The Nine Days Queen

Bjorn gave me Lady Jane for my birthday and of course, I watched it pretty much immediately. I've been meaning to review it since then.

I admit to being biased, having read the novelization of the film years ago, but have never seen the film. The movie stars Cary Elwes and Helena Bonham Carter. Also, an added bonus, Patrick Stewart as Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk; the movie was released in 1986, so it was pre-Captain Picard days, but not by much. The film is after Lady Jane Grey, also known as the Nine Days Queen, having reigned under duress in 1553 after the death of Edward VI.

I thought the casting of Helena Bonham Carter (henceforth referred to as HBC) was excellent, simply because she came across as mousy, tiny and quiet in the film and Lady Jane Grey was certainly that. Cary Elwes, on the other hand, was distracting to me. Not just because he's cute, but because I expected every other word out of his mouth to be along the lines of "As you wish." Poor CE; he's hopelessly typecast -- I couldn't even take him seriously during his guest appearances on the "X-Files" in season 9.

But back to the film. As far as historical accuracy, the film hits all of the right notes in the little details. For instances, many of the famous little incidents of Jane's life were accurately reproduced. For instance, the incident where Mary Tudor's lady-in-waiting courtsies in front of the chapel is an authentic anecdote, as is a scene where Jane's parents are hunting and she is staying indoors to study. Lady Jane Grey was a marvelous student, extremely erudite, and probably on par with her royal cousins, Edward VI, and Elizabeth Tudor, if not surpassing both in intelligence. But once again, I digress.

CE played Guildford Dudley, Jane's hapless husband. In the film he's portrayed as a drunkard and a womanizer -- at least until he's forced to marry Jane under a scheme by his father. In RL, I imagine Dudley was nothing more or less than a mama's boy. The dislike Jane and Guildford took to each other is indeed historically accurate. They despised each other from day one.

Guildford's father was the Duke of Northumberland, Protector of the Realm while the King was in his minority. Seeing as Edward was about to die, Norfolk was afraid of not only losing his power, but also that Mary Tudor, the heiress, would restore England to Rome, thus stifling the Protestant religion. Northumberland planned to disinherit Mary and also the younger sister, Elizabeth, and instead have Edward pass the crown on to his Protestant cousin, Jane Grey (granddaughter of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII). By marrying Jane to his youngest son, Northumberland would be assured of remaining in power. The insurrection against Mary Tudor failed, and eventually Northumberland was executed. Mary Tudor, however, kept Guildford and Jane prisoner in the Tower until February of 1554, when they were both executed (Jane in the privacy of Tower Green, Guildford on Tower Hill). Reluctant as Mary had been to allow the execution, the pressure from Spain (she wished to marry her cousin, Phillip) finally forced Mary's hand, as well as an insurrection which had taken place during the previous fall.

These basic facts remain true in the movie, including the sad scene of Jane's execution where, blindfolded, she is unable to find the block, until a priest helps her lay her head down. However, the movie diverges there by playing up a romance between Guildford and Jane which most surely did not exist; Jane most probably found Guildford to be whiny, indulgent and annoying. In her few days as queen, she stood up to Northumberland and denied Guildford the right to be crowned king. Nor did Jane see Guildford before his execution, though she did watch from her prison window.

Also, unlike the movie which shows Jane and Guildford in a dank prison in the Tower, this was most assuredly not true. Mary Tudor had some respect and affection for her young cousin and had no wish to execute her. Jane lived in a house on the Tower Green and had several servants waiting on her, as well as a handsome allowance. It was actually a very comfortable existence for Jane, and no doubt, she could have continued on in this way, if not for her father's meddling (for whom her mother begged for mercy, but apparently, did not intercede on Jane's behalf).

The movie also shows Jane and Guildford working together to come up with a real schilling, among other things. In other words, Jane wanted to do some good. I have no doubt that this indeed true, but whether any real legislation was passed during her reign is very doubtful; most of it was spent holed up in the Tower wondering whether Mary Tudor could be captured or not. Most certainly, a 'real' schilling was never cast by order of Jane the Quene; there simply wasn't time or place for that. The movie also gave Jane much more power than she truly had; in essence, despite her denial of the crown to Guildford, she was very much Northumberland's puppet and probably did not spend much time at all with the lords of her council.

The movie did downplay Jane's religious fanaticism (in general, the movie avoid Jane's piety and air of self-righteousness; anecdotes of Jane reveal an intelligent, thoughtful young woman, but probably one who was insufferable to be around as well). Both Edward VI and Jane Grey were as zealous Protestants as Mary Tudor was Catholic. Just as Mary's aim was to restore England to Rome, both Edward and Jane were determined to see their faith succeed as well; in that sense, these three people were very much alike and rigid in their beliefs. Of the four Tudor rulers to follow Henry VIII, only Elizabeth was moderate in her beliefs. So for this aspect of Jane's character to be omitted and softened does not quite ring true for me.

Finally, one little nitpick: Mary Tudor's coif was inaccurate for the time period. Coifs of that time period were not pointed, but rather rounded and close to the head with a veil flowing from the back. A hat might be worn on occasion, but the wimple-style Mary wore in the movie is probably more in line with that of her great grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, than the going style of the 1550s.

All in all, it's a good movie with some good performances, and, if you can forget the nonsense about the schilling and realize the romance between Guildford and Jane is bogus, then consider it two hours well spent. It is no more inaccurate than most historical films and in this case, I can forgive them, for the true story of Jane and Guildford is hardly romantic, nor was Jane herself a particularly likeable individual either. So I can give the film that allowance and say that if you do have a interest in the Tudor era, this is another movie to add to the list of "must watch" films.

****

And, I just have to squee on a totally related note, but there's apparently a television movie on Henry VIII in the UK that I never knew about? See here.