Philippa Gregory

Historical Background : The Constant Princess (Pt. 2)

You mention in the Author’s Note that you took a trip to Granada, Spain, to research aspects of Katherine’s background and homeland. What can you tell us about this trip? What was your most memorable experience? In what ways did having this first-hand knowledge bring color to the novel?

I went to Ludlow Castle as well! Perhaps less glamorous than the Alhambra Palace but both of them gave me a powerful idea of what it would have been like to have lived there at the time. As a novelist I have to have a real sense of the place as it was, and there is nothing better than going there in person.

I can’t pick out one memorable experience over another, the beauty of the building and the gardens was quite overwhelming, but I was also delighted to go to the cathedral in Granada and see a statue of Isabella. I was very moved by the realistic image of her, and I wanted to give a fair portrait of her and her daughter.

Prior to The Constant Princess, you wrote about Katherine’s daughter, Mary I, in The Queen’s Fool. What similarities did you find between mother and daughter?

I think there is a powerful tradition of courage and spirituality and duty (also blinkered stubbornness) which goes through three generations of women from Isabella to Katherine to Mary. I think Mary’s good and bad characteristics come from her mother. The powerful sense of duty, the sense of kinship with God, that dangerous sense of being guided and samctioned by God, and a genuine love of Englanad both people and countryside.

Several of your books have centered on members of the Tudor family. What is it about this particular royal line that you find so intriguing?

It is an extreme time in terms of danger and opportunity and it gives rise to extreme and extraordinary people. The women especially have to be heroic to survive the dangers which are part of their lives. I love the energy of the Tudors and their ambition, and I love the fact that they are building the world that we inherit. It all starts here.

In addition to Katherine of Aragon, The Constant Princess also gives readers some insight into the character of Henry VIII. He was raised as a second son, pampered, and never expected to take the throne. Does this account for some of his self-indulgent behavior, including his decision to divorce Katherine in favor of Anne Boleyn?

Absolutely, I try to give the impression that Henry throughout his life is really a spoiled boy without the sense of duty that was instilled in Arthur. He has enormous talents and enormous energy and if Katherine had borne him a son and they had remained married I think he would have been a truly great king, guided by her. But in the event his life encouraged some of the worst aspects of his character which come to fruition in my next novel which tells of his treatment of Anne of Cleeves and Katherine Howard.

In your opinion, what was the greatest impact that Katherine had on the future and politics of England?

The defeat of the Scots at Flodden gave England a desperately needed peace, and a chance to redefine England’s borders. In some ways it is her failure that moulded England, If she had given birth to a son I am certain that England would have remained Catholic, probably Papist.

Similarly, the infertility of her daughter meant that the Protestant Queen Elizabeth inherited and the country became and remained Protestant. In the long terms she failed to keep England Catholic and the enormous changes of the Reformation took place despite her.

In one instance in the novel, Katherine says in reference to her mother, Isabella, “My story won’t be like hers, of course. I have been born to less exciting times.” Although she might not have led armies into battle, in what ways was Katherine’s life as dramatic as that of her mother?

Isabella’s life was like something out of a fairystory, I could not resist giving glimpses of it in the novel as Katherine tells her family history to Arthur; but really Isabella’s life was played out with full power on a huge stage. Katherine is right, she is born to less exciting times but her regency of England was dramatic and successful and she was the first Queen militant that England had ever seen.

Her courage was reflected in her daughter who also commanded her own army, and we see it again in Elizabeth and the famous speech to the troops at Tilbury. I don’t think Elizabeth could have been the Queen she was without those two predecessors. In personal terms, with two marriages to two Princes of Wales, almost all the power of ruling the Kingdom, and a great place on the stage of Europe, Katherine’s life was very dramatic.

Go Back to Historical Background Pt. 1 Page.