Philippa Gregory’s bestselling book The White Princess will be made into an eight episode limited series on Starz. Gregory’s The White Queen aired on Starz in 2013 and, according to the network, was the first original series to pull in more women than male viewers on Starz. The period drama averaged 4.8 million viewers and earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.
Writer Emma Frost (The White Queen, The Man in the High Castle) is back as showrunner and executive producer, with Gregory, Colin Callender, and Michele Buck also on board as executive producers. The series is currently in the pre-production stage and Starz is eyeing a 2017 premiere.
“The White Queen was a phenomenal performer at Starz, averaging 4.8 million multiplatform viewers per episode in the United States,” said Carmi Zlotnik, Managing Director for Starz. “There is a dearth of programming that tells women’s stories and The White Queen was embraced with great success by audiences worldwide. The passionate fanbase for Philippa Gregory’s historical novels are undeniable and we are confident The White Princess will become the next must-see fandom drama series.”
The White Princess Plot:
The year is 1485 and Henry Tudor is king, having snatched the crown from Richard III in a surprise victory at the Battle of Bosworth. Elizabeth of York, “The White Princess,” is faced with marrying Henry, the man who has just killed her lover. While Elizabeth’s mother Dowager Queen Elizabeth “The White Queen” encourages her to marry to preserve the York claim of title and ensure her family’s safety, Henry’s mother Margaret Beaufort detests the idea, but knows it is the only way for her son to stay on the throne and unify a country divided by war.
In the court of Burgundy, the Duchess rules over a new enemy stronghold for disenfranchised Yorkists and all of Henry Tudor’s enemies. It is from here that a Pretender is mustering an army. He claims to be brother to the Queen, and the true heir to the throne. But is he the missing prince from the tower sent by his mother, the White Queen? Or a counterfeit prince – a low-born enemy to Henry Tudor and his York princess wife?
Princess Elizabeth must choose between Tudor wife and York princess – between her new husband and baby son, and the boy who claims to be her beloved lost brother. Has the rose of York come home at last and at what cost to her?
The White Princess tells the story of one of the most fascinating periods of British history, spanning the winter court of Henry Tudor – uniquely from the women’s point of view. The most ruthless players in history will stop at nothing to support their own causes and those of the ones they love.
