Elizabeth, my dear cousin,
this will be the last of my unsent letters.
Tomorrow there will no longer be two queens in England.
Ye'! I find I bear you no grudge; rather 6 am filled with a deep compassion.
I know you are as powerless to change your role,
as I have been to change mine.
L am frightened, Your Majesty.
Don't be.
I thank you for staying with me.
I'm not going to let them take you. I will protect you.
For you must be allowed to have your own life.
You will be the queen,
they never let me be.
When I think back 44 years ago in Scotland,
I realize neither of us had an easy start in life.
I could barely move my tiny hands,
yet politics was already clawing at my unsuspecting soul.
Pay attention, give me your hand.
Hold your dress.
Concentrate, keep your head up,
look straight ahead.
Very good, Marie.
I don”! know what you remember of your childhood,
but' mine was not' a very settled upbringing.
As you must know
your father was so determined I should marry his sickly son
he sent troops to ransack my country.
$0 many Scots lost their lives in my rough wooing as an infant queen.
When I was being carted from one stronghold to another,
sometimes I couldn't tell whether what I was seeing was real or a nightmare.
Farewell, my child,
and may God grant you safe passage to a more peaceful land.
They will protect you.
You are feverish again.
That's good, my dear, the fever will take away your fear!
The only way my mother could protect me was to dispatch me overseas.
Overnight' my destiny changed.
I was no longer to be Queen of England, bu'! Queen of France,
packed off like precious merchandise
to spend a lifetime with another mysterious bridegroom.
It's lucky for you I took that' boat'.
If I'd have stayed,
you wouldn't be sifting on the English throne today.
What is your name?
Well...
But which one is the Queen?
You choose.
Look!
I can kill just by moving my finger.
Come back.
Come and look!
News
news from England
Queen Mary Tudor
What?
She is dead.
My cousin Elizabeth...
She is Queen now...
I just know.
Elizabeth?
What?
Over there?
What's up, who's that?
L am the Queen.
What?
That's impossible. Lam the Queen.
L am Queen of France...
You should have said so right away. I'm Queen of England, delighted.
And I am also Queen of Scotland...
Well, my dear, you're in France.
And there you will stay.
Why do you laugh?
Because, actually, I intend to come.
- Where? - To England, stupid!
Oh, no you won't!
Will!
Won't!
Will!
Won't!
Will!
I thought we were cousins.
Which of these cousins is most inflamed?
I will reply to her immediately.
We will be the best sisters in the world.
I shall send her my portrait, too.
Better yet, let me go and meet her in person. - No.
- We understand each other, she and I.
We are like twins.
This will not do.
You cannot address her as Queen. That woman is a bastard.
Even if she were, she is my cousin.
Mary have you forgotten what the English have done to your country?
They burned and destroyed it.
It is frightful to think that I was the cause of a war.
Do not succumb to your womanly instincts and kindness,
do not let them cloud your reason.
There can be no dialogue with that...
that pretender to the Throne.
When she dies, you shall be the English Queen.
Why should she die?
You see
You and you alone can restore the true faith in that blasphemous land.
Carrying three crowns is a grave responsibility,
but impossible as long as that illegitimate heretic is alive.
She has to go.
I will not crush her, I will win her over.
Elizabeth, my dear sister,
now England has two Queens.
A delightful conundrum.
But not everyone here approves of me consorting with a foreign power.
I have been advised
that my claim for the English crown is based on legitimate descent.
Accordingly,
I am having the English coat of arms added to my royal portraits.
You need not' fear for your person.
I have no wish to disturb you.
But if you do ever respond to me,
you should address me as Queen of France, Scotland and England.
What an enchanting voice.
You are charming.
You make me tremble.
- Come up and join us. - Oh, yes come up.
Wait.
That hurts.
Tomorrow I will join the hunt.
Isn't it a little too early?
I feel strong again.
For the first time this year, I will lead the hunt.
For you!
No, my dear cousin,
I will no'! disappear in a nunnery and wither away.
I am confident that I still have a life to discover.
You of all people will appreciate that once born a queen,
one must be a master of one 's own destiny.
Lf I can no longer be Queen of France, l am still and will remain Queen of Scots.
Yes, I know.
Let us sing our song, Rizzio.
It's so cold here and my subjects seem to hate their Queen.
That is because your subjects don't know their Queen yet and
the Queen has to get used to sharper blades.
How does my cousin do it?
How?
You cannot simply behead everyone who contradicts you!
I could throw Knox into the dungeons, but that would merely make matters worse.
Tolerance can easily be misinterpreted, Your Majesty.
At least you're beautiful.
She is really ugly, they say.
Even if they do write erotic Sonnets about her...
No wonder! She has no husband, but countless lovers!
And she's seven inches shorter than you are.
Poooor her.
Look,
it's crooked.
And me, do you remember when I fell into the fountain.
And look at my bump
That's nothing.
And me, I have a birthmark right here.
That's nothing.
Mine is worse.
Come closer.
My heart and my pride have just been stabbed by this rabble-rouser.
I'm frightened, dear cousin.
Why do men of god seem so afraid of women?
(an we not have a twin kingdom, with two sisters on twin thrones,
putting an end to all the bloodshed?
Protestants and Catholics living in peace,
guided by the example of our sisterly unify.
Oh, I wish I'd seen her face to face. Touch her hands
What does she really look like, De Croc?
Believe me, she is as curious about you as you are about her.
Of course she is, she must be.
Do tell her not to fear coming to Scotland,
It's not that bad, after all.
Does she really bathe in warm milk?
Is it true she has bad breath?
They say she beats her lovers.
Is it true she wears no underwear?
And can't have children?
Off you go, ladies, we wish to discuss political matters.
I promise to divulge more gossip later.
Could you perhaps suggest the prospect of a meeting between the two Queens?
She extends to you any help you may need in making preparations for a future match.
Oh, does she?
I wonder who she will recommend to be my husband.
What of her empty matrimonial bed, your Majesty?
At least, you know what it's like to be married.
My dear cousin,
I'm delighted to hear you are interested in the possibility of me marrying again.
I 'm rather excited at the prospect of receiving a queue of young suitors.
Alas, I seem to lack the good fortune to meet any man
capable of stirring my blood or touching my heart.
But I sense adventurous times ahead.
My brother arrives early. I thought him still in England.
Take charge of them, Rizzio! I will take care of Darnley.
Am I not right?
Have I not the right to choose whoever I want.
I, too, shall be free,
free to stand by my own choices.
Oh my dear sister,
I must confess I'm not completely satisfied with my new husband.
I'm worried about his extreme views.
I assure you that I will curb his fanatical plots against your kingdom.
Likewise I hope I can count on you to disarm my treacherous lords
and stifle their fanatical plots against me.
The heir to both of our kingdoms is growing safely within me
and we must not' (e? anyone harm him.
If you support the Protestant church financially, that will demonstrate
- tolerance. - And you will appease them.
Above all, it will heal this country's wounds.
It would be unwise to provoke her at this stage.
Don't tell me how to communicate with my cousin!
Little one...
Don'? be frightened.
Mama will do everything
lam a prisoner now, dear cousin.
Cannot believe this is happening to me.
The child of this traitor is growing within me
and I do no'! know how to bring it to safety.
How will I know when I'm really in labour?
You will know.
- Should I call Lord Darnley? - Certainly not.
How can I possibly maintain a pose as serene and confident as you,
when inside I feel like screaming?
You cannot know what it feels like to be a mother surrounded by vipers.
Maybe you are right' never to marry.
My dearest sister, we must work together
since the birth of my son is a chance for both of us.
It is truly our son,
since the future of our one day united kingdoms rests on his shoulders.
I want you to know that I love you.
You can be absolutely certain that the future King will be in good hands.
I was hit by the the sudden realization that he's always been right by my side.
I've wasted so much time,
but must it now be too late?
Oh, no, it must be stopped immediaiely, that way spells disaster.
In my end will be my beginning.
This country is torn between two faiths.
This will foster yet more ill-will,
more misfortune and discord.
Idiot.
All the years I longed to touch your hands and all l get is a lump of gold.
You look splendid, De Croc.
My apologies for these severe words of disappointment my dear Elizabeth.
I find myself consumed with an immense sadness,
though the Royal baptism should he the occasion for great joy.
If you were here, you would see l put on a good show.
I do not think anyone in Scotland has seen anything like I'?!
Everything has turned out well.
I have a healthy son and a secure future.
Yet the woman within me is not satisfied.
I'm besieged by a new force that I do not know how to meet.
Should I surrender or should I resist?
Can I count on my ancestors?
Much depends on the gardeners you choose.
A poor choice can ruin your plantation.
Keep that in mind and your young apple tree shall flourish.
Never has it been like this before.
I have found something i never dared hope for.
I know everyone will turn against me and condemn me.
Don't call it sin.
It is true I conceived a child with my husband
but' nothing has prepared me for this,
a new realm,
where lam transformed info something wondrous.
I've always had to make my own decisions
and act on my own instincts.
You're not alone any more, I dare say, Your Majesty.
I've been waiting all my life for a man like you.
For him I have risked dignity and conscience,
For his sake I have come to regard my friends as less than nothing.
For his sake I would fain renounce the world,
I would gladly die that he might rise.
It pleases me to see my husband suffer.
His very being has repelled me for so long now.
But how can a wife get rid of a husband?
How can I ask you that, my dear cousin?
I am compelled to play the dutiful nurse,
surrounded by a fetid smell that arises not just from his sickness,
but from the wicked thoughts that plague me.
What are you going to do now?
I don't know.
Careful - the people want to punish you for what you've done.
I haven't done anything. Believe ne.
Everything feels so tight!
I'm suffocating.
Some deeds are done by doing nothing.
Is it such a sin, Rizzio?
I'm pregnant.
I know you must resent my sudden marriage,
but surely you will appreciate that a pregnant queen
must he married to the father of her child.
You cannot imagine the anger and desperation
I feel to have my new husband blamed for the murder of my previous one,
but I can declare that we are innocent a hundred times
and there will still be slanderous voices condemning us.
You are not leaving too, my friend?
Urgent business takes me to France.
Listen, I know my decision to marry a Protestant displeases you.
But we must remain true to ourselves. Haven't you taught me that?
Alas, once the wrong gardener has begun his digging,
there's little that can be done.
To fight them would be madness, Your Majesty.
They vastly outnumber you.
I have no wish to fight them.
They must submit to the Royal Lion and there will be peace again in Scotland.
The Lords send you this, Your Majesty.
They are your sworn enemies.
There will be no single combat, no negotiations, only surrender.
You must send him away. You have no other option.
One tree may yet be spared.
Still living in the past?
It must be spring,
Rizzio.
No, winter!
I get confused nowadays.
I lose count of the springs and the winters.
There were too many of them.
Too many places, too.
Am I dead, Rizzio?
Has she killed me already?
No, you are right.
L am actually more alive than she is.
Too much waiting.
When all she had to do would have been to invite me for an informal audience.
How could she invite you when you wear that crown?
Oh, it's nothing.
I'll just take it off.
And just look at your hands.
Oh, never mind, I'll just wipe it off.
She can do it! She can chop off the crown. The hands
For all these years she has been reluctant to meet me.
She made me hope and yearn with all her letters and promises to meet.
But she is the crowned sovereign now,
and I am just a poor woman, without a crown, a country, a people.
I can't bear it any longer
I wish she would kill me.
Two great Queens, caught in a deadly stalemate.
In an endless purgatory.
No way out,
until one of you fades away.
This could go on forever.
Stay!
Don't go;
Please don't leave me alone!
Don't hesitate to do what has to be done.
I would only be too pleased to get out of this bed and face your headsman.
But though your men badger you incessantly,
you will still vacillate endlessly before taking up the quill
and ending our correspondence.
And when that secret moment finally comes,
will you then have the courage to face me?
With or without you by my side,
I long fora new (He,
for the chance to return to my beginning.
Oh, my dear cousin,
I would be deeply grateful for a sharp ace.