38 thoughts on “The Spanish Princess: Katherine of Aragon’s Wedding Gown

  1. Although it looks to be a C+ effort, I still think the wedding gown looks more Elizabethan Ren faire than Spanish from the court of the Catholic Monarchs.
    At least Katherine of Aragon has reddish hair.
    I’m not holding out for any historical accuracy as it’s based on Bleeping Philippa Gregory.

  2. Looks pretty good to me. I’m glad that this part of the Tudor history is getting coverage, since everything seems to focus on Henry VIII or Elizabeth I.

  3. I’m actully quite impressed that they gave Arthur that haircut. Maybe there’s hope for this?? Unless Henry is going to turn up looking like Justin Beiber by comparison…

  4. grinds teeth

    Katharine of Aragon is my favorite historical figure of all time, and I LOATHE Philippa’s novels with the fire of a thousand burning suns, but I’ll hate-watch this and cry. (Even more so, because, dammit, they cast the fabulous Harriet Walter as Margaret Beaufort this time. Margaret is another of my favorites, and I loathe what Philippa does with her, so the fact that they’re wasting an utterly fantastic actress on what’s sure to be a shitty part makes me sick.)

    That being said, they’re already being inaccurate — Katharine was not allowed to attend the funeral, much less ride behind the casket. It was pouring rain, and the damn cart got stuck in the mud on its way out of Wales anyway. Also, what’s with the pathetic extras in that scene? They should have mounted lords, like Lord Rhys, all around them. Arthur’s Welsh lords / friends attended his casket.

    /historical nitpicking

    1. H.W. is a good choice, and there does seem to be thought given to the visuals, including wardrobe, and including those godawful bowl haircuts that make the handsomest guy look dorky.

      What I dislike about Gregory is that she used to be a pretty good writer, in a purple sort of way, before Other Boleyn Female and then the whole outpouring of civil-war-plus-Tudors stuff. Sloppy writing and questionable theories, which some of her readers seem to take for factual history.

      1. I agree. I think “The Other Boleyn Girl” (however livid it made me) was excellent writing — engaging, moving, and evocative. But I think she’s just been churning them out the last few years, not taking much pains with them, and frankly, not finding enough of a story to go with them. I remember reading her novel about Margaret Beaufort going, “This is Margaret Freaking Beaufort here. And I’m BORED. There MUST be something she could have used to make the plot work better.”

        And her book about Catherine Parr? Made me cringe. A lot. And not just because H8 seemed to be into S&M style of punishing his wife. Just eww.

    2. Did you read Gregory’s CONSTANT PRINCESS? Where she has Catherine LIE UNDER OATH AND ON THE BIBLE? I can believe a lot about people, but not that Catherine would lie. About anything.

      1. Yes, I read it. I ranted about it for months. I’m normally against book burnings, but I didn’t say a word when a friend took her copy and lit it on fire in her backyard. LOL

    3. Wow, why wouldn’t Catherine be allowed to attend her husband Arthur’s funeral. That seems odd to me.

      1. Culturally, royalty didn’t attend funerals — it had to do with disassociating themselves from the public concept of death. In simple terms, most of them wanted their subjects to see them as “gods.” If you attend a funeral, even of a loved one / royal, it’s a public reminder of your mortality and thus thought to cause potential others to remember that you ARE mortal and can be overthrown.

  5. So far,it looks like it could be good.And the really long sleeves are quite common in several potraits of Isabella.

  6. Dang it….I now have to have a hate watch party with Spanish food and Sangria for my friends.
    As a Spanish person in general and playing a Spanish Tudor era persona in the SCA, this one will be difficult.

  7. I don’t think I have ever seen a bowl-cut hair in a medieval period series or film before.

    At least the clothing here look 100x better than in the dreadful prequel known as The White Princess.

    1. The bowl-cut was properly featured in the first Blackadder series (The Black Adder), and it looked far better and more authentic than the hair on Prince Arthur.

  8. Probably not related but have you guys seen the promotional pictures for BBC’s Les Mis adaptation for next year?

  9. Truly LOVE the hoop-holding, and lampshade effect……. I know they are “behind the scene” stills, but still….SMH.

  10. I can’t remember if it’s from that account of her wedding day or just an English person talking about her when she arrived but there’s definitely something in Hispanic Costume about how Catherine showed up in England with her very long hair in a sheer tranzado and how odd they thought that was.

  11. I wonder if that collar on Arthur is a washcloth or small towel for keeping sweat and/or makeup off the costume??

    I agree the wedding dress feels …off. It reminds me too much of those “Making History” Simplicity sewing patterns that, while being a fantastic gateway drug to historical costuming, are woefully inaccurate.

  12. Recently listened to The Lady of the Rivers audio book on my commute and wondered at the characterizations of John Beaufort, King Henry and Margaret of Anjou. She seemed to hang some major plot points on very iffy (ok, fictional) events. I think of her books as romance novels peopled by historical figures based very loosely on their lives.

  13. i feel like there’s this trend of dressing all the extras approprietly and then just fckin DESTROYING the leading characters wardrobes with “creative license”

  14. If you take a look at the new trailer that was released, you will be quite surprised. It’s not a headband at all. You can get a better look at the gown on there.

  15. Gotta love those Tudors & Yorks! Always read Victoria was credited with revolutionizing the tradition of a wedding gown to white. NOW! We see it was actually the Spanish Catherine. I can’t wait for Margaret Beaufort’s detailed biopic — having Henry at 13. She always gets a bad rep; but, was in actuality indomitable.

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