Long live King Richard!

So, The White Queen has come to an end with the death of King Richard III.

If you've read my review of episode 1, you know that I enjoyed the beginning of the seriesvery much and that I was looking forward to the rest of it. And I was especially looking forward to seeing Richard of Gloucester become Richard III, seeing him grow from a boy into a king. And although I feel the story of Richard's reign was rushed and important details forgotten or only touched upon, I was impressed by Aneurin Barnard. His portrayal of King Richard was spot on: silent, innocent, introverted, stoic, stylish and strong. Conflicted in the right place, emotional at the right time. Truly a performance fit for a king. I hope Aneurin Barnard is extremely proud of this role and I wish him all the best for the rest of his career. He can come back to play 'our Richard' anytime! ;-)

It's almost freaky how, thanks to the discovery of King Richard's remains in Leicester and the research done by the team at Leicester University, we now know exactly how accurate his portrayal was, even though Aneurin did not know that at the time when he was filming The White Queen. He was spooked by it, and so was I! Richard III's final scene was gripping...I definitely felt a chill down my spine...

Aneurin Barnard - remember that name!

But let me take you back to the main subject of this blog: have you noticed how similar Aneurin Barnard and Richard Armitage are? Yes, there's a bit of an age difference, but forget about that for a moment. No wonder I would love for Richard to get a chance to play King Richard as well... Actually, I can't believe nobody has come up with some Alternate Universe story yet in which Richard III miraculously survives Bosworth and lives on!

Let's take a look at these two Richards...

They both look good in black...

Aneurin Barnard as King Richard III

Richard Armitage as Sir Guy of Gisborne

And they both look good in candle light... They have both mastered the look of a brooding, conflicted royal prince...

 

 

And they both have that majestic style: dark hair, pale skintone, a royal grace... and piercing blue eyes!


Someone should write a great script and put them in a film together. Now there's something I would pay money to watch!!

Did you watch The White Queen? Or maybe you're watching it in the USA where it has only just started? What do you think?

FanstRA4 - The Stolen Crown

Now that production for The Hobbit is almost completely at the end, over the next two years or so, Richard Armitage will have some time between movie premiers and appearances to figure out what he wants to do next. He has mentioned that these films and especially this character is one of the best things he will ever do in his career and, while I don’t disagree with that, I personally hope that he will also go back to his project of bringing the life of King Richard III of England to the big screen.

With the recent discovery of Richard III’s remains under a car park in Leicester and the involvement of screen writer Philippa Langley, this seems to be very much a case of “now or never”.  Ms. Langley has even been reported as saying that she can simply not look past Richard Armitage for the portrayal of ‘her’ Richard III, meaning the character of Richard III that she has created in a screenplay. For the moment, Richard is keeping his mouth securely shut when it comes to this screenplay. Yes, he has acknowledged that he has read it and that he’s very much interested in Richard III and in telling the ‘true’ story of the King. He has even said that he would love to play Richard III, but at the same time, he’s always very quick to add: “but I’m probably a bit too tall and a bit too old to play him.”

Facial reconstruction of Richard III, based on the remains found in Leicester

Ever since Richard announced his interest in this project and he revealed his personal dedication and affiliation to the medieval king, the fans have been rallying support, hoping that he would one day be able to make this dream a reality. Have you signed the petition yet?

Of course, in order to be able to support a project, you need to learn more about it and about its subject. I have taken a specific interest in Richard III, and especially in his wife and queen, Anne Neville. I even turned to her when it came to naming this blog, and I try to learn more about Richard and Anne by reading both fiction and non-fiction about them.

I recently read The Stolen Crown, a historicalfiction novel by Susan Higginbotham. The novel tells the story of Richard III from a completely different angle. It takes the point of view of Henry (Harry) Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham and his Duchess, Katherine Woodville. That last name should definitely ring a bell to anyone who has investigated this period. Katherine was the youngest sister of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to Edward IV, Richard’s older brother, and mother of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, the ‘princes in the Tower’ and of queen Elizabeth, wife of Henry Tudor, or Henry VII who took the crown of England by defeating Richard III in the battle of Bosworth.

 

As was often the case in those days, Kate and Harry were matched by their families and married at a very young age. Kate was only 7 years old when she became a married woman and the novel describes very well how she and Harry don’t particularly like each other at first, but they grow to care for one another over the years. So much so that when the time comes for them to consummate their marriage when Kate is sixteen, she is very eager to please her husband and he, in return, would love only her from that day on, which is quite remarkable for a time when husbands of noble birth were almost expected to have mistresses and illegitimate children.

Susan Higginbotham shows us the very strong and slightly obsessive friendship between Harry and Richard of York, Duke of Gloucester who will later become King Richard III. Harry’s relationship with King Edward IV is rather difficult and he is not given the honours at court that even much lesser nobles are receiving because of his family’s previous Lancastrian affiliations. Harry focuses on his friendship and love for Richard and ultimately allows him to manipulate him into doing his bidding when it comes to taking the crown of England instead of pledging allegiance to Edward V. Looking back on the story, it seems as if Richard has been manipulating Harry all along, comforting him in difficult times, getting him into king Edward IV’s favour, taking him out drinking and becoming his ‘blood brother’ in a drunken show of appreciation and undying love. And Harry falls for it. He loves Richard unconditionally and would die for him if necessary. He never questions any of the stories Richard feeds him about a previous promise of marriage between Edward IV and Eleanor Butler which would make his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville (Harry’s sister-in-law) invalid and their children bastards, making Edward V’s claims to the throne illegitimate. When Jacquetta, Katherine and Elizabeth’s mother, is accused of witchcraft, when Richard’s brother George is executed for treason and when Kate’s family is persecuted, Harry remains loyal to the monster that is Richard.

The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower, 1483 by Sir John Everett Millais, 1878,
part of the Royal Holloway picture collection

So did Richard really go as far as to kill his nephews, the princes in the Tower? From this story, you would not be surprised if he did because it’s exactly the kind of thing this manipulative, egotistical, power hungry Richard would do.

This is a fictional story. Yes, it is based on certain historical facts, but so many of the details are uncertain or completely unknown that many fiction writers have been able to interpret them in many different ways. All of these stories definitely provide food for thought. I would gladly believe that Richard III was a good man after all, but the many different theories provide for great stories and probably the necessary perspective and background to make the characters more than one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs of themselves. In that respect, this was a great story and I enjoyed it very much!

 

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RIII: The King in the car park

"Researchers from the University of Leicester confirm that a skeleton found under a car park is that of King Richard III following extensive testing.

A series of papers presented at a news conference on Monday, 4 February detailed the highly-anticipated results of tests carried out on a skeleton thought to belong to Richard III, who died in battle more than 500 years ago.

Richard Buckley, dig project leader, said: "It is the academic conclusion that beyond reasonable doubt, the individual exhumed at Grey Friars in September 2011 is King Richard III - the last Plantagenet king of England."

I still can't believe it's actually him. What an extraordinary find!

For those of you who, like myself, are not in the UK and therefore did not have a chance to watch the Channel 4 documentary about the search for Richard III, here it is.

A big 'Thank you!' to LilyElizabeta for making it available on YouTube.

Richard III: The King In The Car Park - Broadcast on UK Channel 4 on Tuesday, 5 February 2013.