The Spanish Princess: The Black Tudors, Untold

On May 5 2019, Starz released their latest Philippa Gregory adaption (Amazon Prime in the UK), The Spanish Princess.

Following Wolf Hall and The Tudors, this latest rendition of The Tudors was the first show on British television that included African Tudors in such an evident way. The Spanish Princess features an eclectic mix of characters — the spiders, the fly on the wall, the roses — and snakes meandering through Greenwich Palace full of friends and flowers, featuring Prince Arthur and his marriage to Catherine of Aragon ending with Henry coming into his throne.

Despite oozing all things Tudor, including pomp, performance and vanity — this show isn’t early-set Game of Thrones. It’s not as Hollywood as the Showtime series with Dormer and Meyers. It’s very European. With the addition of Catherine’s multiracial entourage, I saw me. And even prior to the reign of Henry VIII, there were Tudors from the Continent. It’s a shock to the system for period drama purists that have grown up accustomed to lord and lady whitey frolicking across the green hills of Pembrokeshire.