Set against the iconic backdrop of the War of the Roses, the series tells the story of the women caught up in the on-going conflict for the throne – they are some of the most ruthless players in history and will stop at nothing to support their own causes and those of the ones they love.
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Elizabeth Woodville is played by Rebecca Ferguson; Lady Margaret Beaufort is played by Amanda Hale; Anne Neville is played by Faye Marsay; Jacquetta Woodville is played by Janet Mcteer; King Edward IV is played by Max Irons; Lord Warwick is played by James Frain; Isabel Neville is played by Eleanor Tomlinson; Henry Stafford is played by Michael Maloney; Baron Rivers is played by Robert Pugh; George, Duke Of Clarence is played by David Oakes; Richard, Duke of Gloucester is played by Aneurin Barnard; Duchess Cecily is played by Caroline Goodall; Anthony Rivers is played by Ben Lamb; Countess of Warwick is played by Juliet Aubrey; and Mary Woodville is played by Eve Ponsonby.
Episode 1
Sunday 16 June 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth Woodville, a beautiful, widowed commoner, waits by the roadside with her two young sons. Her husband died fighting for deposed Lancastrian King Henry VI, her ancestral lands and wealth have been confiscated and she faces destitution. Her only hope is to use her beauty to try to catch the eye of her family’s greatest enemy, young York King Edward IV, as he rides out to battle, and plead her case.
It works, and the king stops and visits her family home at Grafton. Elizabeth is powerfully drawn to this man she expected to hate, and he too seems smitten. But at a passionate secret meeting, he tries to force himself upon her and Elizabeth has to draw his own dagger against him. Edward is affronted; as he leaves to fight, he vows that she will never see him again. Elizabeth’s mother, Jacquetta, weaves a spell and Elizabeth pulls a ring in the shape of a crown from the river – does this mean she will marry Edward?
Edward returns from battle and asks Elizabeth to marry him. With Jacquetta as witness they secretly marry. Edward then leaves for a final battle against Lancaster, promising to acknowledge the marriage publicly once he is victorious. Elizabeth’s brother Anthony discovers that his sister has been sleeping with the King and is outraged, believing that Elizabeth has been seduced into bed by a false wedding and empty promises.
After weeks without news, Elizabeth’s father, Baron Rivers and her brothers are called to court, predicting the announcement of Edward’s betrothal to a French princess, arranged by his mentor the Earl of Warwick. But, defying Warwick, Edward announces he is already married to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is jubilant and takes her place at the hostile court.
Edward’s brothers George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester seem welcoming, but there are those against her. Warwick and his daughters Isabel and Anne had hoped the king was under Warwick’s control. And Lady Margaret Beaufort, cousin to deposed King Henry VI and mother to Henry Tudor, is also far from happy; her young son is a credible Lancastrian heir and Elizabeth stands in the way of her plans for him.
Elizabeth and Jacquetta meet Edward’s mother Cecily, who is so outraged by the secret wedding (to a Lancastrian commoner) that she threatens to end Edward’s reign by naming him illegitimate. And so begins the battle royal for the throne…
Episode 2
Sunday 23 June 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth’s coronation is a grand affair – and not just to silence those who say her marriage to Edward IV is not legal. Once Queen, she and her mother Jacquetta get to work, marrying off her siblings to the nobility to ensure their family’s security, and create a royal family loyal to Edward as he brings peace to England.
The Lancastrians are stripped of their titles. Margaret Beaufort fumes when her son Henry Tudor loses his title; she rages to her second husband Henry Stafford that he must do something about it. But Stafford cannot; York rules England now and Margaret must accept it. Margaret Beaufort’s son Henry has been in her brother in law Jasper’s care since she was married to Stafford, and desperately misses her young son.
Isabel and Anne Neville are also resentful of the Rivers’ family’s rise to power – all the young noblemen have been married off to Elizabeth’s sisters. Worse, Elizabeth has unpicked their father’s control over King Edward IV. Warwick tells his daughters not to worry, he has a plan – he will ask the King for his brothers George and Richard to be married to Isabel and Anne.
Margaret is forced to attend her husband’s nephew Harry Stafford’s wedding to Elizabeth’s sister Katherine – both just young children. Margaret’s mother Lady Beauchamp is always cruel to Margaret, and distraught, she rushes to the chapel to ask God why she must suffer so much pain? It seems that God gives her an answer when Margaret has a vision.
Elizabeth has a daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and two more follow but the longed-for son eludes her.
Warwick captures Henry VI, but is shocked when, despite this great service, Edward still refuses him his brothers in marriage to Isabel and Anne. Elizabeth and Jacquetta gloat, imagining themselves safe from the so-called Kingmaker’s power and malice, but they are wrong. Warwick secretly joins forces with Edward’s brother George – he and Isabel are married.
Isabel is distraught to learn her new husband and her father have declared war on the king: her marriage was a signal to muster to an uprising – she and her sister merely their father’s pawns. Warwick plans to make George king.
Edward IV is furious and it is clear that Edward’s own mother Cecily is in on this rebellion too, the old rumour that Edward is not his father’s son rearing its head again. Warwick and George want Edward to declare his marriage a sham.
Elizabeth attends a state visit to Norwich, while Edward waits for his enemies to attack in Nottingham. But they take him by surprise and Warwick holds him captive. Elizabeth’s brother Anthony arrives with the worst news of all. Their father and brother John are dead: captured and beheaded without charge or trial, simply on the orders of Warwick. Elizabeth is devastated – her passion for Edward has cost her too much.
Margaret Beaufort is jubilant as she hears of Edward’s capture. She visits her young son Henry Tudor at Pembroke Castle, and tells him that he will be king – God has told her in a vision. Stafford is horrified at this treasonous talk. Margaret writes to the king’s brother George and pledges him her support if he will return her son’s title. By the Thames, at the foot of the Tower of London, Elizabeth swears a curse to see Warwick and Edward’s brother George dead for killing her father and brother…
Episode 3
Sunday 30 June 2013, 9pm
When Parliament refuse to support Warwick and George, Warwick loses his nerve and Edward escapes. Elizabeth wants vengeance for her father and brother but Edward shocks her by saying no; he is set on reconciliation. News of Edward’s escape thwarts Margaret and her husband is promptly passed over for a title by Edward, a result of her offering her support to his brother George.
It’s Christmas as Warwick and George return to court and Elizabeth is forced to welcome them. Anne and Isabel are to be her ladies-in-waiting, an arrangement that suits none of the women – but it would only be until Isabel goes into confinement to give birth – to what she hopes will be a son. Edward knows that he needs to offer Warwick and George inducements to stay loyal.
Jasper arrives at Stafford’s manor with news of another uprising. He wants Stafford to bring his men but Stafford refuses. Margaret is ashamed and calls him a traitor and a coward. As Jasper leaves, Margaret gives him the silver cross from around her neck to keep him safe; she promises that she’ll tell her half-brother Richard Welles to bring an army to Jasper’s side.
Isabel and Anne are happy to have left the court as they arrive home to Warwick castle for Isabel’s confinement, but Warwick tells them he and George are riding out to support King Edward against a so-called ‘Lancastrian’ uprising fronted by Richard Welles. But really they have orchestrated this themselves and once on the battlefield they will kill King Edward and make George King. Anne and Isabel are horrified at the treasonous, ungodly lengths their father will go to.
Elizabeth is once again pregnant as Edward rides out against the rebellion. Elizabeth warns him to beware Warwick and George, but Edward is confident of his trust in them now. The women pray for the outcome they desire, Elizabeth for Edward’s victory and safety, Margaret for his defeat and death, Anne and Isabel that their father knows what he is doing….
Welles’ courage fails and he tells King Edward of the plot against him. In a fury Edward kills him. Jasper Tudor flees to France leaving Margaret’s young son Henry alone at Pembroke. Jacquetta warns that Edward has created new enemies with this and no-one will trust him again. Elizabeth’s concern is that Warwick and George have sailed for Calais. If Warwick reaches Calais he will easily raise an army to come against them. They have to stop him getting there. Elizabeth and Jacquetta summon a storm.
The storm is brewing as Margaret and Stafford head to Pembroke to her son, Henry Tudor. Out at sea, Anne and Isabel are in terror for their lives as the storm worsens. Isabel’s waters have broken and she badly needs a midwife, but the ship can’t get to shore. Isabel begs her sister for help but Anne is distraught that she can do nothing…
The boat finally arrives in Calais… only to have canon fired at them as Calais has remained loyal to King Edward IV. They are stranded out at sea, with nowhere to go and no help. So when Isabel finally gives birth, her baby – a boy – is born dead.
Episode 4
Sunday 7 July 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth is troubled by the news of Isabel and George’s dead son – and Warwick’s arrival in France, he will be more dangerous than ever. Rumours fly that Warwick is making a new alliance with his old enemy, the French Margaret of Anjou and planning to restore her husband Henry VI to the throne. George is furious as he will now never be King. His loyalty to Warwick is fading. On hearing the news of Warwick’s scheme Elizabeth and Jacquetta visit George’s mother, Cecily, and point out that her favourite son may now be fighting for Lancaster and at risk of execution.
In France the rumours prove true: Warwick’s new plan is for his daughter Anne to marry Margaret of Anjou’s son Edward of Lancaster and for Warwick to rule through Anne and Edward, when Henry VI dies. The Warwick family are torn apart – Isabel is left deserted and childless and Anne is to be married to a family that she has always viewed as her enemy. Anne is schooled by the “bad” Queen Margaret of Anjou in how to act like royalty. Anne’s new husband terrifies her; and she is desperate not to leave her sister, as both girls have been betrayed by their parents.
Cecily’s secret envoy Lady Sutcliffe arrives in France where she talks to Isabel and Anne, offering George a way back to court if he abandons Warwick and returns to his brother Edward’s side. In secret, George accepts the envoy’s offer and pledges loyalty to King Edward IV again. Edward is pleased; unaware of his wife’s role in manipulating George.
As Edward prepares for war once more, Elizabeth and her daughters go to the Tower for safety. Warwick and his army return to England and in a surprise attack defeat Edward’s army. George had no time to defect and along with Warwick storms the Tower looking for Elizabeth. Elizabeth is distraught at the news that Warwick has had her mother arrested and imprisoned for witchcraft. In fear for her life and the lives of her children, she flees into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. She learns that Edward has fled to Flanders with Richard Duke of Gloucester and her brother Anthony. Jacquetta is put on trial and Warwick produces a witness with damning evidence against her…
Young Henry Tudor is reunited with his mother Margaret Beaufort, having escaped from the battle with his life. He was caught by Warwick’s army and was only saved from execution by calling out “I am Henry Tudor” – as heir to the Lancastrian throne Henry’s name saved him. Henry now shares his mother’s belief that one day he will be King – much to Stafford’s dismay. Jasper returns from exile and together with Margaret and young Henry Tudor attend Henry VI’s at court.
Jacquetta is freed by Warwick and arrives in sanctuary in time to help Elizabeth give birth to a son: a York prince who carries his father’s name – Edward.
Episode 5
Sunday 14 July 2013, 9pm
Warwick has restored King Henry VI to the throne but, doubtful of George’s loyalty, has ordered his daughter (and George’s wife) Isabel back to England to keep him on side. Warwick’s younger daughter, Anne, is forced to trust her former enemies and travels with Margaret of Anjou to fight against York. They plan to sail back to England but a storm delays their travels. With George absent from court, Warwick can only hope that the storm is preventing the York hero King Edward IV from sailing too.
Meanwhile, safe in sanctuary, Edward secretly visits his dear wife Elizabeth – to see his son at least once before the looming battle. Warwick’s troops have left the city and are heading to face Edward’s army north of London. Edward, who is now accompanied by his once disloyal brother George, plans to defeat Warwick before Margaret of Anjou lands.
Lancastrian Margaret Beaufort is furious to hear that Elizabeth has had a baby boy; those loyal to York will champion this new heir, weakening her son Henry Tudor’s chance to take the throne. From Henry VI’s court, Henry Tudor and his Uncle Jasper decide to return to Wales and prepare for war. Margaret Beaufort is thrilled when her husband Stafford also readies for battle, until he reveals he’s not fighting for Lancaster but for York and Edward, believing that is the only chance of peace.
Elizabeth and Jacquetta turn once again to magic to breathe a cold mist into the air, hoping it will hide Edward’s army, giving him the element of surprise he needs to defeat Warwick’s army. A bloody battle is fought: Warwick falls and Edward is victorious.
Margaret of Anjou, her son Edward of Lancaster and his now wife Anne finally land in Devon to meet Warwick – but they are too late. Anne is devastated to learn of her father’s death and that her mother has abandoned her, escaping into sanctuary after being declared a traitor. Utterly alone, Anne has no choice but to follow Margaret and Edward as they race to Wales to meet Jasper.
Margaret Beaufort hears her husband was badly injured at the Battle of Barnet. She bravely goes to bring him home from the battlefield. However, Stafford’s plea that Margaret accepts the York victory is disregarded as she secretly writes to Jasper urging him to join forces with Margaret of Anjou.
Episode 6
Sunday 21 July 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth faces an uncertain future as all she holds close is threatened. She is pregnant again but feels unease at Edward’s closeness to his brothers. Their plan to send her baby son away to become Prince of Wales is upsetting, but the discovery that Edward has taken a mistress shakes the very foundations of their marriage.
When Jacquetta reveals her heart is weakening, Elizabeth faces losing her strongest ally and closest confidante.
Anne is forgiven by Edward and is made his brother George’s ward. Anne fears he wants to control her and keep her fortune. Her sister, Isabel, is terrified of alienating the York court by further disloyalty and sides with George, making Anne a virtual prisoner.
Richard Duke of Gloucester sees what is happening and takes Anne’s side. When George threatens to send Anne to an abbey, Anne turns to Richard. He declares his love for her and they elope, marrying quickly without papal dispensation. Despite George’s fury, Isabel and Anne reconcile.
When Margaret Beaufort’s mother dies, the widowed Margaret writes to Jasper asking if she should go to him. It hurts when Jasper tells her to remain in England, but Margaret hardens herself and accepts that love was never meant for her. She decides to marry into the York court to pursue her aim of bringing her son Henry Tudor home from exile. She chooses Lord Thomas Stanley. As cold and ambitious as she is, it’s the perfect political pairing and it seems that Margaret has met her match.
Elizabeth’s baby dies on the same day as her mother. Through this devastating loss, she and Edward find a way to reconcile and face the future together as Margaret Beaufort and her new husband Stanley arrive at court.
Episode 7
Sunday 28 July 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth gives birth again but the baby doesn’t breathe. Margaret Beaufort, who is not enjoying her position as her lady in waiting, is given the child. The boy comes alive in Margaret’s hands and Elizabeth believes Margaret has saved him.
Anne also has a baby boy, and is living happily away from court. This peace is destroyed when she realises her husband Richard Duke of Gloucester has brought her mother to live with them. Anne’s mother sows doubts about Richard’s feelings for Anne and this makes Anne secretly question his motives in marrying her.
Edward IV is set on war with France; persuaded by his brother George’s endless greed and desire to become Regent. However, as they arrive to fight, King Louis offers Edward a generous peace deal which he accepts. George is eaten up with fury as he will now not be French Regent. Richard is ashamed of his brother’s peace deal. While Edward is overindulging in the French court, George makes a secret pact with the French King.
The sons of York return from war as enemies. At court, Elizabeth toasts for the Neville sisters to be as fertile as their mother, and Isabel is terrified that she has cursed them both to only have girls. George hires a sorcerer to counteract Elizabeth’s curse and accuses her of witchcraft. Isabel gives birth to a son but she dies soon afterwards and events suddenly spiral out of control as George openly accuses the Queen of poisoning her. Edward can bear it no longer and, putting aside his love for his brother, he has George tried for treason and drowns him in a vat of Malmsey wine.
Episode 8
Sunday 4 August 2013, 9pm
Elizabeth is concerned that Edward is allowing Henry Tudor to return from exile, but having fought off many foes, including his brother, Edward reveals that he wants his enemies close.
Edward suddenly becomes extremely ill and on his deathbed he names his brother Richard as Lord Protector. King Edward IV dies leaving Elizabeth devastated; she is no longer Queen and her fortunes have faded. She desperately looks to her brother Anthony, and sons, Thomas and Richard Grey, for support, as she knows she can trust them.
Richard Grey is charged with bringing her young son Prince Edward to London from Wales so he can be crowned quickly. The sons of York’s mother Cecily warns them that Elizabeth will feel threatened by his new status as Lord Protector of the king-in-waiting. Anne is quick to encourage him to crown himself king, as Prince Edward is only a child and it will lead to more war.
Things escalate when Richard captures the child Prince Edward from Richard Grey on their way to London and houses him in the Tower. This is against Elizabeth’s wishes and, fearing for her family’s safety, she flees into sanctuary. She curses Richard as she plans to raise a rebellion against him.
Margaret Beaufort is overjoyed with the King Edward IV’s death; she reasons that if Elizabeth and Richard fight each other, then her son can take on the exhausted victor and make himself king. She plots for all she’s worth, with a go-between between herself and Elizabeth, avoiding detection when Richard accuses Stanley of treason and raids their house.
Richard also fears Elizabeth’s brother, Anthony Rivers, is plotting against him and has him executed, along with Elizabeth’s son Richard Grey. Fearing for her other sons, she sends her second York prince, Richard, to Flanders in secret, giving Richard a changeling to lock in the Tower in his place with her other son Prince Edward.
Margaret Beaufort has the idea that if they agree to help Elizabeth fight Richard, her daughter Princess Elizabeth could wed Henry Tudor to secure Henry’s claim to the throne. However, Stanley reminds her that they must appear to stay loyal to both sides, so they both support Richard as he crowns himself King of England – Richard III.
Episode 9
Sunday 11 August 2013, 9pm
Fearful of enemies, the new King Richard III honours those who he feels are loyal to him: Brackenbury, Buckingham and Stanley. Still not convinced that Elizabeth’s threat has gone away, Anne secretly talks to Brackenbury behind her husband’s back, wishing the Princes in the Tower dead.
Elizabeth is forced to find allies where she can and accepts Margaret Beaufort’s offer of help, hoping they will rescue the Princes. Her teenage daughter Lizzie warns her against it. The planned attack fails and all out rebellion is called. When Elizabeth hears a rumour that her boys in the tower are dead Elizabeth realises her daughter was right, and that Margaret, with her kinsman Buckingham, had most reason to kill them. She and Princess Lizzie use magic to flood the country, and scotch Margaret’s uprising and her son, Henry Tudor’s, invasion.
Margaret is giddy as she and Stanley plot with everyone, double and triple crossing them, to try to win her son the throne. But the final victory is snatched from her for now when torrential rain and flooding across the country cause the uprising to fail. Buckingham is arrested and executed.
Margaret ends up under house arrest, powerless and penniless: Stanley has betrayed her part in the rebellion to King Richard III. In return, Stanley has been given control of all Margaret’s lands, money and liberty. She is exiled into the country; her only link to the rest of the world is Stanley and she doesn’t know whose side he’s even on.
Anne finds being queen an anxious experience and is concerned that her words to Brackenbury were the cause of the young Princes in the Tower’s deaths. Richard III is desperate to find his nephews alive and is devastated by the rumours accusing him of their murder.
Having worked out who his real enemies are, he visits Elizabeth and expresses that he has feelings for her daughter, Princess Elizabeth. The Princess, still betrothed to Henry Tudor, complains to her mother that she doesn’t want to be forced into marriage for political ends.
Episode 10
Sunday 18 August 2013, 9pm
Queen of England Anne Neville’s health is fading fast, and when her sickly son Prince Edward dies and she hears of her husband’s love for Princess Elizabeth, she knows she is ready to die.
She clears her conscience first, that the murder of the Princes is not on her head, and even finds the strength to lay to rest her feud with Elizabeth. An eclipse occurs, seeming to signal the end of the York reign, and as the light returns, Anne dies.
Elizabeth and her girls are freed from sanctuary, and her beautiful firstborn daughter, Princess Elizabeth, goes to court, blossoms, and falls in love with her uncle, King Richard III. When Queen Anne dies, it seems there may be a chance for them to marry and thus for the Woodville dynasty to continue as Queens of England. But battle looms with Henry Tudor (Margaret Beaufort’s son) waiting to invade and claim the throne from Richard, who is seen by many as a usurper. Princess Elizabeth knows that she must marry the victor: either her beloved King Richard III or a man she hates.
Margaret is lonely under house-arrest but the deaths of Queen Anne and Anne’s son bring new hope for her own son, Henry Tudor, to take the throne. The battle is fraught and uncertain, but in the end Tudor wins and King Richard III is killed. Finally Henry Tudor is King, and Margaret thanks God, but she has always known this day would come…
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