EP Defends Changing Book's Rape Scene in Premiere: 'No Way We're Putting That on Screen' 

and watched the premiere of Starz’s adaptation of the book on Sunday likely noticed something quite different about Henry and Lizzie’s charged first coupling.

In Gregory’s work, “Henry very actively rapes Lizzie,” executive producer Emma Frost tells TVLine. “That was something that I felt wasn’t the only possible route and wasn’t something that I feel is right for a TV drama, and isn’t something a 21st century female audience is going to be okay with on any level.”

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The premiere of the historical drama — a sequel to the network’s

) as Elizabeth of York, a princess whose marriage to the new King Henry VII (newcomer Jacob Collins-Levy) united England during the Wars of the Roses. History tells us that Elizabeth, known as Lizzie, gave birth eight months after wedding the king, so… do the math.

“To most people’s minds you go, ‘OK, they had sex, it’s unlikely to have been consensual sex because she absolutely hated him and everything he stood for,” Frost explains. “She’s concerned his mother has murdered her brother, so she hates him.”

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Indeed, the series depicted Henry as yanking Lizzie into his bedroom in anger on the occasion of their first true meeting. But the young woman — who, Frost points out, at this point in her life had already had “an intimate, loving relationship” with Richard III — quickly turned the tables, mocking her inexperienced future husband and clearly giving him consent to do whatever he liked with her, because he’s not likely to impress her. Later, a troubled Lizzie confided in her mother that the situation was upsetting, but not a matter of sexual violence.

“The show is about power, and in that scene, Lizzie uses the power that she has to humiliate him,” the EP says. “The way that I see it is that it’s Henry that comes away feeling just as raped as Lizzie does, because he’s acting on his mother’s instructions [to make certain that Lizzie is fertile]… he hasn’t really thought it through. Then Lizzie goes, ‘Are you f—king kidding me? Really?!”

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Plus, a point made very clear in the series’ first hour is very much at work in the scene: Lizzie is, above all, very politically savvy.

to marry him,” Frost points out. “If she doesn’t make this work on her own terms, she might find it’s not on her own terms later on.”

Also of importance, the EP says: For Lizzie and Henry to work as the lead couple in the series, audiences kinda have to

him. And reconciling the book’s rape scene with that dramatic reality gave Frost pause when she was first asked to adapt Gregory’s novel.

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“When you read the novel, it’s something that you go, ‘

OK, there’s a very, very clear rape scene in it, and we have to fall in love with Henry later, and that’s not going to fly,” she says. “And as a responsible TV producer as well, in the world that we’re in, with women’s rights being eroded, there’s no way we’re putting that on screen.”

She adds: “I do think it’s rare to show a female character using her power and her sexuality to fight back, and I think that’s very much what Lizzie does in that scene.”

‘ premiere? Grade the episode via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts.

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Honestly? Good. I’m sick of watching constant rape scenes on period shows like this and the EPs defending them as “historically accurate” or whatever. It’s incredibly off-putting, and after a while, just seems like the show has a rape fetish.

I agree. There seems to be too much rape on shows these days and often graphically shown. Once a show does that, I stop watching. I don’t care how “realistic” something is to history, there’s no reason why certain content can’t be implied. And when it comes to rape, the choice to use it should be used with careful consideration. I don’t see why explicit rape should be used as entertainment. Very offputting.

So we’re not going with history here then – ‘an intimate relationship’ with Richard – give me a f***ing break. Still Gregory is very fond of incest so I guess she would go there.

ICAM Gregory’s works have been proved to take way to many liberties with things that never happened.

I loved the premier of “The White Princess”. I immensely enjoyed The White Queen series as well.

It would not have mattered if she were raped by Henry or not. It’s silly to change the integrity of the book, and it’s ridiculous and false to state women’s rights are currently being eroded. Which rights are you specifically referring to? Politicizing a series that is set in the 1400’s or 1500’s based on ones view of current events is not an agenda I want to see.

There seems to be a inherent contradiction in your statements. On the one hand you talk about loving the episode, and on the other complain about “compromising the integrity of the book”. Which is it?

If you are really going to quote Gregory’s work as historically accurate then you need to do more research on her works. She is a good writer but takes way to many liberties with her work including but not limited to the many problems with The White Princess that have been rebuked by other historians.

I think it being “ridiculous” to state something about women’s modern rights is an opinion. There were also politics in the 1400s and 1500s. But, to answer your question, there are women’s rights that are being eroded. No, no one is taking away our right to vote or anything so specific as that. But, there are current issues of women’s health options being decided by a room full of men. Trump also revoked the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order, which demanded pay transparency and banned forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment related claims. So, no, no one is taking away our constitutional rights. But, if you believe women are on equal footing with men in all areas, then you should do some Googling. Perhaps it’s the word “rights” that is the issue you have. So, fine, my Constitutional rights are still the same. But, there are still a lot of problems facing women today. And, #45 seems to forget that the right to freedom of expression, including freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom to peaceably assemble, is the first amendment. So, right there’s a right that all of us need to stand up for. So, if you believe no women have anything to complain about in today’s world, then perhaps the oppression of freedom of speech is something you can be concerned about.

Yes we get it, Trump is sexist, with not a lot of evidence to support it. I agree with female empowerment and equality, especially since I’m a girl myself, but this show takes place in the 1400s and the feminist movement was irrelevant back then. They shouldn’t put their 21st century empowerment movement in a show that takes place 500 years ago. Yes there were women who were very powerful and smart back then, but they weren’t early feminists or whatever, like they’re portrayed on this show.

I don’t get the insistence on force being a beginning to their marriage, historically. She was well trained in the art of political manipulation. She would have made Henry pay a high price for the privilege. The real queen Elizabeth did not waste that opportunity, believe me.

I do not like Ms. Fairly as Margaret Beaufort; she does not portray the mad faith as well as the actress in The White Queen.

I think Michelle Fairly is ok in this role, but Margaret in the White Queen was almost if not fanatical in her faith and the difference was shocking to me. Perhaps its not the actress’s portrayal but the writers who wrote the change.

Good for them since Gregory’s books take way too many liberties with historically false information. Including but not limited to Lizzie and Richard’s incest which has been rebuked over and over again by experts and this notion that Henry was some sadist rapist. Which again has never been supported, so good for them. If they had gone that route with that garbage I wouldn’t have watched.

I think it’s sad to diminish and glamorise what real people went through at the time. That used to happen and it carries an emotional impact to fully understand the story.

Also creepy that murder, however, is just fine being portrayed.

Their decision to change the rape scene was completely the right decision. In today’s tv climate where tv writers are just throwing in rape to ‘evolve’ their female characters, it’s refreshing to see show runners challenge themselves to be more creative and more aware of viewers issues with that.

I am extremely impressed with the writers for this show. They’ve shown an incredible depth and awareness.

So if they should a guy getting raped on television, which they have many times I’m sure, then it wouldn’t be important as much if it was a female? Who cares if the character is male or female, if they’re raped, they’re raped. It’s unfortunate, but any character can get that treatment.

I didn’t know who Emma Frost was before this, but yaaaaaaaaaaaaas. New queen of smart decisions, right there.

I am actually happy with the change. And, I hope they make a few more. Gregory does take a lot of liberties with history. One point that has bothered me with the entire series is Gregory’s assertion that Elizabeth loved Richard and had a sexual relationship with him, but hated Henry because she believed his mother killed her brothers. And, that Elizabeth Woodville was all for Richard in the end.

While Richard may not have actually killed the boys, he certainly did a few horrible things that should have made both Elizabeths hate him. First of all, he had Elizabeth W’s son and brother arrested and executed (that would be the younger Elizabeth’s older brother and uncle). Then he usurped the throne by having Edward IV and Elizabeth W’s marriage invalidated. Finally, he locked the two boys in the tower, where they were seen less and less. Maybe he didn’t personally kill them, but he sure made it easy for them to be killed. And Henry was no where near the Tower when the two boys disappeared. So why would Elizabeth love Richard and hate Henry?

I think Elizabeth would have married Richard for her family’s preservation, the way she married Henry, but I seriously doubt she was in love with him

Elizabeth may have been fond of him and maybe even had a little crush lol, but they certainly never had an affair. They weren’t even supposed to married in the first place, since Richard was going to marry the Portuguese princess, Joanna and Elizabeth would marry the heir to the throne of Portugal, so there wasn’t any marriage plans for the both of them together. Richard was like many other people, who had to “cruel” things to survive. Some of the things he did were justifiable since the men he killed were probably plotting against him in the first place, which would be committing treason and would result in execution. He didn’t really lock the boys up, especially Edward V, who was supposed to be in the tower for his coronation, until Richard allegedly found out about the pre contract between his brother, Edward lV and Eleanor Talbot. Who knows why Prince Richard was taken to the tower, but they weren’t really locked up.

I don’t like censorship or distorting historical facts or source material. I saw Episode 1 and I’m 1 and done. Being a female doesn’t make me a weak kitten who can’t handle sexual violence on screen if it’s true to the source material.

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