Blood, Sex & Royalty (2022) s01e03 Episode Script

1
We can take our time
And take this slow, yeah ♪
Ooh-uh-ooh ♪
Teach me how you like and do it again ♪
Yeah ♪
If you want
We can do this over and over ♪
We are so good at sex.
I can give it to you
What you're askin' for ♪
What you're askin' for ♪
But "we" did give birth six weeks ago.
Let me know, go fast, go slow ♪
We can do this all night long ♪
Does that girl ever stop crying?
Where's the bloody wet nurse?
Your sexy talk needs work.
I'll take her. Thank you.
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh.
Elizabeth.
You ignore your grumpy father.
Anne knows
that giving Henry a daughter isn't enough.
It's not what she's promised him.
It's not what he needs.
He needs a son. He needs an heir.
England is in turmoil.
It's on the brink
of a religious revolution.
Henry VIII has rejected papal authority,
and he's determined to create
a new, independent Church of England
over which he is the supreme head.
Henry knows that
in order to bring everybody on side,
what he needs more than anything
is that male heir.
Of course,
Henry was disappointed at first.
He was just feeling the pressure
for a son,
because he didn't want
to mess everything up.
His father had big plans
for the Tudor line, and
and I had promised him a son,
and Boleyns keep their word.
Not getting sick
of all those apples?
Hmm.
Lady W said that she couldn't stop
eating earthworms with her last baby,
so I'm counting my lucky stars!
Good point.
Still can't believe we managed it
so quickly after Elizabeth.
Well, we have been putting in the effort.
And I don't feel half as sick
as I did last time.
They say boys make you less nauseous.
Well, my astrologer's adamant
that this time it's a boy.
Today we might hope
that our child is born healthy.
Anne hopes for something else.
She hopes it has a penis.
Having a daughter is no good.
Katherine of Aragon had a daughter,
and Henry got rid of her.
Anne has to have a boy
to secure her crown.
And now all we need is a
Oh my God, he's gorgeous!
Just like his father.
Aww!
Aw!
Pourquoi?
Because every perfect family needs a dog.
Anne's dog
is called Purkoy,
which is said
to derive from the French "pourquoi,"
meaning "why,"
because apparently
it has a quizzical expression,
so that inspired the name.
Purkoy.
Sit, sit, sit!
Oh, I give up. It's me that needs to sit.
I'm so tired.
My feet are killing me.
Purkoy, fetch! Go on!
No, not my coronation shoes.
I felt like
I could rule the world that day.
I'm getting restless, George.
Don't get me wrong,
there's nothing more important
than giving Henry a son,
but there's so much I want to do,
as well as make babies.
You will change the world, Anne.
Just give it time.
Queens were traditionally
expected to simply provide heirs,
but Anne has ambitions and plans
which are rooted in her values.
She wants more for her country.
Anne is personally motivated
to make a difference as Queen.
She wants to help people.
She introduces the notion of charity
into the monarchy.
She wants to help the poor,
she wants better education,
and, of course,
she wants religious reform as well.
Even the most devout Catholics
acknowledge that the corruption
within the monasteries is out of control.
Those greedy bastards
do own all the best land.
That land should belong to the Crown.
Cromwell is a man
who shares reformist ideas,
and he understands
that a great amount of wealth
is stored in the monastic houses,
in the monasteries, of England,
and he sees an opportunity
to transfer that wealth
into the hands of the King.
We could put that money to good use.
Our people need education,
help when they're sick,
and a decent roof over their heads.
- The people's Queen.
- I'm serious.
The amount of money that the monasteries
have hoarded is obscene.
They should be helping the poor,
not making themselves rich.
Things do need to change.
Anne isn't necessarily
like other queens.
She wants to be mother to a son and heir,
but also wants to be
a mother to the kingdom.
She wants to see the wealth of England
taken from the monasteries
and dispersed to the people who need it.
We'd meet resistance from the Church.
Yes, but who's in charge now?
You.
We do need to think this through though.
- Come up with a
- Agh!
- Anne?
- Oh!
My God, Anne.
Anne.
The baby!
It's impossible
to explain how it feels
when you lose your baby.
Growing that little person inside you.
It's a part of you.
And when that little person dies
a part of you dies too.
Henry was so sure it was a boy.
He found it hard to even look at me.
It was heartbreaking.
And it didn't help
that the rumor mill got going.
Because if there's one thing
the court loves,
it's gossiping about
other people's misfortunes.
I didn't miscarry
because the baby was deformed.
Where do people get this stuff?
This will make you laugh.
It's because you're a witch.
That's a new one.
How is Henry?
A bit distant actually.
He's finding it hard, I think.
It is hard. For both of you.
I've just wanted to hide.
Queens can't do that.
You have to slap on a smile
and get back out there.
If she doesn't smile,
then people whip up gossip
about how Henry is surely
getting tired of her
and is going to go off to somebody else.
It's hugely stressful for a woman
who is already under considerable stress
to have to constantly perform.
["Unleash The Beast"
by Richard Macklin plays"
This is why you don't mess with me ♪
See, I'm technically
Best there ever be ♪
Yes, I'm blessed indeed
So don't test me please ♪
I am Hercules, I unleash the beast ♪
I ain't dressed to please
I am dressed for me ♪
Way they step to me
It's like chess to me ♪
See these nobodies
Try and kill the queen ♪
You get best of three, then it's time ♪
Anne.
Good to see
you're feeling more social again.
The Duke of Norfolk.
My uncle, unfortunately.
Locked his wife in a cupboard
and sold all her jewelry.
I unleash the beast ♪
I unleash the beast ♪
Mary.
Anne.
Anne.
Anne.
Can you just wait?
How could you turn up like this?
I am so sorry.
No, I am the Queen of England,
and you have married some lowlife soldier
and got yourself pregnant.
I'm so sorry you lost your baby, Anne.
Do you have any idea
what people are going to say about me now?
- Can't you just be happy for me?
- You can't stand seeing me with Henry.
I don't care, Anne. I've never loved him.
He never really wanted me.
It's won't be long
until he doesn't want you either.
Get out.
Get out, and don't come back.
Tell me you want me.
What's wrong?
Henry.
Bloody Peeking Purkoy.
He's always watching me.
He's watching my every move,
that bloody dog.
- What are you talking about?
- I wanted a son!
A son!
Not a dog.
I wanted a son.
Henry.
At the very core
of Anne and Henry's relationship
has been this promise.
This promise
that Anne is going to give him
the son and heir that he's been craving.
She's disappointed him.
The weight of this promise
has been heavily on her shoulders,
not just with Henry,
but with the whole realm.
The court has always
waited for Anne to trip up,
and now she's just giving them ammunition.
Does your wife find your jokes as funny,
Weston?
There is only one woman
I really want to make smile.
Weston.
Francis Weston
is one of Henry's inner circle,
and he's knighted at Anne's coronation.
Weston is someone Anne knows well.
It's clear
to everyone at court
that there's no love lost
between these two sisters-in-law.
Jane does not like Anne.
She doesn't like Anne's growing ego.
She doesn't like Anne's power.
Anne.
Purkoy has been found dead.
What?
He fell from a window. I'm so sorry.
F Wh
Out. Everybody out!
He fell from a window?
Henry, there's no way
that this could be an accident.
S Som Somebody did this deliberately.
It's Henry who tells her
that the dog has died.
There's this little creature
that is close to her,
that brings her joy,
and suddenly it's been taken away.
Is that really an accident?
How did it happen?
I'm so sorry.
I think Anne is starting
to feel incredibly vulnerable
and isolated
at the moment.
It feels like
everything that she has worked for
is starting to slip through her fingers.
There are people at court
who are looking for a moment
when Anne is weak.
If Anne doesn't deliver the son
that will secure her position,
then they know that they can step in
and that they can turn Henry against her.
My super sweet lady-in-waiting
Jane Seymour.
Très polite. Très chaste.
England is in crisis.
There are traitors in our midst,
and they grow in number every day.
Henry's religious reforms
have split the country in two,
and there's huge opposition to the fact
that now the King, not the pope,
is head of the Church.
They're contagious.
A plague among our people.
And just like the plague,
death is inevitable.
Always the entertainer.
Thank you.
As you were.
The Treason Act of 1534
marks a turning point in Henry's reign.
He beats his subjects into submission,
makes it punishable by death
if they speak out against him.
What's wrong with you?
This is a party, and you're talking about
death and plague. What's wrong with you?
You're right. This is a party,
so at least one of us
should be entertaining our guests.
I thought you'd done
a marvelous job of that already.
Is my lady-in-waiting a good listener?
Henry. Henry, hey.
Let's get out of here.
Let's go somewhere, just the two of us.
You're ridiculous, Anne.
You sense
that men like Thomas Cromwell
are starting to understand that Anne
is becoming a very costly investment,
and so far
she has yielded very little return.
There was a reason Henry fell for me,
a reason he changed everything,
risked everything, for me.
That day, I remembered the hunger.
I was still the girl
who'd gone out hunting
and brought back a king.
An uprising
of nobles in Ireland,
a very real threat of invasion from Spain
and France,
and Catholic Europe no longer sees you
as one of theirs.
Right, so on top of countless rebellions,
crop failure, famine,
an outbreak of the plague,
we're now looking at war with Europe.
What's on the menu?
Nothing but trouble.
We'll finish this later.
Cromwell
wants to be Henry's right-hand man.
He wants to be the chief advisor.
Anne wants to be Henry's right-hand woman.
She wants to be the chief advisor.
You cannot have two in the one court.
It's just not big enough
for the both of them.
Let's go hunting.
Like we used to.
I've got a lot going on right now, Anne.
And I was thinking
about what else we used to do.
Shine ♪
Let me make it shine ♪
Anne.
Shine ♪
Now, the monasteries' money
will solve our little crop
and famine crisis.
And as for Europe
we can pull together
a little peace treaty.
Surely.
Make it shine ♪
Shine, shine ♪
Let me make it shine ♪
Shine, shine ♪
Make it shine ♪
Shine, shine ♪
M-M-M-Make it shine ♪
I'll make it ♪
Make it, make it shine ♪
1536 is a crisis year
for Henry,
and there are uprisings against him.
There are harvest failures,
economic hardship.
He has never known
a more turbulent time in his reign.
And now Henry's first wife,
Katherine of Aragon, has died.
Her memory is revered across the court
and indeed the kingdom.
Anne appearing
at this event in yellow
would have more than set tongues wagging.
This is typical Anne,
bold as brass
and not really caring much
about what anyone thinks.
I am so sorry for your loss.
Some argue that yellow
denotes the color of mourning in Spain,
that this is
a mark of respect for Katherine.
This is more about a celebration moment.
We come together to mark the passing
of the Dowager Princess of Wales,
Katherine of Aragon.
Arrangements are being made
for her funeral at Peterborough Cathedral,
but let us say a prayer for her now.
Any chance of a seat?
I'm with child.
Her great rival is dead,
and Anne is pregnant.
This is the perfect scenario,
because it means
that the child that is born
will be undisputed as the legitimate heir,
because Katherine is
no longer in the way to meddle.
We can forgive Anne
for feeling rather triumphant
and rejoicing in this moment.
Help! Somebody help!
Maybe you didn't blow it out properly.
Had plenty of baby-brain moments myself.
I know how to blow out a candle.
It was started on purpose.
Somebody wants me dead.
Why do you think that?
First the hate mail,
then somebody throws my dog from a window,
and now this.
They say these things come in threes,
so there you go. You've had yours.
There's been an accident.
It's 24th January 1536,
and Henry has fallen from his horse
whilst jousting.
Henry!
Oh!
Henry, please don't die.
I knew this was going to happen.
I told him to be careful.
Head injuries can be fatal.
Tell me he's gonna be okay, Uncle.
Anne is frightened.
Her position depends entirely on Henry.
If Henry dies,
then everything dissolves for her.
Doesn't matter that
she was crowned Queen of England.
In the end, it's said
it's a miracle that he lives,
and that he is unconscious,
as a result, for two hours.
It is thought possible that, actually,
when he fell off his horse that day,
he bruises his cerebral cortex,
he damages his brain.
Henry, how are you feeling?
Only a week ago, you were near dead.
I am carrying your child, and your
You should be concentrating on our baby,
our son.
- Not worrying about what I'm doing.
- Are you kidding me?!
Where the hell do you think you're going?
Have you forgotten you're actually
my lady-in-waiting and not his
You cheating bastard!
It turns out
to be a miscarriage.
She loses her child.
And they can look at the fetus and see
that it would have been a boy.
My heart was broken.
And I wasn't just mourning my son.
I was mourning everything.
Everything I thought we were going to be.
I knew things weren't exactly working out.
But I didn't expect him to buckle.
While Anne lay there,
recovering from the trauma,
Henry visited her, very briefly,
and said, "I see that
God will not give me male children."
That would have been a moment
of real divide between the two of them
as their grief took them
in totally different ways.
"How many women are there,
who, because of their husbands' harshness,
spend their weary lives
in the bond of marriage
in greater suffering
than if they were slaves
among the Saracens?"
Why must women's fortunes
be tied to men's?
- I hate how little choice we have.
- Totally.
Oh my God. What is it?
He's done it again.
More debts.
Well, there you go. Proof and point.
I mean it this time, Anne.
I think we're ruined.
I'm pregnant.
Again.
Of course you are.
Poor Lady W with her feckless husband
and her seven kids.
I suppose you'll be wanting
some more money now.
No. No, I couldn't.
No, let's not do that dance.
Go on.
Take it.
I do need this.
But I needed you more.
It's in Anne's character
that when she's feeling under pressure,
she lashes out.
You would think
that she would draw her friends closer,
but instead she alienates them.
There's a sense now
for Anne
that the court is like a pressure cooker.
It's deeply divided.
Some people are supporting Anne.
Others are looking to her rival,
Jane Seymour.
Well, it seems Plain Jane Seymour
seems to turn him on these days.
Too bad she won't sleep with him.
That little bitch
is trying to steal my crown.
You're overreacting.
I lost the baby because of her!
Anne.
The King is distracted,
but you can't afford to be.
What do you mean?
Cromwell.
Money's coming in thick and fast
from dissolving the monasteries.
- Good. That was the plan.
- Yes.
But apparently he's using it
to line his own pockets.
Sly, sly snake.
Anne.
When Henry makes himself
head of the new Church,
he seizes all of the Church's wealth,
and there's nothing richer
than the monasteries,
these great symbols
of the old Catholic faith.
The architect
of this sweeping religious change
is Thomas Cromwell,
Henry's right-hand man.
What are you playing at?
Following the King's orders.
Those funds were supposed to do good,
not pay for your pleasures.
I thought we were friends.
Queens don't have friends.
They have allies or enemies,
and I have always been your ally.
Oh, I'd hate for that to change.
One word from me,
and Henry will have your head for this.
Oh, the King knows.
Did he not tell you?
You won't get away with this.
I won't let you.
Cromwell.
A wheeling, dealing lowlife.
My judge of character was way out.
I should've seen that coming.
He was always there,
right by Henry's side,
wedging himself between us,
poisoning my own husband against me.
I had to make Henry see sense.
Elizabeth, darling. Say hello to Daddy.
Darling. I didn't know
you were coming to see me. Come.
Give me a kiss.
You can't let Cromwell do this.
He's creaming off thousands.
You have no right
to deal with state affairs.
I should never have allowed it. Come.
"Allowed it"?
You'd be lost without me.
You've caused chaos,
divided a nation.
I'm the weakest I've ever been,
because of you.
England needed change.
What do you know about what England needs?
Your head's full of heretical nonsense.
You are England. We are England.
You don't need a son, Henry.
You have our daughter, Elizabeth.
You have your heir.
She is the best of both of us.
Don't be absurd.
Only a man can rule England.
And I need a son.
Take the child away.
Be a good girl.
Mummy loves you.
Maybe if you were in my bed,
instead of fawning over Plain Jane,
you might still get a son.
Jane is easier to be around than you are.
You are so
I don't recognize you anymore.
- Jane knows who she is.
- Oh, and I don't?
God is punishing me, Anne. For you!
For us. For what we've done.
We have brought the people closer to God
than they have ever been!
Enough!
You have no right to promise me
something that you could never give.
Anne was
Henry's great obsession for years,
but she hasn't given him the son
that he so desperately craved,
and now he believes
the marriage is cursed.
Henry knows he's losing
the love of his people.
They're rebelling against
his religious reforms,
and in his eyes, there's only
one person responsible.
His own wife, Anne.
And it's around this time
that Anne has an unusual conversation
with one of the King's closest friends,
Sir Henry Norris.
Are you coming on Saturday?
Jousting and wine.
Nope. I hate jousting.
But you like wine.
Not that much, Norris.
Come on, everyone will be there.
I'll look after you. I promise.
I'm sure you'll have lots of ladies
wanting your attention.
But my heart belongs to you, my Queen.
Why, Norris, I'm a married woman.
Unless, of course, something should happen
to the King.
That kind of talk could cost me my life.
Anne's throwaway remark
is actually life-threatening,
because it's now written into the law
that even speaking of the King's death
is treason.
Your Grace.
Anne is in the dark.
She knows that, ultimately, she is failing
at providing a son and heir,
but she doesn't even know the half of it,
because she doesn't know
who's working against her.
She thinks she has certain individuals
on side, but she doesn't.
She's sitting at a chess board,
and she has no idea
who's sitting opposite her.
- What are you doing here?
- I just wanted to get away from everyone.
And I thought I'd come and see you
before your next event.
Well, I'm glad you decided to come.
I was hoping to see Henry
at the main event, but
no sign of him so far.
You'll sort things out.
Look, the man moved heaven and earth
to make you his queen.
Yes. You're right.
Anne.
Mm.
You need to make things right
with Cromwell.
Look, Henry listens to him.
Remember.
You're Anne Boleyn.
You've achieved things
other people only dream of.
I'll wave to you
from the champion's podium.
Boleyns for the win.
All is far from well,
and Anne knows it.
Henry has been avoiding her for days.
She knows that there has been
this urgent meeting
of the Privy Council at Greenwich,
but she doesn't know what's going on.
The King is charging you with adultery.
Anne is arrested
by the Privy Council.
When she arrives
at the Tower of London,
she is told
that she will not be in the dungeons,
but in the Queen's apartments.
The same apartments where she spent
the night before her coronation.
She remembers that night
before her initial triumph.
She was about to be Queen of England.
Now she's a prisoner.
Adultery.
It's absurd.
I love Henry.
He knows that.
Everyone knows that.
Where have these accusations come from?
I don't have any answers.
My job is simply to look after you
while you're here in the tower.
William Kingston
is the constable of the tower,
in effect, Anne's jailer,
but in Anne's eyes,
he's also a trusted confidant,
almost a friend.
She's very isolated at this point,
and she pours her heart out to him.
You'd better get some rest.
Good night, Your Majesty.
Good night, Kingston.
Silence!
Anne Boleyn.
You are charged
with adultery, incest, and treason.
Despising your marriage to the King,
you did follow your frail and carnal lust
on 20 separate occasions
and traitorously engaged
in sexual relations
with the King's servants,
Henry Norris
Francis Weston,
Mark Smeaton.
You also procured and incited
your own brother, George Boleyn,
to violate you.
This This is insane.
And you did conspire the King's death
with your adulterers
as evidenced by the conversation
with Henry Norris
on 29th April of this year.
Unless, of course, something should happen
to the King.
Anne Boleyn,
how do you plead to these charges?
Not guilty.
And every one of you here knows it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
It's been very illuminating.
Sir William Kingston
serves Henry above all.
That's where his loyalty lies,
and as the jailer to Queen Anne,
his task is to also spy on her,
to record anything
that might be of use in her trial.
Anne must've been
in a state of bewilderment.
She'd gone from being
the King's great obsession
to accused of treason.
The case against Anne
largely rests on the hearsay,
the gossip, really, of her ladies
who attest to her infidelities.
Once Anne starts losing
that grasp on power,
it becomes so much easier for Jane
and other women like Jane
to make their thoughts felt.
Lady Worcester had been bad-mouthing her
for a while now.
Cromwell clocks all of this.
He is going to use all of this
against Anne.
Watch your back.
The truth doesn't matter here.
All that matters
is removing Anne from power.
Cromwell is the most renowned lawyer
in the kingdom.
He makes sure of his case.
It's a case that wouldn't stand up
in a modern-day court of law.
It's all based on hearsay and rumor,
but Cromwell manages to build it
into something really sinister.
Anne Boleyn,
the jury finds you
guilty as charged.
You are sentenced to death
by burning or beheading
at the King's pleasure.
In her final days,
Anne receives a visit
from her former chaplain
and from the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Thomas Cranmer.
Anne,
this is your chance at freedom.
I knew Henry wouldn't allow this.
If you sign this,
your marriage will be annulled.
Annulled?
Mm.
He's been one
of her biggest allies at court,
but he's been sent now to persuade Anne
to agree to an annulment.
On what basis?
Don't worry about the details.
Does Henry know about this?
What would it mean for Elizabeth?
She would be declared a bastard
and be removed
from the line of succession.
Anne.
If you sign this, you could avoid death
and live out the rest of your days
in a convent.
It's a lifeline, Anne.
Please take it.
This is all Cromwell!
I just I need to talk to my husband.
Norris, Brereton, Weston, and Smeaton
were all found guilty of adultery
with you.
They're to be executed tomorrow.
Your brother too.
George?
Now,
if you want to avoid the same fate
The King has shown you mercy.
Instead of an axe,
you will die by the sword.
Perhaps one of
the cruelest elements of Anne's downfall
was the promise of a reprieve
in return for an annulment.
A promise, of course, which was broken.
It now becomes clear
Henry had already sent for the executioner
before her trial even took place.
He is the one who has decided
that Anne has to go,
and he's masterminded the whole thing.
He wants her executed,
so he can move on and marry Jane Seymour.
I have come here to die.
I pray God save the King
and hope that
he rules over you for years to come.
There never was a gentler
or more forgiving ruler.
To me, he was
always a good and loving husband.
Please pray for me.
All Anne can think about
is how to protect her daughter
and how to protect her family,
how to protect the Boleyns.
Her father is still alive.
She still has her mother.
She still has her sister
and her sister's children.
She is protecting to the Boleyns
right down to the last moment.
Who said
There was never gonna be no pain? ♪
There's a lullaby ♪
Floatin' on the wind ♪
When you've found your waves ♪
Then your life begins ♪
Swim against the tide ♪
Won't do what I'm told ♪
Back in the ring ♪
I'm chasin' down gold tonight ♪
Back in the ring ♪
'Cause I'm takin' home gold tonight ♪
What has just happened
is completely unprecedented.
A Queen of England
has never been put to death before.
Henry threw Anne over,
because she didn't give him a son.
Because, in the end,
she wasn't the woman he wanted her to be.
How glorious, then,
that it is her daughter
who reigned after him.
She would become everything
that Anne had wanted to achieve.
We see it all fulfilled
in that little daughter of hers.
Elizabeth I became
one of the most powerful monarchs
that England has ever had,
and in her eyes, we see Anne Boleyn.
Wake up and do the right thing ♪
Get on the right track ♪
And bring the good stuff back ♪
Stuff back ♪
Wake up and do the right thing ♪
Get on the right track ♪
And bring the good stuff back ♪
Stuff ♪
Wake up, wake up ♪
Wake up ♪
Wake up and bring the good stuff, yeah ♪
Wake up and do the right thing ♪
Get on the right track ♪
And bring the good stuff back ♪
Mmmmm ♪
Mmmmm ♪
It's a good day
To wear your heart on your sleeve ♪
Subtitle translation by: