The Spanish Princess (TV Series)

The Battle for Harry (2019)

Laura Carmichael: Maggie Pole

Photos 

Quotes 

• Meg Tudor : The Scots King wants us to wear matching white damask for the wedding. I hope he does not expect us to match every day, like demented twins.

  Maggie Pole : Did you ever see your mother's wedding dress? Red, for war. Your grandmother wanted to tear it off her with her teeth.

  Meg Tudor : [to tailor]  Would you find it for me? We could use it for a red trim to my own.

  [to Maggie] 

  Meg Tudor : I'm honoring my mother.

  [tailor leaves] 

  Meg Tudor : Aunt Maggie, will it hurt, after the wedding? The night?

  Maggie Pole : I will tell you what your Aunt Cecily told me on my wedding night. It hurts a little at first. Then it feels quite nice.

  Meg Tudor : You will be here when it comes time for me to leave?

  Maggie Pole : I wouldn't miss it for all the heather in Scotland.

  [they hug] 

• 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.

• Maggie Pole : Edmund.

  Edmund De La Pool : It's been too long, Cousin Maggie. I'm sorry about the disguise, but the Tudors mean to have my head.

  Maggie Pole : It is true, then. You would take the Tudor crown.

  Edmund De La Pool : And I need your help. You must visit each of our cousins in turn, all those still loyal to the house of York, and speak to them in person, no letters. Tell them I must bring...

  Maggie Pole : I will tell them nothing. I have children I would like to see grow old.

  Edmund De La Pool : Maggie, our family ruled this land long before Henry Tudor stole the crown from us. It is your birthright as a Plantagenet.

  Maggie Pole : My birthright is a diet of betrayal and of grief. I am sick of others asking me to risk my life for their political gain.

  Edmund De La Pool : You think I cannot overturn the Tudors?

  Maggie Pole : Just because you think your cause is the right one, it doesn't make you any different from them.

  Edmund De La Pool : Then you're against me.

  Maggie Pole : I am neither for nor against you, cousin. I wish only to be left in peace. Don't contact me again, Edmund. May God have mercy on you.

• Meg Tudor : Do you see now how destinies are only meant for men in England?

  Catherine of Aragon : No, Meg, never think it or believe it, or it will become the truth. You must hold your courage and your strength and fight for what you want. Safe travels north. I hear it's even colder there than here.

  Meg Tudor : It's colder there than everywhere.

  Maggie Pole : Meg, your father has asked me to ready you for your departure.

  Meg Tudor : Did you know that Catherine has been thrown out of the palace by my grandmother?

  Maggie Pole : I'm not sure that's any business of mine. Come.

• 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.

• Maggie Pole : You sent for me, my lady?

  Margaret Beaufort : I did, yes. Come in, child. Sit with me. This is a new vintage. We can try it together. I expect your husband's told you that your cousin is a traitor to the crown.

  Maggie Pole : I have had no contact with him.

  Margaret Beaufort : I know. He's been rabble-rousing against our house for years. But I'm prattling. I find these newer spices rather hard on the stomach but you must try one of these little orange things covered in sugar. They come from Italy, but they're none the worse for that.

  Maggie Pole : Thank you.

  Margaret Beaufort : The Infanta, Meg tells me you don't like her.

  Maggie Pole : It is difficult for me to like her, given what was done to bring her here.

  Margaret Beaufort : The sugar gets everywhere. You dined with her and Arthur every night at Ludlow, didn't you? And he was conducted nightly to her room, as I instructed?

  Maggie Pole : We made sure that he was.

  Margaret Beaufort : So they were married both in word and deed, happy in the marriage bed?

  Maggie Pole : I did not go inside. We granted them their privacy.

  Margaret Beaufort : But we can agree that they were lovers.

  Maggie Pole : I cannot say. I did not bear witness to it.

  Margaret Beaufort : Well, her confessor tells me that you helped her ladies with the linen. Were there any signs upon the sheets? Oh, come on. You're a married woman. Don't let's be coy.

  Maggie Pole : I have told you all that I observed.

  Margaret Beaufort : All that you observed? All that you've fabricated since my grandson's death. You and that harlot and her painted lady will be our downfall. If she seduces Harry and marries him upon this lie, it is a sin against the Lord, our God, and you will burn in Hell! Your cousin was a traitor. Are you one as well?

  Maggie Pole : I am an honest woman, which is more than can be said for half the people in this palace. I have told you all that I know, and that is all I will say.

  Margaret Beaufort : You will leave this palace, and you will never be admitted here again. Guards! Lady Pole is barred entrance from any royal residence from this day forth! Get her out!