The White Princess (TV Mini Series)

Burgundy (2017)

Jacob Collins-Levy: Henry VII

Photos 

Quotes 

• Henry VII : My son is still not born? I should have gone to her.

• Princess Elizabeth : Henry. Come in and see him. He is a boy.

  Henry VII : There's no mistake?

  Princess Elizabeth : No.

  Henry VII : He is perfect. And you are radiant. May I take him?

  [holds Arthur] 

  Henry VII : I'm a father. Thank you. For your efforts I am in your debt.

  Princess Elizabeth : Will you send my mother to see me now?

  Henry VII : Yeah. Here. Feed him until he is strong. Why aren't the bells ringing? They should be ringing out the news. And light the bonfires!

• Princess Elizabeth : Why must it be Winchester? For the christening? I cannot be so many days away from him.

  Henry VII : I have said your mother may come with us. She is godmother. This time she is really going, Lizzie.

  Princess Elizabeth : And I am not.

  Henry VII : I have commissioned his own badge gor him. The red rose and the white combined. A sign of our new unity. I'd hoped for your approval.

  Princess Elizabeth : Our mothers will not give it. I think they like the war between them.

  Henry VII : But you do not?

  Princess Elizabeth : Now that I have given you a son, will you release Teddy?

  Henry VII : I cannot while I am away from London.

  Princess Elizabeth : Then when you return? Please, Henry, he's terrified.

  Henry VII : I will consider it.

  Princess Elizabeth : He is a child. You would not wish it on Arthur.

  Henry VII : I said I will consider it. And take a view.

• Princess Elizabeth : Henry.

  Henry VII : He cried throughout. I suppose that's what they do.

  Princess Elizabeth : It is. Where is my mother?

  Henry VII : She is locked up in a dungeon. My mother proved she was behind the Lovell plot to kill me. She wanted Teddy on the throne and for that reason, I cannot set him free. My enemies require a figurehead. He would be snatched and made to be that symbol.

  Princess Elizabeth : You said that you would release him. You promised me you would.

  Henry VII : I said I would consider it and take a view. You must listen far more carefully to what people say if you wish to be a queen.

  Princess Elizabeth : You will not leave her in a dungeon. I forbid it. If she is to be kept away from me then house her in an abbey. Put her in retirement if you must. Let it be Bermondsey Abbey, at least there is a garden.

  Henry VII : Prepare for your coronation. I have ordered it.

• Princess Elizabeth : You sent for me?

  Henry VII : Yes.

  Princess Elizabeth : I am not yet recovered from my child-bed.

  Henry VII : I... You are thankful? For the coronation? That I shall take you as my queen?

  Princess Elizabeth : I would be thankful if you freed my cousin from the Tower and let my mother be with me.

  Henry VII : I have said why I cannot.

  Princess Elizabeth : Then you cannot ask me to be thankful. What will be my role when I am queen?

  Henry VII : Your role?

  Princess Elizabeth : And what will I do for you?

  Henry VII : It is a test. You mean to prove you know more than I do how to rule.

  Princess Elizabeth : It is a question.

  Henry VII : It is a jibe. You compare my efforts to your father's or the old York king, your lover. Everywhere I look around me, nobles conspire against me. Servants slip each other notes. They smile into my face and then behind me draw their knives.

  Princess Elizabeth : Well, that is what it is to be king. My father had the same thing, as did Richard, from you and Lancaster. And those who killed my brothers in the Tower.

  Henry VII : Well, it is more than I can bear each day. Waiting, wondering if I'll live till supper. Wondering if our son will live.

  Princess Elizabeth : Well, why did you slaughter Richard if you do not wish to be king?

  Henry VII : Because I had been trained to do it all my life. There was no other life for me. No other choice. My life had been decided from the moment I was born. You must have heard my mother speak of it. She felt I had a destiny from the moment that she had me. I was to be the king for her because she dreamed of power. Perhaps you cannot understand being told your whole life what you are, with never any chance to think about it for yourself. I sometimes wonder what I would have been. What I would have chosen had my life been ordinary.

  Princess Elizabeth : That is what my life has been as well. A puppet for my mother's own ambition. It was her who craved the throne for me. I would have settled for a man...

  Henry VII : A man you loved. I don't ask that you love me in the way that you loved him. But I had hoped you may have come to have a tenderness. At least. A kindness, even.

  Princess Elizabeth : And would that be enough for you? You don't want someone who burns to be with you, who would ride across the battlefield just to hear your voice?

  Henry VII : I... Do not know. I've never had it.

  Princess Elizabeth : What have they done to us? We are their creatures.

  Henry VII : At least your sister will be happy. John Welles is a good man.

  Princess Elizabeth : What can we do, Henry? What can we do?

  Henry VII : I know you cannot love me. I know it is beyond what you can give. I only ask that you do not plot against my life. At least spare me that humiliation. But of course, you cannot even promise that.

• Henry VII : You are the Queen of England now. Do you feel different?

  Princess Elizabeth : I feel as though I've aged a thousand years.

  Henry VII : [Servant brings Baby Arthur]  I wonder if he'll feel the same. If he does succeed me to the throne. My enemies may see to it that he does not.

  Princess Elizabeth : Don't say it. Never say it, Henry.

• Margaret Beaufort : The christening must take place at once. Whatever doubts the people have will be forgotten when they see God smiles on you.

  Henry VII : They cannot wait till Lizzie's been churched?

  Margaret Beaufort : It is not the custom. And she has no function at the service. What is important is that England knows you have an heir. And your enemies will find much stonier ground in which to seed dissent.

  Henry VII : I will consult with Lizzie.

  Margaret Beaufort : You are taking counsel from your wife?

  Henry VII : From somebody who knows the will of England. She is mother to the child. Unless I am mistaken.