I was watching The White Princess quite happily until Henry VII and Elizabeth of York visit the Spanish court. The representation of the court of Ferdinand and Isabel is ludicrous, not to say insulting. I point out:
- The meeting supposedly takes place in the Alhambra Palace in Granada. The treaty of Medina del Campo was developed in 1489, three years before the conquest of Granada in 1492. Medina del Campo is north of Madrid.
- The treaty was negotiated by a diplomatic mission, not by the king and queen themselves.
- They chose the ugliest Spanish actress, Rossy de Palma, to play Queen Isabel. The Queen’s comments aside to Ferdinand were disdainful and her attitude was hardly diplomatic.
- The dance of the Spanish courtiers was indescribable, neither flamenco nor a jota.
- The little girl who played Catherine of Aragon looked like a little gypsy, not a Castilian princess.
- I don’t know who is responsible for this absurdity, whether it is Phillipa Gregory’s or the Director’s but I would like to demand a greater degree of accuracy and rigour. These series should be instructive as well as entertaining and not so misleading.