The White Princess (miniseries)
The White Princess is a historical drama television miniseries developed for Starz. It is based on Philippa Gregory's 2013 novel of the same name and, to a lesser extent, its 2014 sequel The King's Curse. It is a sequel to the 2013 miniseries The White Queen, which adapted three of Gregory's previous novels, and begins immediately where The White Queen finished.
In the series, the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York effectively ends the Wars of the Roses by uniting the houses of Lancaster and York. However, their mutual enmity and distrust, as well as the political plots of their mothers, threaten to tear both the marriage and the kingdom apart.
Cast and characters
Main
- Jodie Comer as Elizabeth "Lizzie" of York, the Queen of England from 1486–1503
- Jacob Collins-Levy as Henry VII, the King of England, Elizabeth's husband
- Michelle Fairley as Margaret Beaufort, the King's mother
- Rebecca Benson as Margaret "Maggie" Plantagenet, the Queen's paternal cousin, sister of Teddy
- Kenneth Cranham as Bishop John Morton, a confidant of the King's mother
- Essie Davis as Elizabeth Woodville, the Queen dowager
- Rossy de Palma as Isabella I of Castile, the Queen of Castile
- Richard Dillane as Thomas Stanley, Margaret Beaufort's husband
- Anthony Flanagan as Francis Lovell, a Yorkist supporter
- Patrick Gibson as Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English crown who claims to be Richard of York.
- Caroline Goodall as Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, the Queen's paternal grandmother. Goodall was the only actor to appear in both The White Queen and The White Princess.
- Amy Manson as Catherine "Cathy" Gordon, wife of Perkin Warbeck
- Adrian Rawlins as John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, husband of Eliza de la Pole
- Vincent Regan as Jasper Tudor, the King's uncle
- Suki Waterhouse as Cecily of York, the Queen's sister
- Joanne Whalley as Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, the Queen's paternal aunt
- Andrew Whipp as Sir Richard Pole, husband of Maggie Plantagenet
Recurring
- Nicholas Audsley as Lord Strange
- Rhys Connah and Albert de Jongh as Edward "Teddy" Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, the Queen's cousin, brother of Maggie
- Heidi Ely as Princess Bridget, the Queen's sister
- Oliver Hembrough as John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, the Duke of Suffolk's son
- Rosie Knightley as [Anne of House of York|York (daughter of Edward IV)|Princess Anne], the Queen's sister
- Ava Masters as Princess Catherine, the Queen's sister
- Rollo Skinner as Ned, a stable boy
- Susie Trayling as Elizabeth "Eliza" de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk, the Queen's paternal aunt
- Guy Williams as William Stanley, Lord Thomas's brother
- Iain Batchelor as Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
- Dorian Grover as Philip
- Zazie Hayhurst as Rettie
- Billy Barratt as Prince Arthur, the King's first son
- Woody Norman as Prince Harry, the King's second son
- Philip Arditti as Rodrigo de Puebla, the Spanish ambassador
Guest
- Ned Elliott as Prince Richard, the Queen's brother
- Luc Webb as Prince Edward, the Queen's brother
- Derek Frood as the Mayor of York
- Kitty Smith as Ruth
- Emmanuelle Bouaziz as Mary of Burgundy
- Max True as Lambert Simnel
- Nia Roberts as Catherine "Kate" Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham
- Norman Arthur Eshley as the Abbot
- Marc Danbury as the Priest
- Juan Echenique as Ferdinand II of Aragon, the King of Aragon
- Nicholas Gecks as the Wimborne Priest
- Alex Sawyer as Kofi, Novice Monk
- Mark Edel-Hunt as Thomas Wolsey
- Alasdair McLaughlin as Noah Luff
Production
Development
The 10-part 2013 television series The White Queen adapted Gregory's previous novels The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker's Daughter. The series was broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on Starz in the United States, and features Freya Mavor as a young Elizabeth of York. Despite initial plans for a second series, on 20 August 2013 the BBC announced they were not commissioning one, possibly because of the lukewarm reception the series received.However, in October 2013, The Telegraph reported that Starz was planning to develop a sequel miniseries called The White Princess, based on Gregory's novel. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht announced in January 2014 that the network was working with White Queen screenwriter Emma Frost on the project. Starz would produce the White Princess miniseries without involvement from the BBC. Gregory confirmed that the project was underway in August 2015. On 7 February 2016, Gregory announced on Facebook that the sequel was officially confirmed to be in production, with the scripts being written. The series was confirmed to be eight episodes in May 2016.
Jamie Payne, who directed three episodes of The White Queen, directed episodes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8. Frost was the showrunner and executive producer. Lachlan MacKinnon is served as producer, with Gregory as executive producer. Playground's Colin Callender and Scott Huff also executive produced with Company Pictures' Michele Buck.