A historical drama about an English queen has been released on Amazon Prime Video (Picture: Nick Briggs/ Starz Entertainment)
A ‘must see’ historical drama about one of King Henry VIII’s wives is now available to binge.
Based on the novels The Constant Princess and The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory, The Spanish Princess is a sequel to the miniseries The White Queen and The White Princess.
Running for two seasons, which aired in 2019 and 2020, it stars Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon, the titular princess who was crowned the Queen of England when she married King Henry VIII, played by Ruairi O’Connor.
The series received mixed reviews, but many said it was a fitting tribute to the queen who had often been defined based on the man she married.
‘The Spanish Princess is the ideal period soap, dexterously and intelligently balancing the webby intrigue of 16th century court life with the dewy eroticism of a classic melodrama. There’s no guilt here. Just pleasure,’ The Hollywood Reporter wrote in its review.
‘This sexy, spellbinding follow-up to The White Queen and The White Princess finally gives the charismatic and cunning Catherine her due and provides some much-needed royal herstory,’ Refinery29 posted.
The Spanish Princess aired in 2020 (Picture: Jason Bell)
‘It’s an elegant and powerful tribute to a queen who’s all too often been defined by the gluttony of her husband but whose influence changed the very fabric of England,’ The Los Angeles Times added.
Meanwhile viewers said it was ‘brilliant’ and ‘beautiful’.
However, some did accuse the series of sharing ‘wild historical inaccuracies’ with others going so far as to call it ‘offensive’.
It followed the life of Catherine of Aragon (Charlotte Hope) and Henry VIII (Ruari O’Connor) (Picture: Nick Briggs. Starz Entertainment)
This week the series was added to Amazon Prime this week for subscribers with an MGM Plus additional subscription.
Speaking to Town and Country in 2020, Charlotte responded to the backlash, encouraging viewers to enjoy the story the series charted.
‘The thing about history is that—Emma [Frost, co-showrunner of the series] said, “Ultimately history is written by historians who were largely white men, so the history books will tell you much more about those men than it will tell you about what actually happened.” That’s not to say that I think that history books are inaccurate, but I do think that they are a source rather than the whole material,’ she said.
‘And this show is ultimately a fiction. I know that there are forums online where they’re questioning our historical accuracy, but for me it feels like an expansion of an already incredibly rich story.’
The Spanish Princess is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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