The Spanish Princess (TV Series)

The Battle for Harry (2019)

Alan McKenna: Sir Richard Pole

Quotes 

• Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire : Your Grace. Sir Richard Pole and Lady Margaret are here.

  Sir Richard Pole : Your Grace, we are deeply sorry for your loss, and we share it.

  Maggie Pole : I loved her as you did, Your Grace. Lizzie and I were... When all is said and done, she was my cousin, and I am broken at her passing.

  King Henry Tudor : Tell me, Lady Pole. Are these the robes of your confessor? Seek an audience with your priest. You will find no absolution here. If you had not so distressed her in her final hours, she might still be with...

  Prince Harry Tudor : [Harry enters]  Aunt Maggie, Pole, I heard you had returned to us.

  Sir Richard Pole : We are sorry for your loss.

  Prince Harry Tudor : We feel it deeply, but, uh, summer is ahead, and I hope my marriage will provide warmth and cheer to England when she so badly needs it.

  Sir Richard Pole : Marriage?

  Prince Harry Tudor : I am to marry Catherine, secure our treaty with Queen Isabella, and then produce an heir so we may have succession and stability.

  Maggie Pole : But... is it agreed?

  Prince Harry Tudor : Why else would I say it?

  Sir Richard Pole : Congratulations, Your Grace.

  Prince Harry Tudor : The wedding will be set for June.

  Sir Richard Pole : If we can assist with the preparayions in any way. And we will be, uh, sure to congratulate the princess.

  Prince Harry Tudor : That will prove difficult. It seems my lady grandmother has risen above her station and sent her from the palace.

  King Henry Tudor : Please do as your grandmother sees fit. We have pain enough without having a family war.

  Prince Harry Tudor : Of course, Father. But nothing need prevent you writing for the papal dispensation when you see fit.

  King Henry Tudor : [Henry stands up]  Attend to Meg, Lady Pole. She is soon to leave for Scotland and needs a mother's help before she goes. She has been denied that... so you will have to suffice.

• Sir Richard Pole : It's just talk. We have had fifteen years of peace. No one would now turn their coats to York to wade through blood again.

  Margaret Beaufort : [Margaret enters]  I've learned the name of our tormenter, the phantom challenger raising men in France. Edmund de la Pole, your own wife's cousin.

  Sir Richard Pole : May I see?

  [someone says "De la Pole"] 

  Sir Richard Pole : My wife has had no contact with him.

  Margaret Beaufort : It appears that he is being sheltered by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian himself, who will not hand him over, despite the King's entreaties that he should, because Maximillian fears that we would kill the rat.

  Edward Stafford : Of course we would, the last York heir standing.

  Margaret Beaufort : We must build our armies to withstand a York invasion.

  Edward Stafford : An assault against the throne, backed by the wealth of the Habsburg Empire.

  Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire : My lady, the treasury is depleted, and our war chests are empty.

  Margaret Beaufort : [Margaret calls Edmund Dudley, he enters]  I'm sure you all know Edmund Dudley, who has served the city as a gifted lawyer and is now the Speaker of the House of Commons. He shows his loyalty by offering his services to find ways to fill our coffers.

  Sir Edmund Dudley : There are places to cut spending, but that alone will not yield the kind of revenue that we need. We will raise the taxes on the most popular items, like wool and leather, and we shall create new fines for things like dogs in church, singing in the street, and impersonating the King.

  Sir Richard Pole : All ideas that will be effective at stirring resentment on the streets.

  Sir Edmund Dudley : If it's soldiers that we need, why not begin by conscripting those who came here with the Spanish princess, in lieu of half the dowry that was never paid?

  Margaret Beaufort : Not in lieu, in part payment, and a small part.

• Sir Richard Pole : Your cousin Edmund is in Flanders marshaling men against the King.

  Maggie Pole : Well, I- I have not seen or spoken to him in over a year.

  Sir Richard Pole : Thank God. If he contacts you, you must tell the King at once. His Grace is stricken, and his mother would make enemies of us all. Look how she banished Princess Catherine, even though Harry lays claim to her hand.

  Maggie Pole : Yes.

  Sir Richard Pole : No one is safe.