'The Spanish Princess' Season 2 Episode 5: Why does Catherine have to live with Henry's mistress Bessie Blount?
Spoilers for Season 2 Episode 5 'Plague'
Among the list of the may horrid, unspeakable awful things King Henry VIII (Ruairi O'Connor) put his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (Charlotte Hope) through, the latest development that Starz's 'The Spanish Princess' addresses, is the illegitimate pregnancy of Bessie Blount (Chloe Harris). Right at the end of the previous episode, it was revealed through Catherine bearing witness that Henry was in fact being unfaithful, with none other than Catherine's own lady in waiting – Bessie. One would think with the plague arriving at London and quarantine protocols flaring up Henry would do away with the affair and focus on apologizing for being an absolute jacka** to his wife, but no. At the end of the episode, Catherine helps deliver Bessie's b*stard, not just live with her throughout the pregnancy, and for those wondering why the queen tolerated this, here are some answers.
The reason behind this torture, like most torture subjected to Catherine, is of course Wolsey (Philip Cumbus) who has finally been anointed Cardinal of the kingdom. Upon Wolsey's advice, Henry decides to wait eagerly for the sex of his bastard, and should Bessie not bring forth a male heir, she would be sent away in disgrace. All this time, Bessie is supposed to stay in the court with Catherine forced to seek her service. It'sone thing to know your husband is cheating through your difficult pregnancies and stillbirth, another thing to find out the mistress is pregnant, and a whole other thing to be forced to endure that service knowing all that's happening. But trust Catherine to take it a gigantic notch higher by helping deliver this illegitimate child as well.
The child ends up being a son and Henry's joy knows no bounds at establishing he can give birth to a male heir too. History however saved Catherine from the torture of helping deliver this baby. While the Starz drama tweaks things a little, in reality, Bessie Blount, although treated the best among all of Henry's several mistresses, did not get Catherine's help delivering the child. In fact, Bessie had been sent away to Essex to give birth secretly in a priory and the matter was kept so hushed up, nobody knew the boy's real date of birth.
What the show does portray realistically is the disgrace Catherine was put through by Henry celebrating the birth of his son. Historically, Bessie's son was the only bastard Henry recognized, purely because it proved he could father a son. And because Wolsey has also made him quite the puppet in his masterplan, with Henry naming him the son's godfather and whatnot, this serves a dual purpose for Henry - he now has both a son and the church by his side.
'The Spanish Princess' Season 2 airs on Sundays at 8pm only on starz.
