Lizzie completes her transformation in The White Princess’ final episode, ‘Old Curses.’
It became obvious starting in the penultimate episode of The White Princess that the show wanted to drive home the point that its protagonist was undergoing a transformation into the two women she battled against throughout the course of the season: her late mother, Elizabeth Woodville and her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort.
This was evidenced in the subtle changes in her demeanor, as well more obvious differences in her style of dress, including armor-like garments that inched up her neck. Lizzie’s character arc is completed in the finale of the limited series. The title, “Old Curses,” refers to the hex she and her mother put on those responsible for the York Princes’ deaths back in The White Queen.
When we first met Lizzie in the premiere, she was extremely close to her mother as they plotted to win back the throne for the House of York. But things changed as time went on, especially after the birth of her first-born son, Arthur, which brought her closer to her husband, King Henry VII. She soon became just as protective of her family as her mother and the king’s mother were of theirs, causing her interests to line up more with the latter rather than the former.
Credit: Starz
But the misdeeds of all three women in the name of being a doting matriarch sometimes end up having dire consequences. In this case, Margaret’s blood on her hands, and Elizabeth’s spells cause Lizzie to panic at the thought of the curse fulfilling its mission to stop the male line of those responsible for the death of the boys in the tower.
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While Lizzie is now certain that “The Boy” is her indeed her brother, it’s self-interest that’s at the heart of her pleas for Henry not to kill him, knowing that it would put her own sons in danger. The entire situation haunts Lizzie, as the episode opens on a nightmarish scene where Richard sits on the throne surrounded by blood and the heads of her husband and two sons on pikes.
Just as Margaret plotted to kill the York boys to secure the throne for her son, Lizzie is now attempting to find a way to eliminate the threat posed by her brother without killing him, causing her to set fire to the royal wardrobe where he was locked away at the end of “Two Kings.”
But things didn’t go as planned. Richard refused to run away, so he’s now locked in a dungeon accused of trying to set the palace ablaze. Lizzie soon confesses to the crime, explaining to Henry that her motive revolved around the curse, and confirming that “Perkin” is actually the York heir that he claims to be. While the king’s council is aghast at her confession, Henry’s ire is mostly directed towards his mother after she confirms his suspicions that she sent for the York boys to be killed, and is therefore responsible for the curse put upon his sons.
In a fit of rage, the king throws his mother against the wall, nearly chokes her to death and then violently throws her out of his room. He then instructs all those present, including his stepfather, Richard Pole, Lord Strange, Cardinal Morton and Margaret’s servants, to prohibit her from speaking to him.
Meanwhile, Lizzie’s cousin Maggie is becoming bolder in her plots against the crown by aiding their aunt, Margaret of Burgundy. She takes Richard’s wife Cathy Gordon to stay where she’s hiding, which allows her to write her cousin, King James of Scotland, their key ally against the Tudors.
Lizzie also has to contend with the arrival of Spanish Ambassador De Puebla, who insists that their son cannot be betrothed to Catherine of Aragon until Richard and Teddy are disposed of.
This causes Lizzie to concoct yet another plan involving the faking of Richard’s death. This time, she enlists the help of new clerk Thomas Wolsey to find and tutor a prisoner that will fill in for her brother at a public execution. The Duchess attempts to rescue Richard before he’s beheaded, but she realizes that the boy is not him.
She later gives Maggie a note to pass on to the Spanish ambassador informing him that they’ve been duped. But on her way back, she’s followed by Wolsey and is soon captured and put in a dungeon. Guards also enter where Margaret of Burgundy and her allies have been holed up, including Cathy Gordon, who’s returned to the palace to serve as a lady-in-waiting to the queen.
But after getting a scolding from the Spanish, Lizzie decides to go forward with the executions of her cousin, Teddy, and her brother, Richard. They fool the Earl of Warwick into signing a confession to treason as part of a plot with “the pretender” to usurp the throne.
Maggie can only hear the bells tolling from afar knowing that her brother’s life is likely in danger. And though Lizzie shows no qualms about killing her own blood, she refuses to watch as her cousin is put to death, but Richard shouts for her attention as his life is taken by way of a royal execution.
“Don’t close your eyes, because you know what you do this day,” he says.
Lizzie breaks down in tears before her brother after his death but emerges stronger and more in control than ever. She coldly tells Maggie that her brother was executed. She goes on to inform her that their aunt has returned to Burgundy, and explains that her life has been spared thanks to the pleas of her husband. She also repeats Margaret Beaufort’s words in dismissing the significance of the curse, as Maggie cries that all of her hopes will be destroyed.
Credit: Starz
Lizzie then joins her husband, who kneels before her so she can place his crown on his head, symbolizing the birth of the Tudor dynasty. She behaves towards him in a manner that a mother would her son, instructing him to greet Lady Margaret once they enter the court to show a united front. Her transformation into a Lady Macbeth-like figure is now complete.
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Henry thanks Wolsey by appointing him tutor of Prince Harry (later King Henry VIII) as he approaches the throne. They are gathered to solidify their alliance with Spain by formally announcing Arthur’s betrothal to Catherine.
The episode ends with Margaret whispering into
Lizzie’s ears about how only they can understand each other and what they’re willing to do.
“You are too close, Lady Mother. Step back,” Lizzie demands. Margaret retreats with a slight grin and a knowing look on her face, as Maggie tearfully looks on.
Like The White Queen before it, The White Princess — based on a novel of the same name by Philippa Gregory — was meant to be a limited series which told a self-contained story. As of now there no plans for a season 2, though Starz may choose to adapt one of Gregory’s other historical novels in the future.