- Prince Harry: That rose petal gets to be the King of England, and dull-eyed Meg gets to be the Queen of Scotland.
- Margaret Beaufort: My darling, you have the heart of a lion and the soul of a poet. God has gifted you a thousandfold. He has great plans for you.
- King Henry Tudor: Our newlyweds look refreshed, don't you think? Well, reasonably.
- Queen Elizabeth: They are working hard for England.
- [they look each other]
- King Henry Tudor: We are gathered here today to celebrate the first day of the union between the crown of England and the kingdom of Spain. When we look upon these two young people, we look upon the future of the throne and to their heirs.
- [Henry and Lizzie smiles]
- King Henry Tudor: [applause] Arthur, Catherine, you are both descendants of the first Duke of Lancaster
- [he looks Lizzie]
- King Henry Tudor: , John of Gaunt. England and Spain united in you.
- Margaret Beaufort: Have courage, child.
- King Henry Tudor: ...and I can assure you that she is.
- William Dunbar: Aye. Then it's agreed, Your Grace.
- [Meg enters room]
- William Dunbar: I'll dispatch a message to Edinburgh. To let the king know we have a treaty.
- King Henry Tudor: Then she'll suit him?
- William Dunbar: She's young. That suits him well.
- King Henry Tudor: Meg, you know these... gentlemen. They've ridden from King James.
- Meg Tudor: Scottish thugs, Father, men who raid our land and kill our people.
- Margaret Beaufort: William Dunbar is the most celebrated poet in Scotland.
- King Henry Tudor: And an eloquent ambassador. King James and I have brokered peace between our two countries that will put an end to our grievances, a peace that will be sealed with your marriage.
- Meg Tudor: Just like that?
- King Henry Tudor: Like that. Our countries have been at war for two centuries, girl.
- Margaret Beaufort: You knew that one day a husband would be chosen for you.
- William Dunbar: [gives a necklace to Meg] A gift of goodwill.
- Margaret Beaufort: [Meg leaves the room] Uh... Wait!
- [Margaret goes after her]
- King Henry Tudor: A wild girl for a wild country.
- Prince Harry: Ah, Meg, are the Scots to your liking? Have you learned to "toss the caber"?
- [Meg hits his arm, Harry laughs]
- Prince Arthur: Ignore him, Meg. Give those Scots merry English hell.
- [Meg blows kiss]
- Meg Tudor: Lady grandmother.
- Margaret Beaufort: Look at this. It's a thing of beauty. It's a page from my own translation of De Imitatione Christi, printed by Caxton on his press for me. I supported him when he began his labors.
- Meg Tudor: Lady grandmother, my father is making a mistake. What kind of men serve this King James? They have been here for months, and they are drunk all the time.
- Margaret Beaufort: Oh, Meg. Do you know why this is beautiful to me? It is the mind settled on a page. A life settled can be just as beautiful. You should be grateful that your life is settled. Many would want it.
- Meg Tudor: They leer at the married ladies of the palace. They even touch them. They call me "little fishy", their king's little fishy who has been caught. Is this dignified for our family? One of them relieved himself against the Royal Chapel. The king prays in there every day. Is this what they think of us, that our palace is nothing but a street market? Would King Henry of England send his daughter to such men?
- Margaret Beaufort: For peace, yes.
- Meg Tudor: And you pay these brutes huge sums of money to take me away.
- Margaret Beaufort: That is no concern of yours.
- Meg Tudor: King James is old.
- Margaret Beaufort: Not that old.
- Meg Tudor: He's old, and he'll die, next winter, if it is harsh. And who will take his place? Someone who wants peace or good old war?
- King Henry Tudor: My daughter bleats. It may sound like reason, but trust me, it is simply bleating.
- Margaret Beaufort: And yet I find myself wondering why we're paying out 100,000 crowns to King James when he might be dead in a year.
- King Henry Tudor: For the treaty.
- Margaret Beaufort: But we can't pay the dowry on Meg if the Spanish don't pay us for Catherine. We can't afford it.
- King Henry Tudor: Spain will pay as they promised.
- Margaret Beaufort: Well, then let us cancel the wedding and hold on to Meg until they do.
- King Henry Tudor: Thomas. Your thoughts?
- Thomas, Earl of Wiltshire: Forgive me for saying it, Your Grace, but no Spanish money is forthcoming, so perhaps we should change course. The Scots wouldn't make war with us now that Isabella is our ally.
- Margaret Beaufort: The treasury is empty, Henry. The Scottish peace will hold without an expensive wedding. At least, for now.
- Prince Arthur: Princess of Wales. Does it scare you?
- Catherine of Aragon: I asked my mother once why I was not afraid of my destiny. She said I may as well be fearful of my own reflection. There is no fear. Our marriage has brought peace.
- Prince Arthur: In the south, yes, but Scotland...
- Catherine of Aragon: They raid across the borders. They kill and rob your people, rich and poor alike. Butcher them.
- Prince Arthur: My father has a worse punishment in store. He'll probably send my brother Harry to them, hitch him up to some Morag or Mordina.
- Catherine of Aragon: Do I not please?
- Prince Arthur: I cannot be rushed, like some horse to stud. We should sleep.
- Catherine of Aragon: As you wish, my lord.
- Prince Arthur: You talk in your sleep, in Spanish.
- Catherine of Aragon: That's a pity. I wish to dream in English. You should have woken me.
- Prince Arthur: The banquet today is for the toast of Gaunt. My father's idea, celebrate our bloodline. I warn you, we'll be required to dance.
- Catherine of Aragon: I could teach you the pavane.
- Prince Arthur: Must be English.
- Prince Harry: Uh, good morning, brother. Sunt tibi bene, uh, as the old Benedictines say?
- [Arthur opens door]
- Prince Harry: Well, but can you have a good night if you're a celibate monk?
- Prince Arthur: On your way, little brother.
- Catherine of Aragon: I'm just concerned that she was too much for you.
- Prince Arthur: What did Socrates say? When... When men who are fond of spirited horses master those beasts, they find the rest of life easy to cope with.
- Prince Harry: And did you master your Iberian thoroughbred?
- Prince Arthur: Gentlemen, last night, I was in Spain.
- [Men start laugh]
- Catherine of Aragon: Hurry up! Rosa. I will need a fresh fire in this room. Last night's burned so fiercely. There was much to burn. Hurry up!
- Charlie Brandon: Good day again, exotic maid.
- Lina de Cardonnes: I am on business for the Infanta.
- Charlie Brandon: Our lady, the king's mother, has issued a decree that eligible noblemen, such as myself, should be introduced to the Infanta's ladies.
- Lina de Cardonnes: Her Highness chooses me my husband.
- Charlie Brandon: No. Your matchmaker is Lady Margaret, the king's mother. No one marries in this court without her sanction. The Infanta's ladies will be married to high-ranking Tudor men so she's certain of your loyalty, or else you will be tossed out from court.
- Lina de Cardonnes: I will choose my husband, alas, my lord, from men, not boys.
- Margaret Beaufort: Be sure Arthur manages the tenant lands. Ludlow Castle is his formal seat now, and its estates are the responsibility of the Prince of Wales.
- Maggie Pole: Of course. We leave tomorrow.
- Margaret Beaufort: I notice you avoid the princess Catherine. Why is that?
- Maggie Pole: I-I do not, my lady.
- Margaret Beaufort: I expect you or Sir Richard at court regularly to report back on the prince and princess and how they fare in Ludlow.
- Maggie Pole: I imagine my lady, the king's mother has her own methods of observing them.
- Margaret Beaufort: The girl has a simple job to do... conceive. See to it that all elements of the house are conducive to it, and waste no time in sending news when she does. We can shame the Spanish into sending the rest of the dowry once the prince...
- Maggie Pole: Once the child is with child.
- Margaret Beaufort: Oh, and I do observe, Lady Pole, comings and goings, whispers in corridors. Do you whisper in corridors?
- Maggie Pole: What would I possibly have to whisper about?
- Meg Tudor: If the wind changes and you're still staring, you'll be stuck like that forever.
- Prince Harry: Poor thing, climbing under the sheets with my cadaverous brother. What do you say, Chaplain Wolsey?
- Thomas Wolsey: Oh, Harry, you've changed little since your school days.
- King Henry Tudor: [about Princess Meg] Is it this light, or does she look especially ordinary today?
- Queen Elizabeth: A long, long road to this day, but it is here, by God's will.
- Maggie Pole: And by the king's will, Your Grace and by yours.
- Queen Elizabeth: Is every word you say a rebuke to me, Maggie?
- Maggie Pole: Is every word you say to me a threat? I know nothing about these plots against England you imagine.
- Catherine of Aragon: Lady Pole. I beg forgiveness for what was done in my name. I throw myself upon your mercy. I did not know.
- Maggie Pole: I- I cannot speak of it. Get up.
- Catherine of Aragon: I am here, only because an innocent life was taken, your brother. Edward was innocent. I was a child, too, when it happened. I am so sorry, so sorry.
- Catherine of Aragon: [Scots come] You disgusting heathens. You dare to foul this day?
- Edward Stafford: Your Highness, these men are guests.
- King Henry Tudor: Welcome, gentlemen. Welcome. Now, as you recall from...
- Meg Tudor: Why are they looking at me?
- Margaret Beaufort: Meg, this treaty with Scotland turns the sword into a wedding band.
- Meg Tudor: You throw my body to them for their old king to pounce on. Catherine would kill them with her bare hands.
- Prince Arthur: You did not enjoy the day, did you? Was it Harry?
- Catherine of Aragon: I did not ask your brother to write to me nor did I know it was him when I replied. I feel foolish enough that I was tricked. Can we not just put it behind us, Arthur? The lettes are now ashes. I understand now what it took for us to marry. Your cousin, Edward of Warwick, was executed.
- Prince Arthur: Don't talk about that.
- Catherine of Aragon: To clear the path for us.
- Prince Arthur: On your own mother's command.
- Catherine of Aragon: You blame my mother for this? Blame your own.
- [he throws something]
- Catherine of Aragon: Is that why you can't touch me?
- Prince Arthur: When we reach Ludlow, you will learn to perform your duty.
- Catherine of Aragon: I am trying to perform my duty now, Arthur. You won't let me.
- Prince Arthur: I will sleep alone tonight.
- Catherine of Aragon: Should I warn my ladies this is what it is to be a Tudor wife? The cold and the damp shrink all desire and all joy. I have seen things that you, hidden away in your dark little country, could never dream of. I am the daughter of the two greatest monarchs this world has ever known. If you challenge me, I shall defeat you.
- Prince Arthur: Perhaps you already have, Catherine.
- Catherine of Aragon: Meg.
- Meg Tudor: I am ordered to see you off and wish you well, but I wish they'd ordered me to come with you. Still, they say the sweat is back. Maybe I'll be lucky and drop dead.
- Catherine of Aragon: Meg, let us say goodbye properly. We are sisters now.
- Meg Tudor: So strange. You knew about your wedding since you were a girl.
- Catherine of Aragon: My mother told me stories of England since I was this high. Now, I thought at first they were child's tales, but she was turning the soil, and planting this country in my heart. Now, even though it is strange and new, it still feels like mine. It was my mother's gift. It was a gift I wanted.
- Meg Tudor: And you never doubt?
- Catherine of Aragon: Whatever awaits you in this life, you must... fijar... fix your place in the heavens.
- Meg Tudor: What if you don't want the place that others pick for you?
- Catherine of Aragon: Then pick your place, not theirs, sister.
- Maggie Pole: Who's winning?
- Prince Arthur: The tree.
- [he sits]
- Prince Arthur: I have realized something. I have seen a portrait of her, but she never saw a picture of me.
- Maggie Pole: You are the sweetest of men. Hmm?
- [She touchs his face]
- Prince Arthur: You... You used to do that us as children.
- Maggie Pole: No, it wasn't me. Teddy used to do it. Oh, it's all right. I've had my own struggle with Catherine, but then I thought she must be spinning like a top in her mind also, yes? She just hides her fear better. Besides, I think Teddy likes her.
- Prince Arthur: What do you mean?
- Maggie Pole: Oh, he's never far away.
- Prince Arthur: If he were here, we'd all be playing fox and geese together.
- [She hugs him]
- Maggie Pole: Oh, Arthur.
- Prince Arthur: Aunt Maggie, my mother asked me to spy on you.
- Maggie Pole: Of course she did. Your mother and the king see plots abroad and plots at court. But we out here have a chance to be happy.
- Prince Arthur: I should take confession.
- Catherine of Aragon: Too much like a church? Please, come here.
- [he sits]
- Catherine of Aragon: You are afraid, because you do not know me. I want you to understand what I am. I am your wife, yes, but I am also Infanta of Spain.
- Prince Arthur: I know that.
- Catherine of Aragon: But you do not know. I grew up in a Christian court. We are Catholics, and we made all of Spain Catholic. And yet there is another side to us, not in faith, not in culture. We eat at low tables. We say grace, but we live in rooms studded with jewels of al-Andalus and Ethiopia. I believe in the one true Catholic faith, but I respect the beauty of Islam. I want you to know these two sides of me.
- Prince Arthur: Tell me more about your home.
- Catherine of Aragon: The Alhambra? When you enter the first room, it is small like a merchant's house.
- Prince Arthur: I was told it was grand.
- Catherine of Aragon: Wait. But then you pass through the first room, and you enter the Golden Chamber. When I was a girl, the Golden Chamber seemed as big as the sky.
- Prince Arthur: I cannot remember a time I was not betrothed to you. We were both small children then, and now look at us.
- Catherine of Aragon: Look at us, Arthur. We are masters of our destiny now. And we have time to know each other in all ways.
- [Arthur kisses her, marriage was consummated]
- Prince Arthur: "I will never boast, but cherish humility instead. I will speak the truth at all times, and forever keep my word. I will defend those who cannot defend themselves. I will honor and respect women. I will be faithful in love and loyal in friendship. I will be generous to the poor and to those who need help."
- Catherine of Aragon: King Arthur?
- Prince Arthur: Which makes you Guinevere and Westmister Camelot. Why not?
- [they laugh]
- Prince Arthur: Who would stop us?
- Catherine of Aragon: Una mesa redonda? The Round Table?
- Prince Arthur: And we'll make Stafford and Wiltshire and Suffolk, make them all sit around it. No more plots and secrets. Fair taxation! Something to work for, then, together.
- [they kiss and hug]
- Catherine of Aragon: [Arthur gives a paper] What is this?
- Prince Arthur: It's not very... I've read the poets and Aquinas, but I do not possess their abilities.
- Catherine of Aragon: It is very fine, Arthur.
- Prince Arthur: But not as fine as others can achieve.
- Catherine of Aragon: Others have not achieved my hand.
- Catherine of Aragon: Why is he leaving the prince?
- Maggie Pole: He's preparing him a draft. They will not neglect him.
- Catherine of Aragon: I am staying.
- Maggie Pole: You can't, Your Grace. It is the sweat. Thousands died when the Tudor army brought it to England.
- King Henry Tudor: News from Ludlow.
- [he reads the letter]
- Queen Elizabeth: What is it?
- King Henry Tudor: I'll call for our escort. We have a long ride ahead of us.
- Catherine of Aragon: I know how much you love him. I also try to love him.
- Maggie Pole: I know you love the idea of being queen.
- Catherine of Aragon: You still think so badly of me.
- Maggie Pole: No, it's not your fault. You were bred for it. But I have seen so much ambition in my life. My family have been the victims of it.
- Catherine of Aragon: Lady Pole... Maggie... come. Pray with me.
- Sir Richard Pole: You cannot risk this, Your Grace. This is too dangerous.
- Maggie Pole: Catherine, don't.
- Catherine of Aragon: Everybody out. Leave me with my husband.
- Prince Arthur: S-Stay away.
- Catherine of Aragon: What can I do? What do you want?
- Prince Arthur: I want... to live.
- Catherine of Aragon: Your father will ride to you. I know it.
- Prince Arthur: I'm sorry. They will... They will send you back to Spain. And I dreamed of Camelot. And... And Teddy was a knight of the Round Table. And he had a place set for me.
- [Catherine continues to cry and Arthur is in pain]
- King Henry Tudor: He found happiness with you.
- Catherine of Aragon: I believe some, Your Grace.
- King Henry Tudor: You will return to Westminster with us. We will see if you are with child. Pray God you are.
- Queen Elizabeth: He liked honey. I will make sure there is bread and honey after the funeral in London. Maggie?
- Maggie Pole: I told you this would happen, Lizzie, and you let Teddy and your own brother die on that scaffold. I told you the Tudor curse would grip you and your children. Where is his future now? Oh, Arthur, to be born into such a family as this.
- Queen Elizabeth: You say too much.
- Maggie Pole: Perhaps you and the king have enemies after all, Your Grace.
- Meg Tudor: You wished to see me, Lady Grandmother?
- Margaret Beaufort: Yes. Our deal with Spain has altered. Into what, we don't know yet. God has turned our faces towards the north, gently, but firmly. We will need Scotland more than ever now.