“Your Majesty is the only prince. The mirror and the light of other kings.”
Henry repeats the phrase as if cherishing it: the mirror and the light. (Excerpt from The Mirror and The Light)
UPDATE October 30, 2024: The long wait is over, well almost… Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light is coming to BBC at on November 10, 2024 and PBS on March 23, 2025. The episodes will drop weekly.
“Henry VIII is a monster, but he’s our monster. No other nation has a king who had six wives and cut the heads off two. We’re perversely proud of Henry.” – Hilary Mantel
source: BBC
Welcome to year 1535! In the most delightful deleted scene in Wolf Hall, King Henry declares his age to the women in Thomas Cromwell’s household: “45 in June…”
Well, Henry is 533 years old today and popular as ever — to quote Damian Lewis:
“Henry, as a brand, is right up there with Coca Cola!”
I don’t think anyone can deny the recent contributions of Hilary Mantel’s brilliant work Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies — the books, the play and the TV drama to Henry’s as well as Tudors’ popularity in general! And BBC has completed filming of Mantel’s final installment in Thomas Cromwell series The Mirror and The Light with Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis resuming their roles. We’re looking forward to having the limited series on our screens later this year or early next year.
And now, in celebration of King Henry’s birthday, it is my utmost pleasure to take you back to the most memorable Henry moments in Wolf Hall TV Drama.
Damianista’s note: We published this post by Holliedazzle on May 3, 2016 just after Wolf Hall aired on PBS Masterpiece. And we’re sharing it again more than seven years later to celebrate the return of the king to film the sequel to Wolf Hall adapted from Hilary Mantel’s final volume of the Cromwell Trilogy The Mirror and The Light.
I’ll admit to not being the most educated person. I spent most of high school just trying to pass the time and get out with a diploma. I wasn’t a bad student, but when you decide on beauty school in your sophomore year, suddenly AP History and three hours a night of homework seem kind of like a waste of time. And I certainly didn’t spend my two study halls a day reading up on history, math or science. Now, as an adult, I am revisiting these subjects with a newly-found appreciation. I am learning things as a 36 year old woman that most people learn in high school. The history of The Tudors has been my newest interest, and I have Wolf Hall to thank for opening me up to something new. Continue reading “Damian Lewis Created a Monster”
“Henry VIII is a monster, but he’s our monster. No other nation has a king who had six wives and cut the heads off two. We’re perversely proud of Henry.” – Hilary Mantel
I left the following wish on the Fan Fun 8th anniversary post last January:
“BBC confirmed that they would adapt The Mirror and The Light, the final volume in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, for TV as early as in May 2019. The Guardianreported that the BBC adaptation will see director Peter Kosminsky and screenwriter Peter Straughan resuming their partnership from 2015. Mark Rylance has announced in March 2022 that he was to reprise his role as Thomas Cromwell and that he hoped for a 2023 date to start the production. And we are hoping to hear that Damian will resume his role as Henry VIII. Hilary Mantel’s untimely death in 2022 left me heartbroken since she is my favorite author and it sucks to know that I will not be able to look forward to her new book. But I returned to The Mirror and The Light and read it in her memory. It is the perfect ending to Mantel’s fantastic trilogy.”
And, finally, in an interview with Natalie Boare of ITV News ahead of his Brighton gig late September, Damian shared the news that he would start filming The Mirror and The Light soon! See the interview in its entirety here and repeat after me: LONG LIVE THE KING! Continue reading “TOP Damian Lewis Moments 2023: The Return of King Henry VIII”
