The Spanish Princess


The Spanish Princess is a historical drama television limited series developed by Emma Frost and Matthew Graham for Starz. Based on the novels The Constant Princess and The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory, it is a sequel to the miniseries The White Queen and The White Princess. It centres around Catherine of Aragon, the eponymous Spanish princess who became Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII.
Designed as a 16-part limited series, the first eight episodes premiered on 5 May 2019. On 3 June 2019, Starz ordered the remaining eight episodes, which premiered on 11 October 2020. The series finale aired on 29 November 2020.

Premise

Teenaged princess Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spanish rulers Isabella and Ferdinand, finally travels to England, to meet her husband by proxy, Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir apparent of Henry VII of England, to whom she has been betrothed since she was a child. Unwelcomed by some, she and her diverse court, including her lady-in-waiting Lina, who is of Moorish ancestry, struggle to adapt to English customs. Catherine is horrified to learn that Arthur's younger brother, the arrogant Henry, Duke of York, the later Henry VIII, who at this point, in reality, was just 10 years old, is the author of the romantic correspondence she has received. When Arthur dies suddenly, her destiny as the one who will bring peace between Spain and England seems in doubt, until she sets her sights on Prince Henry.

Cast

Main

Production

Development

On 15 March 2018, it was announced that Starz had greenlit the production. Emma Frost and Matthew Graham were set to serve as showrunners in addition to executive producing alongside Colin Callender, Scott Huff, Charlie Pattinson, and Charlie Hampton. Production companies All3 Media's New Pictures and Playground were expected to be involved.
On 17 May 2018, it was reported that the first two episodes would be directed by Birgitte Stærmose and that most episodes in the series would be directed by women.
On 3 June 2019, Starz announced that the series would return for another eight episodes and that Graham and Frost "always intended for The Spanish Princess to span 16 episodes, but they wrote a natural stopping place after the first eight just in case." Part two would be broadcast in 2020, with stars Charlotte Hope and Ruairi O'Connor returning to the show as Catherine and Henry, "along with other key cast." It was confirmed on 9 June 2019, by showrunner Emma Frost, that both Georgie Henley and Olly Rix, who portray Meg Tudor and Edward Stafford, would return for the next eight episodes and that Meg's role would be "huge in the back eight" and that "we are totally with her story, we're up in Scotland, we're sort of Spanish Princess meets Outlander" and that Stafford would get some "redemption." Richard Pepper's agent confirmed, on 8 May 2020, that he would return as Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire. Jordan Renzo's return as Charles Brandon was confirmed by the part two teaser trailer on 7 May 2020 and Laura Carmichael's return was confirmed in an interview done by Emma Frost and Matthew Graham; the same interview confirmed that part two would "move around from France to England to Scotland a lot more and tell three interconnected stories."

Casting

Alongside the directing announcement, it was confirmed that Charlotte Hope, Stephanie Levi-John, Angus Imrie, Harriet Walter, Laura Carmichael, Ruairi O'Connor, Georgie Henley, Elliot Cowan, Alexandra Moen, Philip Cumbus, Nadia Parkes, Aaron Cobham, Alan McKenna, Richard Pepper, Olly Rix, Jordan Renzo, Daniel Cerqueira, and Alicia Borrachero had been cast in the series.

Filming

Principal photography for the series commenced on 15 May 2018, at Wells Cathedral in Wells, Somerset. Filming concluded in October 2018.
Principal photography for part two commenced on 26 September 2019 and finished on 11 March 2020, one day before lockdown due to COVID-19. Some filming took place at Mendip Hills, which doubled for Flodden Field.

Release

On 20 December 2018, a "first look" still image from the series was released. On 25 January 2019, a teaser trailer for the series was released.
On 7 March 2019, the series was given a 5 May 2019, premiere date. On 10 September 2020, the trailer for part two was released; the eight-episode installment premiered on 11 October 2020.

Reception

Critical response

The series received mixed to positive reviews in the United States. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, part one of the series has an approval rating of 75% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.13/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Spanish Princess blends soapy melodrama with beautifully rendered historical set-pieces to paint a rounder — if still not fully realized — portrait of an often overlooked queen." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
In Spain, the series caused curiosity upon release, but later received a combination of hard criticisms and tired indifference. It was accused of "wild historical inaccuracy", and has been described by various media as "insulting", "offensive", and "as full of stereotyping as sadly expected". The newspaper ABC wrote that it "invents and humiliates history." The newspaper 20minutos and the TV guide by eldiario.es both call it "one of the worst shows about Spanish history."

Ratings

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