become his third wife, Jane Seymour. Whilst the scene is not long enough to show the depth of Mary’s relationship with her mother, you can certainly tell that she cares very deeply for her and wants her to know, even in her dying moments, that she still has the upper hand over Anne Boleyn because not only does God believe Catherine to be Henry’s true wife but the lack of a son and the short length of time it has taken him to find another lover shows that Catherine had the upper hand since she lasted over twenty years whilst Anne would only last a few years before being cast aside.
The scene ends with the death of Catherine of Aragon and all those surrounding her, including Mary, becoming upset by this. Whilst this scene does show us a ‘kinder’ death for Catherine by having her daughter by her side, history lovers will soon point out the inaccuracy of this scene: Mary was not present when her mother died. As you might know from our previous posts, Mary was separated from her mother shortly after her father announced his intent to end their marriage in favour of his mistress, Anne Boleyn. Therefore, she would not have been present at her mother’s side when she passed away nor would they have gotten to say their goodbyes beforehand as Henry strictly prohibited the two from communicating with each other, although we do have evidence of at least one secret letter being given to Mary from a trusted supporter of her mother. It is nice to see Mary speak with her mother a final time in this movie though, even though we know it did not happen, as you can almost see what a relief it is for Catherine to be able to say goodbye to her only child and know that whatever happens, Mary will survive.
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2. Jane Lapotaire in ‘Lady Jane’ (1986)
This movie is absolutely one of my all-time favourite historical movies ever! From the talented cast, brilliant writing, beautiful costumes, everything about this movie speaks quality to me and its truly a shame that it is not spoken about as much as it should be—even though its been decades since its initial release. Jane Lapotaire does a fantastic job of showing the difficulties that Queen Mary experienced during the early years of her reign, more specifically her emotional distress over the execution of her cousin and her husband.
Mary was no fool; she was very much an intelligent woman and understood that many in England opposed her becoming Queen because she was a devout Catholic and had deep Spanish roots, something that many people in England did not agree with. She knew that when her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was placed on the throne immediately following the death of her younger brother, Edward VI, that it was not Jane’s doing but the politicians that opposed her Catholic rule. Young Jane was a pawn being moved around in a much larger-than-her, dangerous game of politics, trying to delay the inevitable—everyone knew that Mary would attempt to take back her rightful throne and that Jane (and her husband Guildford Dudley) would ultimately pay the price. And we see this happen in the movie where Mary embraces her cousin warmly and whispers for her to ‘take care’, showing that she understood Jane was being used by her Protestant courtiers and that if she did not take care of herself like Mary warned, something bad would happen to her.
And when Jane’s supporters attempted to free Jane and her husband from the Tower of London, although both Jane and Guildford had gladly given up any right to the throne and had said that they would convert to Catholicism to spare themselves from the chopping block, Mary was forced to send them to their deaths regardless of her wanting to spare them. She had no wish to spill innocent blood, especially that of a close relative but, as we see in the movie, Mary must do this to ensure her rule and her upcoming marriage succeeded—even though it pains her deeply to see Jane die at such a young age, at the fault of corrupt adults who died unpunished for their crimes of taking advantage of a poor, helpless girl who did not even want the crown they forced upon her head.
Truly sad but Mary knew this had to be done—much like her sister Elizabeth with the execution of their cousin Mary, Queen of Scots in 1587.
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3. Kathy Burke in ‘Elizabeth’ (1998)
Kathy Burke portrayed Queen Mary I in the British film ‘Elizabeth’ featuring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I. In this film, Mary is only in the first twenty minutes, and her version of Mary is very stereotypical. Rotting teeth, going insane and tyrannical behaviour. Kathy’s Mary is often shouting, very abrasive and does not show any sisterly love towards her younger sister. You could almost describe her version of Mary as very scary. In this film, you are supposed to support Elizabeth and how she is treated unjustly. In a scene between Mary and her councillors, Mary is lamenting that ‘Elizabeth will never rule England, she is a bastard, she was born of that whore Anne Boleyn’. In this portrayal, we do not see an accurate Mary. She is quite overweight, and her discoloured teeth do not accurately depict Mary in her later years. Although Kathy Burke’s Mary is not on screen for long, Kathy gives it her all and does it to the best of her ability.
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4. Sarah Bolger in ‘The Tudors’ (2008-2010)
Notable mention – before Sarah Bolger played Mary Tudor in Showtime’s The Tudors in what is arguably the most iconic and best portrayal of Mary as we know of today, in the first season of the show (2007), Mary was portrayed by young actress, Bláthnaid McKeown, in the earlier years of her life and right up until her father divorced her mother. Her performance as young Mary made us all feel love and compassion for the older Mary that Sarah Bolger would play—we saw her loving relationship with her father and how proud of her he was, we saw her doting relationship with her mother (who was also very proud of her) and the heartbreaking scene where Mary was being sent away from her mother in the midst of her father’s efforts to divorce her mother. Catherine appears strong before her daughter, not letting her see how the whole situation was breaking her, and comforted her daughter by reminding her of her heritage and that she was the daughter of two of the strongest dynasties to ever exist; referencing her mother and father’s families retrospectively as the Tudors were not as powerful or influential as that of the Castiles nor the Aragons.
Sarah Bolger portrayed Queen Mary I in the HBO series ‘The Tudors’ on air from 2007-2010. Sarah Bolger started her role in series two as a teenage princess Mary. The TV series is quite infamous for being inaccurate and taking historical liberties, however, all love Sarah Bolger’s portrayal. Sarah Bolger brought Mary to life, she brought emotion to the role, and human emotions at that. She made Mary seem less of an authoritative figure and more of a victim against her father and his wishes. I enjoyed Sarah’s version, it was refreshing to see Mary in a new light. Sarah Bolger also showed Mary’s stubborn side, Mary never abandoned her mother’s cause and remained devoted to her mother for the rest of her life, this always angered her father and he punished her for it. Sarah shows how devastating this was for Mary, loving both of her parents but feeling her father was in the wrong. She shows how poorly Mary was treated by Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn but how she remained strong. When Jane Seymour became Queen, Sarah conveyed it so well how she came back into the inner circle at court and how she relished the power. In series three and four of The Tudors, we see Mary back in favour, but we still see she isn’t happy, she wants to be married, and she wants a family, and her father is not giving her that, he does not want to give her up, Sarah shows how frustrating this is for Mary. All in all, Sarah Bolger perfectly portrays a young princess and shows many decisive factors as to why Mary became the way she did when she did.
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5. Ángela Cremonte in ‘Carlos, rey emperador’ (2015-2016)
Despite only featuring in three episodes of the Spanish historical drama Carlos, rey emperador, a television series following the life of Charles V, one of the most powerful rulers in the world, Ángela Cremonte wasted no time in making her role stand out against the crowd and made sure to portray this powerful-in-her-own-right Queen to the best of her abilities. She shows her love towards her cousin and former-fiancé, Charles V, and her intention to strengthen the alliance between England and Spain. Since the show is Spanish, Mary speaks in Spanish throughout her entire time on the screen, something that is accurate due to the fact that Mary was fluent in many languages including Spanish, French and Latin.
We also see how emotionally vulnerable Mary is; we see her sometimes overwhelmed with all of the politics that she, as Queen, has a duty to deal with, even when it is sometimes too much for her to handle. We see her relationship with her father, Henry VIII, as well as her relationship with her husband, Philip II of Spain, and how painful it could be at times. Mary loved her husband tremendously whilst he did not love her as much as she did, although it is known to historians that they both wished to marry quickly as a result of their closeness and attraction to one another, though this seemed to fade as time passed by.
Carlos, rey emperador does make a mistake in regards to Mary where it states that in her pre-marriage contract to Charles V, she was four years old. This is incorrect as Mary was engaged to marry Charles in 1522 when she was in fact six years old, not four as the show portrays. The lack of screentime does make it difficult to give a proper, thorough review of the portrayal of Mary Tudor but I must say that I did like to see more of a focus on Mary’s relationships with her Spanish relations, especially Charles V, as well as being able to take a deeper look into her marriage to Philip II which hasn’t seen much screentime either.
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6. Billie Gadsdon in ‘The Spanish Princess’ (2019-2020)
For those who have not watched this heart-wrenching television series starring the fabulous Charlotte Hope as the one and only Catherine of Aragon, The Spanish Princess is a fictionalised version of the events that took place during Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon based on the book by famous historian-author, Philippa Gregory. Despite not all of the events taking place on the show having actually occurred, it accurately documented the distress and pain that Catherine of Aragon suffered during her marriage to the Tudor King and how that impacted her relationships with those close to her, including her only child, the Princess Mary.
The show depicts a different relationship between the mother and daughter than what we know it to be where we see a neglectful Catherine almost isolate herself from her daughter because she is disappointed in the fact that their only living child is a daughter and not a son. Catherine does not take an interest in Mary during her early years, hence why she has no screentime until she is roughly five or six years old where Catherine begins to realise that Mary is the only heir to the throne—at least in her eyes as Henry makes it abundantly clear that only a son shall inherit his throne and even begins to bestow titles onto his bastard son Henry Fitzroy as a way of telling Catherine that if he doesn’t get the son he wants, his illegitimate son will become legitimate to claim the throne over Mary.
In the scenes where we do see Mary, we see Catherine meticulously taking control over Mary’s education and how easily irritated she becomes when Mary (understandably as she is still a child before being a Princess) trying to run away from her carers and not pay attention to her education. One interesting scene that we do see is where Mary becomes lost during the journey back to the castle; this understandably worries Catherine as she searches frantically for her daughter but we also see Henry searching for his daughter also, leaving us with a moment where both Catherine and Henry see each other during their search for her daughter and it leaves us feeling like there is a chance that Henry and Catherine’s love will live on. However, as we later find out (and as history tells us), their love does not last much longer. I will also point out that this scene nor the relationship between Catherine and Mary that is depicted in the show did not happen; Mary enjoyed a very loving, doting relationship with her mother who made it her life’s mission to ensure that her daughter received the finest education and the proper training to possibly become the first Queen of England in her own right. It was because of Catherine’s care and attention for her daughter’s future that Mary *did* become the very first Queen of England in her own right and that Mary stuck to her Spanish and Catholic roots until the end of her days.
A final thing to note is the ending scene of The Spanish Princess where we see Catherine voluntarily leaving the castle to be in exile with Mary at her side—this absolutely 100% did not happen in real life. Catherine would have never volunteered to leave the royal court, she was forced to leave by her uncaring, unhappy husband who wanted rid of her so he could divorce her and marry a woman of much lower-standing than Catherine. As for Mary, she did not leave with her mother (as much as she might have wanted to) as Henry had sent her to Ludlow long before her mother’s departure, assumedly in preparation for learning how to rule over her own household and servants before she became Queen. Neither of them would see each other again and Catherine’s death impacted Mary deeply as it symbolised both the loss of what Mary believed to be her only supporter in the world as well as the lack of obstacles preventing her from succumbing to her father’s will—with her mother gone, her Spanish connections were now severed and she was completely at her father’s mercy, meaning that she had to do what he willed in order to survive. Something that her mother would have opposed had she lived longer.
I would have preferred to see more scenes with Mary to explore her early relationships, especially with her father or with Catherine but once again, this television series is based on fictionalised events, not reality so we cannot always get the accurate depictions that we want.
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7. Romola Garai in ‘Becoming Elizabeth’ (2022)
Romola Garai portrayed Queen Mary I in the Starz series ‘Becoming Elizabeth’ which aired in 2022. ‘Becoming Elizabeth’ is set with Henry VIII dying at the beginning of the series, and her younger brother, Edward becoming King Edward the Sixth at nine years old. We see Mary, Elizabeth and Edward trying to figure out how to navigate their lives now their father is not there to command them. In 1547, Mary was 31 years of age, she was still unmarried, and still staunchly Catholic. Romola’s acting is top tier in this show, and she is the best thing in the show. She show’s Mary’s bitterness, ambition, sadness and need for love. Mary’s position was once more precarious, Edward wanted the whole country to be reformed, which is not ideal for Mary. Mary was constantly spied on, she even considered leaving the country. Romola looks the most like Mary, we finally see a Mary with red hair! Romola carries all of Mary’s past tragedies but shows her will to carry on. Personally Romola is my favourite portrayal of Mary, she brought everything to the role and more. I hope Romola gets to play her again!
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Literature:
Just like her mother, Catherine of Aragon, there are countless depictions of Mary Tudor in both fictional and non-fictional literature, all of which do not portray Mary by the nickname that she has been wrongfully branded with—Bloody Mary. Instead, they show her in a more realistic light, detailing her severe mental health as well as her bitterness towards her sister Elizabeth rather than focusing on the hundreds of Protestants that she had burnt at the stake.
Below, you’ll find a complied list of some books featuring the fascinating Queen Mary Tudor:
1. Lady Mary (2018) by Lucy Worsley
2. Marie Tudor (1833) by Victor Hugo
3. The Tower of London (1840) by William Harrison Ainsworth
4. Queen Mary (1875) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
5. The Prince and the Pauper (1881) by Mark Twain
6. Mary Tudor: A Play in a Prologue and Three Acts (1936) by William Grantham
7. Young Bess (1944); Elizabeth, Captive Princess (1948); and Elizabeth and the Prince of Spain (1953) by Margaret Irwin, a trilogy
8. Mary, the Infamous Queen (1971) by Maureen Peters
9. Daughter of Henry VIII (1971) by Rosemary Churchill
10. The Ringed Castle (1971) by Dorothy Dunnett
11. I Am Mary Tudor (1971), Mary the Queen (1973), and Bloody Mary (1974) – a trilogy by Hilda Lewis
12. Queen's Lady (1981) by Patricia Parkes
13. In the Shadow of the Crown (1988) by Eleanor Hibbert
14. In the Garden of Iden (1997) by Kage Baker
15. In the Time of the Poisoned Queen (1998) by Paul C. Doherty.
16. Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor (1999) by Kathryn Lasky.
17. Mary, Bloody Mary (1999) and Beware, Princess Elizabeth (2001) by Carolyn Meyer. Both novels are part of the Young Royals series.
18. Kissed by Shadows (2003) by Jane Feather.
19. The Queen's Fool (2004) by Philippa Gregory.
20. Innocent Traitor (2007) and The Lady Elizabeth (2008) by Alison Weir.
21. The Queen's Sorrow (2008) by Suzannah Dunn.
22. Her Mother's Daughter (2009) by Julianne Lee.
23. Dracula and the Bloody Mary: A Tragicomedy (early 21st century) by Santiago Sevilla.
24. Princess Mary appears in Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012) as well as in the final book in the series, The Mirror and the Light (2020).
25. Mary is a major character in Janet Wertman's The Boy King (2020), the final instalment in Wertman's Seymour Saga trilogy.
So, I hope that you found this list interesting and that you decide to take a look at these depictions and if you do, comment below on what your view is on the portrayal of Mary Tudor!
- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!
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