Episode 2 of The White Princess leans hard into court intrigue, rebellion, and moral posturing, but once again, the Starz Philippa Gregory adaptation sacrifices Tudor history for melodrama. As King Henry VII tours York and plague spreads through London, the series invents treason plots, softens a calculating king into a passive figurehead, and misrepresents key historical players like Bishop Morton, Elizabeth Woodville, and Francis Lovell. This breakdown separates what actually happened in Tudor England from what the show manufactures for drama, and why those changes misunderstand the era.

Inside This Post:

• Who Was Bishop Morton?
• Elizabeth Woodville Did Not Plot Henry’s Death
• Francis Lovell: The Rebel Behind the York Conspiracy
• Henry VII’s Mercy: Strategy & Faith
• Was Elizabeth of York Really Left Alone?
• Duchess Cecily of York Did Not Flee to Flanders
• Lizzie & the Plague
• Emasculating Henry VII
• Jasper Tudor: The Loyal Uncle
• Minor Inaccuracies

Episode 2: Hearts & Minds

Lizzie schemes to help her imprisoned mother, Elizabeth Woodville, while King Henry VII tours York. The outbreak of the plague in London fuels rebellion as Lizzie confronts her mother’s dangerous plans for rebellion and Henry’s ruthlessness.

Who Was Bishop Morton?

The show introduces Bishop Morton as a conspirator with Margaret Beaufort, but never tells us who he was; he was a civil lawyer, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1454, and entered royal services as chancellor in 1456 to the prince. He was a supporter of Henry VI, but pardoned by King Edward IV, and after Edward’s death, accused of treason by Richard III, who imprisoned him. Morton escaped to Flanders, where he warned Henry Tudor that Richard had negotiated for his imprisonment with the authorities, allowing Henry to escape from Brittany into France.

After Henry won the Battle of Bosworth, he summoned Morton back to England and made him Lord Chancellor. He was one of the king’s most trusted advisers and present at almost every meeting of the king’s council. Only Morton could reproach Henry when necessary, given his position within the Church and the respect the king gave him. Morton had a successful career, in which he pursued the reform of religious houses, and rebuilt or added to many residences. His notable architectural achievement was completing the central Bell Harry Tower in Canterbury Cathedral.

Fun Fact: Sir Thomas More served as a page in his household between the ages of twelve and fourteen.

Elizabeth Woodville Did Not Plot Henry’s Death

As addressed in my episode one post, Elizabeth Woodville’s desire to kill Henry is false, since she conspired to put him on the throne and to remove Richard, whom she considered the murderer of her sons. Everything about her plot in this and all subsequent episodes, from being imprisoned in the castle, to smuggling letters, to urging her daughter to support him being deposed, to being happy the sweating sickness is killing people under his reign, to Margaret Beaufort wanting to “kill her” for treason is false.

Her desire for Henry to die makes no sense from the perspective of a Tudor queen. Even if she convinced her sister-in-law to invade England and depose Henry, her grandchildren through Henry and Lizzie would be in the same position as Teddy; a threat to the throne, banished to the Tower, and likely killed. The series tries to explain this away when in episode four, she tells Lizzie her “sight” told her Prince Arthur will not live to be king, but it’s still stupid.

Francis Lovell: The Rebel Behind the York Conspiracy

While I write extensively about Sir Thomas Lovell in my Tudor novels, Henry VII’s spymaster, the Francis Lovell in this series is no relation to Sir Thomas.

A best friend of Richard III, this Lovell allied with him when he took over England, helped suppress the Buckingham rebellion, and escaped from the Battle of Bosworth Field. He attempted to seize or assassinate Henry VII (including the one depicted in this episode, when Henry visits York) before he fled to Margaret of York in Flanders. He took part in the Lambert Simnel revolt, but was never heard from again after his escape (assuming he escaped and was not killed in battle).

The show shows Henry being shot at with an arrow and stabbed in the arm in York. The actual story is less dramatic. A group of disgruntled Yorkists, led by Lovell, gathered and planned to ambush Henry as he rode through the narrow, crowded streets. They wanted to catch him off guard, but rumors of this reached the Earl of Northumberland, who warned the king. Instead of being vindictive (like the Henry of the show), the real Henry offered pardons to the conspirators, to “heal the rifts tearing the country apart.” He hoped this would weaken the resolve of potential rebels and deter future conspiracies, but Lovell escaped to Flanders, where he got involved in other attempts to undermine Henry’s reign.

Henry VII’s Mercy: Strategy & Faith

In the episode, Henry believes Lizzie is behind the attempt on his life, along with her mother, and writes her a nasty letter saying if her mother were with him, he would have her executed. Since she never conspired against him, this isn’t true. It’s also not in alignment with the real Henry’s pragmatic nature. He executed people when necessary, but often showed clemency, forgiveness, and allowed them to atone (as we see with Lambert Simnel, his pardon of many of Richard’s conspirators, and even those who wanted to take his life in York). Henry preferred to financially beat down his potential rivals rather than kill them outright.

Why would he be this way, though? It boils down to the way Catholicism saturated every aspect of people’s lives in those days. They felt every action would be weighed by God, and the consequences for certain behaviors might earn them longer penances in Purgatory. Henry forgiving people would give him greater divine clemency; executing them was a mark against his eternal soul. If he made a mistake and killed an innocent person, their blood would be on his hands. Thus, he used execution sparingly for the sake of his immortal soul.

Faith and religious beliefs are noticeably absent from the series, which relegates all such beliefs to dislikable people like Bishop Morton and Margaret Beaufort.

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Lizzie is irritated with her mother for her participation in it, and weakly says, “Henry does not have to die at all; we can remove him from the throne and send him back to where he came from.” Which just makes her look naïve. That isn’t how life works. Rival kings were imprisoned, killed on the field of battle, or executed.

Was Elizabeth of York Really Left Alone at Court?

While Henry goes off to York, he leaves his new wife alone in the castle, which is shut up. All the games are put away, and her mother is sequestered in secret in a different tower. All to show the audience how little he cares about his wife, but this is inaccurate. She stayed home, but had a functional court in his absence.

Duchess Cecily of York Did Not Flee to Flanders

Her grandmother, Duchess Cecily, is so mad about the death of Richard, she leaves England to join her daughter Margaret in Flanders, but in reality, she got along fine with Henry VII, she was never in danger of being arrested, and she never went to Flanders, but lived out the rest of her life in comfort in England.

Lizzie & the Plague

When Lizzie discovers people are dying of the plague (the sweating sickness), she demands they use the royal treasury to help ease their suffering. She defies Bishop Morton’s insistence that she not touch it, breaks down the door and sends money to the poor. Margaret Beaufort tells Henry to “punish her severely” for this and is shocked and disappointed when Henry thanks her for her kindness instead.

While there are no records of her doing any such thing, Elizabeth of York was known for her care of the poor, and it was common for queens of the time to give alms (usually after attending church). It was an act of mercy and a way to reflect Jesus’s concern for the poor in your daily life.

The Show’s Determination to Make Henry Weak

The show seems determined to emasculate Henry and make it seem like the women in his life know better how to rule than he does; his mother tells him what to do concerning foreign policy, and Elizabeth blames him to his face for not earning the support of the York lords. She tells him a true king does not take before others are willing to give, and he cannot rule through fear.

Actually, no one ruled Henry, and there’s evidence that he would have been an even harsher king with regard to finances and fines had not Bishop Warren held him in check. He was shrewd, intelligent, trusted no one, confided in no one, negotiated trade deals, marital alliances, and gave out titles that would further his own agenda and shore up his power. Because he was so good at using the law to profit as much as possible from his landowners, he built up the incredible fortune his son squandered during his reign.

Rather than his diplomatic prowess and mercy earning him approval on his trip to York, he tells Elizabeth, “The hearts I won on progress were due to you. They fell down on their knees and praised me [for your actions among the sick]. I owe you my thanks. If only we could work together, we could be a King for England.” This is a character moment for him, showing his growth and gathering affection for him, but historically inaccurate, since Henry withholding her coronation for a significant amount of time made it clear in England that he intended to “rule alone.” But the real Elizabeth was a softening influence on him and gained him support in York.

Jasper Tudor: The Loyal Uncle

The series doesn’t tell us much about Jasper Tudor, other than he took care of Henry in exile, and he’s in love with Margaret Beaufort, so here’s a rundown.

After Henry V of England died, his widow, the former Queen Catherine of Valois, married Sir Owen Tudor and had two additional sons: Jasper and Edmund, half-brothers to Henry VI. Edmund married Margaret Beaufort, the great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt (the fourth son of King Edward III, and the father of Henry IV), which made their son descended from the original Lancastrian royal family.

When Edward challenged Henry VI for power, Jasper sided with his half-brother but was forced into exile after his capture and death, along with his nephew (the future Henry VII), whose care he had from childhood. They sought refuge in Brittany until Bishop Morton warned them of Richard’s intention to seize Henry, then escaped into France.

Jasper fought alongside him at Bosworth Field, and after his nephew came to the throne, had all previous royal attainders annulled and was restored to all of his former titles and estates.

Minor Inaccuracies:

The sweating sickness appears in this episode, cited as a “sickness that came with the filthy Tudor soldiers.” I wrote about it here and here. It arrived with the foreign mercenaries and plagued England until 1528, until everyone left alive developed a natural immunity. To this day, we are not sure what it was, other than a fever followed by sudden death.

Henry implies he wants sex with his wife; as she was pregnant, both would have abstained for the health of the child. The Church discouraged pregnancy sex. Henry would not have wanted to take any chances, since the birth of a healthy son would be seen by the people as God’s approval of his kingship.

A random courtier is expected to ride astride, and says it is immodest; but her husband answers that the Tudors do things differently. We later see the king and queen riding astride. This is inaccurate, and I’m not sure why they included it, unless the production had trouble getting sidesaddles. Not only was it immodest for a woman to ride astride, the sheer volume of her skirts made it difficult.

About the Author: Charity Bishop writes historical fiction, historical fantasy, and suspense novels that explores the darkness in human hearts, and the light that refuses to be extinguished. Discover her books.