Tudor Bitching: The Spanish Princess’ Final Episode

What fresh hell does the final episode have in store for Margaret Beaufort fans?

The Spanish Princess: Episode 7’s Hot Mess

I feel a little bitcher today than usual, so you’re gonna get more than the regular amount of snark. Putting plot exposition into a story is tough. Really tough. So tough, it has given me endless sleepless nights as a historical novelist, but the one thing you don’t do is put it into the mouth...

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode 6

Much to my joy (note the sarcasm), Starz has renewed this for another 8 episodes next year. Please note a moment of silence in mourning. Ha, ha. Once again, the choices made by the writers in these episodes puzzle me. The Tudors continue to be ridiculous in pubic, with Harry bickering openly and mocking his...

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode Five

I have mixed feelings about this show. It has good moments when it is historically accurate, then it abruptly veers into “Wait, what?!?!?” territory. As a Tudor novelist, I know how hard it is to keep to the facts without becoming predictable. You must create drama. Unless you want to invent fictional characters and have...

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode Four

Episode four features some semi-truths repackaged into plot points.

Fact-Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode 3

What's true and what's not in the third episode of Starz' The Spanish Princess?

Fact Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode 2

Find out what's historically accurate, and what's not, in the latest Spanish Princess episode.

Fact Checking The Spanish Princess: Episode One

I was surprised not to hate the first episode, but I know stuff I won’t like is coming. So, I’ll focus on “in general” and “historical inaccuracies.” I’ll leave off “inaccuracies from the book” since I barely remember it. (The only thing I remember is Catherine being surprisingly tolerant and open-minded toward Moorish customs, which…...

The Spanish Princess: First Rant

I've had several of you ask me in private what I think about this upcoming miniseries, so I may as well chronicle my reaction in public: it includes loud screaming. I read this book (The Constant Princess) about 12 years ago and it made me angry. Normally, I don't sanction book burning, but I watched...