The Spanish Princess (TV Series)
An Audacious Plan (2019)
Harriet Walter: Margaret Beaufort
Quotes
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Margaret Beaufort : King James of Scotland has settled his headquarters on the borders at Ladykirk, where he's just built a beautiful church. Ah, come now. He's an educated man. He speaks several languages.
Meg Tudor : Well, then, I wish him the plague in all of them.
Margaret Beaufort : My dear child, that is how every woman feels about her husband at first. You know, I was married twelwe years old. I'd only had one monthly course, just one, before I was with child. And that child was your father. You must do your duty, just as I did, for your father, for me, for poor, dear Arthur. You must wed to keep the country safe.
Meg Tudor : I will see my baby brother born. No one will deny me that.
Margaret Beaufort : [she hears bird] Oh, what is that infernal noise?
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Margaret Beaufort : Stoke the fire.
King Henry Tudor : [carries Lizzie] Quickly. Help us, please.
Meg Tudor : Grandmother, is everything all right?
Margaret Beaufort : [to Lizzie] Shush, come on. You've done this before.
Meg Tudor : Is it always like this?
Margaret Beaufort : Henry, go.
Queen Elizabeth : No! Henry, stay with me.
King Henry Tudor : I am here, my love. I'm here.
Margaret Beaufort : Henry, it is not right...
King Henry Tudor : I'm staying!
Margaret Beaufort : [Lizzie screams] Unlace her.
Nurse : Very good, my lady.
Meg Tudor : Father, what's happening?
[Henry helps to unlace]
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Meg Tudor : Father?
Margaret Beaufort : The ropes?
Nurse : Yes, here.
King Henry Tudor : Where is her physician?
Meg Tudor : Aunt Maggie.
Maggie Pole : Dear cousin, I'm here.
Queen Elizabeth : No. Why is she here?
King Henry Tudor : You asked for her, my love.
Queen Elizabeth : She hates me! She will ill-wish my child! Would you take this son away from me as well?
Maggie Pole : No, Lizzie.
Meg Tudor : Please, don't...
Margaret Beaufort : Stay back.
Queen Elizabeth : Will that be enough for you, Maggie Pole, two sons for one brother?
Maggie Pole : Two brothers, Lizzie, yours and mine.
Queen Elizabeth : Get out! Get out!
King Henry Tudor : Go! Go back to Stourton. She doesn't want you here. Go.
[Lizzie wails]
King Henry Tudor : No, Lizzie, Lizzie, now, now. Now...
Meg Tudor : It's going to be all right, Mother. Mother.
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Margaret Beaufort : Bring the child to me. Here. Yes.
Queen Elizabeth : What is it? Is it healthy? Is it breathing?
Meg Tudor : It's a girl, Mother.
Margaret Beaufort : [murmurs] Baby child.
Queen Elizabeth : She's dead, isn't she? She's dead.
[Henry kiss her head]
King Henry Tudor : I am so sorry.
Queen Elizabeth : I want to hold her.
King Henry Tudor : Shh.
[Margaret gives baby to Lizzie]
King Henry Tudor : [she holds her]
[they cry]
King Henry Tudor : [Margaret takes baby]
[Henry kisses Lizzie's head and holds her]
Queen Elizabeth : I will be with Arthur before night falls.
Meg Tudor : No, Mother.
[cries]
Queen Elizabeth : I have to take our baby girl to Heaven and reunite with Arthur and see my brothers.
King Henry Tudor : Do not talk like this, Lizzie.
Queen Elizabeth : Tell Maggie... Tell her I'm sorry.
King Henry Tudor : No. No, I am the king, and I command it.
[he kisses]
King Henry Tudor : You will be well and live a long and happy life with me, Lizzie.
[Lizzie wails]
King Henry Tudor : Meg, Meg, go fetch your brother and sister. Go now.
[he kisses]
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De Fuensalida : My lady, the King's mother, a day so... a tragic day.
Margaret Beaufort : Yes. And I hope you bring happier news, Ambassador. The unpaid half of Catherine's dowry, perhaps?
De Fuensalida : Oh, uh, no, my lady. Uh, I come to tell you that, Catherin e, Princess of Wales...
Margaret Beaufort : "Dowager Princess of Wales." We say, "dowager," for widow.
De Fuensalida : She thanks you for the beautiful litter, but she prefer to arrive, um... in another way.
Margaret Beaufort : And how exactly does she prefer to arrive? In a gilded chariot drawn by the horses of St. Mark's?
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Margaret Beaufort : [Lina and Rosa keen] What in heaven's name are they doing?
De Fuensalida : They are keening, my lady. This is tradition in Spain.
Margaret Beaufort : We're not in Spain. They must stop.
Queen Elizabeth : No. Let them wail.
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Margaret Beaufort : You prefer a mule to a litter made especially for you?
Lina de Cardonnes : A mule was good enough for the mother of our Lord, my lady.
Margaret Beaufort : Is this your way of sending us a message? Are you to be a mother? Your condition is an affair of state, and our agreement...
Catherine of Aragon : My condition is... unclear.
Margaret Beaufort : Ergo, so is your standing in this court. You are no longer Princess of Wales. But, if you're carrying a son, you will be lady mother of the king, just like me.
Catherine of Aragon : God willing.
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Thomas Wolsey : The people are afraid. They say the sweating sickness that took Prince Arthur is back to end the Tudor rule.
Margaret Beaufort : How much longer will they feast upon that?
Thomas Wolsey : Until the line of succession is clear, my lady.
King Henry Tudor : Spain insists we pay the widow's jointure, a third share of Arthur's lands promised in the marrige contract, and we must return the dowry.
Margaret Beaufort : The boy is barely in his grace, and all they can think about is gold.
King Henry Tudor : Unless that girl is carrying an heir, our alliance is in shreds, and every York who ever had a claim will be raising men against me.
Margaret Beaufort : I'll hasten Meg's marriage to Scotland. That will keep one hostile camp at bay, at least.
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Margaret Beaufort : This sword is blunt.
Prince Harry Tudor : They both are. We wouldn't want you cutting yourself.
Catherine of Aragon : Oh, I could still hurt you with this. You may have swords and spears, but you can conquer nothing without mosquetes.
Prince Harry Tudor : Mosquetes?
Catherine of Aragon : And cannons.
Prince Harry Tudor : Well, we have cannons. Have cannons.
Catherine of Aragon : The city wallls of Granada crumbled under cannon fire. The Moorish sultan wept as he left.
Prince Harry Tudor : Weeping like a woman for what he couldn't defend like a man.
Catherine of Aragon : Weeping like a Moor who sees he is not fighting on the side of God.
Prince Harry Tudor : What, have you had enough, Princess Summertime?
Catherine of Aragon : You fight almost like a real soldier.
Prince Harry Tudor : I am every inch the soldier... And commander. And I have my own idead about our military forces. I'm going to have a foundry that makes impenetrable armor.
Catherine of Aragon : Oh, all armor has weak spots. Here. Here. Here.
Margaret Beaufort : What this is display? You dare swordplay with the Tudor heir?
Catherine of Aragon : Eh, is that...
Prince Harry Tudor : Uh... I think she's talking about me.
Margaret Beaufort : I mean both of you.
Prince Harry Tudor : Well, it was only in fun.
Margaret Beaufort : You are not to blame. It's natural for a young man to caper. You, put that down, and come with me. And would somebody take this thing to the menagerie, where it belongs? Come along.
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Margaret Beaufort : In England, widows don't handle swords, much less a widow carrying a prince in her womb. You do know, I presume, the basic signs if you're with child?
Catherine of Aragon : Oh, yes, my lady. The... The belly swells like a great piel de sapo, the melon.
Margaret Beaufort : No. The early signs, disagreeable stomach, tender breasts.
Catherine of Aragon : My stomach is often against me, as I fast on Wednesdays, and my bosom is always tender.
Margaret Beaufort : I'm trying to help you, child. I must know if you have bled since Arthur's death. Surely we should have your news by now.
Catherine of Aragon : When my brother died, I didn't bleed for fourt months, so it's hard for me to know.
Margaret Beaufort : I hoped you'd be like your mother, wise and brave as a man, but now I see you're your father's daughter, as tricky as a fox.
Catherine of Aragon : I have no talent for tricks, and I have no news for you.
-
Margaret Beaufort : I knew Arthur's death would affect you the most, darling boy. The soul of a poet is easily bruised, but it will heal with time. You will make an excellent Prince of Wales. And you have another brother on the way. Does that not soothe you a little? Does that cheer you, hmm?
Prince Harry Tudor : Catherine. Did you know her mother has a horse that can kill a man with a single kick? Break his neck clean.