Leave us.
Charles, please sit.
The factions and the fighting that went on inside this court...
...were unacceptable.
I'm appointing you president of the council and Lord Great Master...
...so in my absence, all will be answerable to you...
...not Cromwell.
Majesty.
I'm also appointing Edward Seymour...
...to investigate the activities of the Poles.
From now on, they are all under suspicion.
How's your family?
They're well.
Except...
...my wife lost the child she was carrying.
Then we have both lost something.
Oh, Charles...
...sometimes l think I shall go mad.
My leg is poisoned and hurts again.
I'm afraid that my son will die of the plague.
And l cannot sleep.
Majesty...
...l know what it is that we have both lost.
We have lost our youth.
There is nothing in the world that can ever return it to us.
-Amen. -Amen.
Lady Salisbury.
You're hungry. Eat.
-Stop, sir. -Stand aside.
I'm on the king's business.
-What's that? -l don't know.
Lady Salisbury, forgive this intrusion.
You and these members of your family...
...are arrested by the king's orders on suspicion of treason.
You will all have to come straight with me.
Not my grandson, surely?
All.
I wanted to talk to you in private, Monsieur L'Ambassadeur...
...because I'm inclined towards a French bride.
Although my advisors think I should rather seek an imperial match.
I admire Your Majesty's taste and deplore that of your advisors.
Perhaps they are not men of the world, as we are.
My Lord Privy Seal spoke to me of two potential French brides...
...Maria, the king's daughter...
...and Marie de Guise, Madame de Longueville.
Since I have heard further of Madame de Longueville...
...l cannot refrain from considering her as a wife.
Good nose. Peachy.
Cat's piss. Not too sweet.
What have you heard?
The king's daughter's too young for me.
But Madame de Longueville is much more suitable...
...being herself a widow and having already borne two sons...
...and being, as they say, very voluptuous.
My master told me that he would think it a great honour...
...if Your Majesty were to take a French girl as your new wife.
There is no lady who is not at his command...
...except Madame de Longueville...
...whose marriage to the king of Scotland...
...has already been arranged.
That arrangement can be broken.
Tell your master that l can do twice as much for him as my nephew...
...the idiotic and beggarly Scottish king.
Yes.
Yes, but, sir, in effect...
...then you would be marrying another man's wife.
I will marry who l like.
Monsieur Castillon...
...l have received offers from every quarter.
Forgive me.
But His Majesty proposes a double marriage...
...his 1 9-year-old son, Henry to your daughter Mary...
...and one of Madame de Longueville's sisters to you.
There are two of them, Louise and Renee.
The former, remarkably for the French court...
...is rumoured to be still a virgin.
Wonderful.
Take her. Take Louise.
Since she is still a maid, you will have the advantage...
...of shaping the passage to your measure.
I want to see my father.
Go get my father.
I want my father now.
-You know who I am, don't you? -Oh, yes.
-Let go of me. -l know who you are.
You're Master Pole. They say you're gonna be the king of England.
Let go of me. Let go.
We must discuss marriage.
As usual, the French want to mess me around.
Who does the emperor propose?
Your Majesty, the emperor has put forward Christina, his niece...
...the duchess of Milan.
Tell me about her.
Originally from Denmark...
...she was married at 1 3 to the duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza...
...who died a year later.
She is now 1 6, both a widow and, apparently, still a maid.
She's living in Brussels with the regent, Mary of Hungary.
She is reported to be a great beauty...
...and likes nothing better than hunting and playing cards.
Hunting and playing cards?
I like her already.
Have our ambassador in the Netherlands find out more about her.
Majesty.
My lord, our ambassador to the Netherlands, Sir John Hutton.
Sir John...
...l have some most urgent business for you to do.
My lord, Mr. Risley has warned me.
You are to make a list of potential candidates...
...to share His Majesty's bed.
My lord...
...l have not much experience among ladies...
...therefore, this commission to me is hard.
You are to go to Brussels.
You are to make enquiries there about Christina, the duchess of Milan.
But, while you are about it, go on to the Duchy of Cleves...
...make enquiries there about the duke's two sisters...
...Amelia and Anne.
I am anxious that they should enter the reckoning.
Yes, my Lord Cromwell.
I want to see my son.
What have you done with my son? Where is my son?
Your son is unharmed.
He will remain unharmed until we're sure that you are not all traitors...
...like your brother Reginald.
You know very well that my family has disowned Reginald.
Neither my mother nor l support or condone what he has done.
We openly profess our allegiance to His Gracious Majesty.
"I like well the proceedings of my brother, the cardinal.
But l like not the doings of this realm...
...and l trust to see a change in this world.
I would wish that we were both over the sea.
The world in England waxes all crooked.
The God's law has been turned upside down...
...abbeys and churches overthrown."
Who gave you that letter?
Do you deny writing it?
It has a postscript.
"The king will die one day suddenly...
...his leg will kill him, and we will have a jolly stirring."
Your professions of loyalty were all hollow, my Lord Montague.
You are, after all, the king's cousins.
The last of the Plantagenets.
The last of the White Rose.
Some say you Poles are the rightful heirs...
...and will someday wear the garland, don't they?
Sir Francis.
Majesty.
Now that we found evidence against Henry Pole, Lord Montague...
...we need something against the lady.
I ask you whether such dishonest and treacherous sons...
...could ever have had an honest mother.
Who is that?
She's the widow of the earl of Egmont.
A widow?
Wait.
It's true she doesn't look it, but she's over 40.
On the other hand, there's a maid at court...
...she's only 14, but she already has a goodly stature.
Let the fruit ripen before you pluck it, Sir Francis.
-My lord. -Lord Cromwell.
My Lord Cromwell.
-Majesty. -Cromwell.
I've just received a letter from Sir John Hutton...
...the ambassador in Brussels.
He's been making enquiries on Your Majesty's behalf...
...about the duchess of Milan, the emperor's niece.
What does he say?
He writes, "There is none in these parts...
...for beauty of person and birth to compare with the duchess.
She is not so pure white as the last queen...
...but when she smiles, there appear two dimples in her cheeks...
...and one in her chin that become her very well."
Has he mentioned any other ladies?
Only a sister of the duke of Cleves, Anne.
-He writes-- -l've heard about her.
They say she is of no great praise, either of her personage or her beauty.
Forgive me, Majesty.
But on the other hand...
...such a match could have its advantages.
This realm has long been at the mercy of the French or of the emperor.
But Cleves is a member of the Protestant League...
...which daily grows in power across Europe and could easily rival theirs.
Thus, at last, could England make its own destiny.
Even so...
...l am anxious to see more of the duchess of Milan.
I want to be sure she's as beautiful as Hutton claims.
Send Master Holbein to do a sketch of her by next tide.
Majesty.
Master Cromwell.
With your permission, madam...
...may l ask if you would consider marrying the king?
You may ask, sir.
And as for my inclination...
...you know I am at the emperor's command.
Oh, madam, how happy you shall be...
...if it be your chance to be matched with my master.
Shall l? Why?
Oh, my royal master is the most gentle gentleman that lives.
His nature is so benign and pleasant...
...that till this day, I think no man has heard many...
...if any, angry words pass his mouth.
On the other hand...
...is it not strange that the King's Majesty...
...was, in so little space, rid of his three queens?
And they suspect that the first, my great-aunt, was poisoned...
...the second innocently put to death...
...and the third lost for lack of care in her childbed.
Frankly, sir, if I had two heads...
...then one would be at His Majesty's service.
Alas, l have only this one.
Madam, let me plead my master's better qualities...
...and appeal to your heart.
No, you must not labour any further...
...for l shall not fix my heart that way.
Unless, of course, the emperor commands me to.
Madam.
Sir Francis.
The royal banner of the Plantagenets.
My God. What expectation is there?
What's this?
The royal banner.
And this, the most potent symbol of rebellion...
...discovered in your house.
Sir, l am an old lady.
I have done nothing wrong, or against the King's Majesty.
You still communicate with your son, Reginald Pole...
...despite him being a traitor.
No doubt you plot new treacheries with him.
How can you suppose that at my age...
...l am capable of plotting anything against anyone?
I wish only to live a quiet life away from this world.
That the king in his mercy could show pity and forgive us.
Madam, you have all been attaindered for high treason against His Majesty.
The evidence is great against you.
For what you deserve, you may well beg mercy.
But who shall say if it be granted or not?
Grandmother, where are you?
Grandmother.
The duchess of Milan is enchanting.
I am singularly pleased.
This picture makes her look very pretty.
Very full of life.
Keep your hands off her, Charles.
After our wedding, our younger sons will be ennobled...
...with the ancient dukedoms of York, Gloucester, and Somerset.
And Princess Mary can marry Don Luis.
That's what you want, isn't it, Charles?
An imperial wedding...
...just as Wolsey always wanted a French one.
Everyone has an agenda, and what l want doesn't matter.
Oh, the Poles have an agenda.
People talk about that poor little boy in the tower, poor old Lady Salisbury.
But let me tell you, they have Plantagenet blood in their veins.
And my father told me that if you leave even a sapling in the ground...
...one day it will grow into a tree.
And that little boy...
...will have 40,000 troops flocking to his banner...
...and you will be the sucker.
Groom. Groom.
Fetch the king's physician.
For God's sake, man, run!
Charles. Charles.
-My lord, what news of the king? -How is His Majesty?
Is he recovered?
My lord.
-l must see the king. -Must?
Just as I must see your nephew, the prince, but you prevent it.
The king has lain ill for over a week.
There has been no news about him, so there are rumours.
Some say the king is dead.
That would suit you, wouldn't it? Since your nephew would be king.
He is a child.
That would be to no one's use.
Not to mine, not to yours, and not to England's.
With your permission, Your Grace...
...l would like the opportunity to disprove those rumours.
Very well.
What in the name of God?
This time the ulcer in his leg has failed to burst...
...as it has always done before.
Then fetch the barber surgeons to lance it.
That might kill him.
How is His Majesty?
Double the guards around the prince. No one is to be allowed access to him.
Yes, my lord.
Tell Sir Francis to take a detachment of the guard to Hunsdon...
...so he and they may keep watch over the Princess Mary with their lives.
For if the king dies...
...some will be for the boy, others for her.
Yes, Your Grace.
Oh, Lord.
Lord.
What shall I do?
Mr. Cromwell, I bid you call for the surgeon barbers.
I will answer for it.
Yes, Your Grace.
Your Majesty, forgive me.
Long live the king.
Long live the prince, Edward.
Long live the king!
Long live Prince Edward!
Soft now.
How is the child?
He is the sweetest, prettiest boy that ever lived.
Keep him safe.
-Mr. Cromwell. -Majesty.
Have you spoken to Castillon recently?
Yes, Majesty.
What did he say about Madame de Longueville?
She has already got married to the king of Scotland.
She'll regret it when she sees what the weather is like up there.
There are two other cousins of King Francis...
...potentially available to Your Majesty.
Marie de Vendome and Anne of Lorraine.
Marie de Vendome has announced her intention to become a nun...
...although Castillon thought that not necessarily an obstacle.
How very French.
I need pictures.
Do you understand? I need to see them.
I need to see the woman who is gonna be my companion for life.
All right there.
What of the negotiations with the duchess of Milan?
There is the problem of affinity.
As niece to the emperor...
...the duchess is therefore great-niece to Catherine of Aragon.
In the past, such obstacles might have been overcome by papal dispensation.
Well, there's no question of that now.
But, perhaps, as head of the Church of England...
...the emperor will allow me to make a dispensation.
Yes, Majesty. Naturally.
It will take a good sport to make me feel amorous again.
Going.
I thought your husband warned you to stay away from me.
Oh, he did. But now he doesn't care.
He said he couldn't be bothered to kill you.
You know, the less l know about your husband, the more he fascinates me.
See, l know, more or less, where most people stand.
Like Suffolk, Cromwell, I know their true beliefs...
...even if they try to hide them.
But Edward, who knows what he truly believes?
Would you like me to tell you?
For services rendered.
You're not quite as good as you think you are.
That's still pretty good. Tell me.
He believes in himself.
In his destiny.
Prince Edward is the key to his destiny.
Nothing will stand in his way.
He's a Reformer?
No, you can answer. I am too, l swear.
Everyone knows I hate popery with a passion.
That's why sometimes they call me the Black Pope.
Hello. I've just been fucked by the pope.
How does he think about Cromwell?
That I don't know.
But did anyone ever discover...
...who shot Robert Packington, MP?
Amen.
My Lord Montague...
...l am here to help you to a better place.
You know I'm not guilty, you bastard.
Only my brother is guilty but you can't touch him, can you?
So you have to kill the innocent.
Your guilt has been established beyond question.
There used to be proper legal procedures in this country...
...to establish who was guilty and who was not.
But that's all gone now.
You don't even have to have a trial.
So since there is no judiciary, what's left is only tyranny.
Where is my mother?
Lady Salisbury is here, within the tower.
Please have a care for her, my Lord Bishop.
Whatever she may have done, be it so offensive...
...she is an old and true woman...
...and has always lived under the precepts of God.
I will have a tender care for her...
...body and soul, my lord.
Trust me.
You know, my lord...
...this is the truth:
The king never made a man but he destroyed him again.
So take good care, my lord.
Come along.
I like the look of some of these French girls more than the others...
...but can the likeness be trusted?
Could the artist be not using licence to either flatter the lady or please me?
Even Mr. Holbein?
How can l make a decision when l haven't met them in the flesh?
Talk to Castillon.
Majesty.
If Your Majesty might still choose to consider...
...the simple but profound charms of Anne of Cleves or of her sister...
...and of the benefits to you of a new alignment with the Protestant League.
His Grace, the bishop of Winchester.
My Lord Bishop.
Majesty.
Your Majesty, forgive me...
...but it has come to my attention that certain evangelicals...
...are still preaching against the Six Articles of Faith...
...and Your Majesty's religious agreement.
Mr. John Lambert is one such...
...who preaches once a week in London to large audiences.
Mr. Lambert denies the real presence of God...
...in the sacrament of Communion...
...saying rather that it is merely a symbolic commemoration...
...of the passion of Christ.
Then Mr. Lambert will be condemned in Christ's own words...
...who said, "This is my body."
He will recant or be burned. I will not patron heretics.
Is there more?
Perhaps it is none of my business, Your Majesty...
...but l am told that Mr. Lambert is well known to my Lord Cromwell.
It appears that they were educated together at Cambridge...
...and some six months ago...
...when Lambert was apprehended...
...on suspicion of promoting religious heresy...
...my Lord Cromwell had the charges dismissed.
Thank you, my Lord Bishop.
What news of the king's marriage to the duchess of Milan?
Alas, princess, I think it is not to happen.
The duchess is the great-niece of your mother...
...and so the affinity is too touching.
Also, l think the lady does not want to marry the king.
Then l shall not marry Don Luis.
They say the king may now marry a French lady...
...and you one of the French king's sons.
Surely that would not please you?
Anything would please me, my lady, which made you happy.
I'm afraid I was not born for happiness, Excellency.
I hear Lady Salisbury is being kept in the tower...
...and her son executed.
It is sadly so.
Her grandson, too, is being kept a prisoner.
I am sure it is all Cromwell's doing.
I should not say this to many people, Excellency, but l say it to you...
...that l agree with those who say he is messenger of Satan.
I swear he has poisoned the king's mind.
And if l could...
...l would strip him from the king's side and burn him.
His Excellency, the French ambassador.
-Monsieur Castillon. -Majesty.
We have been considering all these candidates for our hand.
There are so many.
Indeed. A warren of honourable ladies.
Quite.
But the fact is, in the circumstances...
...because so many of them appear attractive...
...l do not see how l can approach them individually.
So perhaps King Francis can assemble seven or eight of them at Calais...
...then l could go there and make their acquaintance all at the same time.
No, it is not the French custom to send ladies of that rank...
...of such noble and princely families...
...to be passed in review as if they were prize horses.
Perhaps if Your Majesty desires one of these ladies...
...you could send an envoy to report on manner and appearance...
...in the traditional way.
I trust no one but myself.
The thing touches me too near.
I want to see and know them before deciding.
Maybe your Majesty would like to mount them one after another...
...and then pick the one you find best broken in.
Monsieur Castillon, you have 1 0 seconds to get out of my court...
...or l will beat you like the dog that you are.
-Mr. Cromwell. -Majesty.
An incorrigible heretic called John Lambert...
...is now imprisoned in the tower and likely soon to be burned.
I believe you know this man.
I knew him many years ago at Cambridge.
Not since?
Not to my knowledge, Your Majesty.
And whilst you were at Cambridge together...
...did you share some of his opinions?
Tell me, Mr. Cromwell...
...what do you believe now?
As the world stands, Your Majesty, I believe what you believe.
So you think it right that he should be burned?
Yes.
Unless he recants.
Yes.
Oh, l forgot. What were their names again?
Majesty?
The sisters of the duke of Cleves.
Amelia and Anne.
Send someone to take a look at them. We'll have a second opinion.
Majesty.
Duke William will receive you now.
Your Highness...
...the English envoys.
Gentlemen.
Your Highness.
So His Majesty King Henry needs a wife...
...and he is interested in my sisters.
Yes, His Majesty has been persuaded of their amiability...
...and of their suitability as royal consorts.
Especially Anne, the eldest...
...who has been much praised in the king's hearing.
I am not surprised.
His Majesty would also propose the marriage...
...of his daughter Mary to your eldest son...
...a liaison with the Protestant League...
...and the recruitment of a hundred seasoned cannoneers for his army.
There is, then, gentlemen, much to discuss.
Indeed.
But, first, we should like your permission to meet your sisters.
Why?
The king will expect us to report back on what we have seen.
To say that we have not seen the ladies...
...would not exactly please him.
He has also asked for a portrait of Anne...
...to be sent back to him.
Unfortunately, my court painter, Mr. Cranach...
...is ill and indisposed.
In that case, we can send over Mr. Holbein...
...who is an admirable artist.
Indeed.
Yes, perhaps.
But you are going too quickly.
What do you think my country is, a meat market?
I will arrange with my chancellor for negotiations to commence.
And you may have the opportunity, at some stage...
...of being presented to my sisters.
Your Highness, we--
We will meet again.
Good day, gentlemen.
Get off that wall. Where do you think you are?
John.
Thomas, how good to see you.
And how excellently you have done in the world.
I could wish our reunion was in some better place.
Oh, l shall be quit of this place soon enough...
...and on my way to a far better place.
Hold it.
Bow your head down.
John, you do not have to die.
All you have to say to satisfy the king...
...is that after Consecration...
...the wafer and the wine are truly the body and blood of Christ.
But you and l know they are not.
You don't have to believe it, you just have to say it.
Oh, Thomas...
...l see now what it takes for a man to make his way in this world.
He must make a practise of hypocrisy.
Keep moving.
There is no harm in discretion.
I want to spare you the awful pains which have been prepared for you.
Hold the line.
Did Christ himself not suffer awful pains, Thomas?
We do not need martyrs.
We need living men...
...who will go on about quietly spreading...
...the business of our Reformation.
But who will believe a word I say...
...if I alter my opinion on such a fundamental thing?
John, l say to you again, while you still have a free choice...
...will you live or die?
My dear Lord Cromwell...
...l see that all this while, we have not been talking about me but about you.
Not my conscience but yours.
I see that you are afraid of guilt by association...
...and would rather I perjured my own soul.
Alas, it's the only thing in this world I have left.
I am sorry you choose not to save yourself.
Get back, you rabble.
Get back in the name of the king.
Over there.
I'll pray for you.
All for Christ.
Majesty.
Mr. Lambert has gone to his execution.
And to hell.
Princess Mary begs you to spare the life of the Lady Salisbury...
...who she says was like a mother to her.
She was also a mother to Reginald Pole...
...whom even heaven can't forgive.
Duke William says that his painter is ill.
He cannot furnish images of his sister, Anne.
Send Holbein.
I must see her image.
Majesty.
Mr. Cromwell.
Gentlemen.
You have my permission to look upon my sisters.
Your Highness...
...we cannot even tell which is Anne and which Amelia.
Sirs, I am Anne.
And l am Amelia, Your Honours.
Your Highness...
...for our purposes, this is no good.
No good? What?
Would you see them naked?
Have you not been praying, lady?
Your head is going to be cut off now.
No.
I don't want to die.
I don't want to die. No, please, don't hurt me. Please, no, don't--
Don't hurt me. I don't want to die.
No. Oh, don't kill me.
No. Oh, God save me.
-Oh, God help me. -For God's sake, have some dignity.
No, no, I don't want to die.
-Eminence. -My child.
My poor child.
He's killed them.
My brother. My poor mother.
Oh, Jesus.
The king of England is the most cruel and abominable tyrant.
There is no doubt now, he must be overthrown by force.
Better that he should die...
...than risk the eternal damnation of all his subjects.
But there's nothing we can do.
But we can.
His Holiness is ready to promulgate the bull of excommunication.
The emperor and the French have made peace.
They are now both willing to point their swords at England.
They will withdraw their ambassadors and prepare a fleet for invasion.
And the Holy Father expects you to return to the Netherlands...
...and to France to assist their preparations.
No.
No, please. Let me help in other ways.
What?
Tell me. Are you frightened?
You should thank God that he has called your family to heaven.
You should not weep. What is belief?
What is belief if not belief in the will of God?
You think the Holy Father wants you to go to the Netherlands for his sake?
Don't you think he has asked God for guidance?
Forgive me.
Well, when l was a young priest in Germany...
...my family's house was occupied by Lutheran mercenaries.
I had a beautiful sister...
...whom I loved more than anything else in the world...
...and perhaps even more than God.
Well, they raped her, they cut off her breasts...
...and they threw pieces of her to their dogs...
...right in front of my eyes.
All of us have burdens to carry, Cardinal Pole.
Come along now, Master Pole.
There you are, Cardinal Pole.
Now, eat your heart.