The Fall of the House of York, A Commentary of Starz Original Series, The White Queen

Because I did an independent study of the King Richard III during a renaissance class, the Starz latest original series The White Queen interests me greatly. The ten part miniseries debuted on Saturday August 10, 2013. The story is based on romance novelist Philippa Gregory's historical novel series The Cousins' War. 

The T.V. series incorporates elements from all the novels, which includes:

1) The Lady of the Rivers
2) The White Queen
3) The Red Queen
4) The Kingmaker's Daughters
5) The White Princess
6) The Last Rose

White Queen opens with the romance between King Edward IV (Max Irons) from the House of York (House of Plantagenet) and his marriage to commoner Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Ferguson) from the House of Lancaster. Their is not a popular marriage among the Plantagenets, especially with  Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (Caroline Goodall) and the Earl of Warwick, The Kingmaker (James Frain), nor with many of power seeking Lancasters will mark the end of the of the Plantagenets.

Elizabeth Woodville is not thought of as possessing royal blood by the Yorks, and her marriage to Edward not a welcome event by the power seeking Lancasters, who view it as an advancement of their station.  Their hatred of the Plantagenets dates back to John of Gaunt, the fourth but third surviving son of the King Edward III and Philippa of Hainaut. The war between the two houses is best known of the War of Roses with the red rose represents the House of Lancaster and the red white rose the House of York to which House of Plantagenet belong.

With the exception of more sex scenes than absolutely necessary for an hour episode, the power struggles and destructive plots among these two houses is fermenting well in The White Queen. Therefore, the series should gather strong viewership and become a favorite among Philippa Gregory's fans. 

The next episode is "The Price of Power" and will air on August 17. In it, the coronation of Elizabeth is planned in an attempt to silence protest against her marriage between to King Edward. In anger, Warwick's refuses to allow his daughters to become Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting. Margaret Beaufort, whose son Henry Tudor (Tom McKay) has a claim to the throne from John of Gaunt line, sides with  Lord Warwick and Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence (David Oakes), in the hope that her Henry will be returned to her. While these events are going on, Lord Warwick makes use of his elder daughter Isabel (Eleanor Tomlinson) in an attempt to unify the Nevilles and the Yorks by marrying her to the Duke of Clarence, heir apparent to King Edward. 

The series is in three points of view and from that of the women, Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale), and Anne Neville (Faye Marsay). 

With the exception of more sex scenes than absolutely necessary for an hour episode, the power struggles and destructive plots among the houses is fermenting well in The White Queen. This said, the series should gather strong viewership and become a favorite among Philippa Gregory's fans.

In addition,  for all you fans, critics and scholars of King Richard III, actor Aneurin Barnard plays Richard, Duke of Gloucester and will makes his first appearance in "Long Live The King" episode 8.