The Tudors

His Majesty, The King

Season 1, Episode 4, Aired 4/22/07

Episode Summary

As a reward for his denunciation of Martin Luther, the Pope christens Henry "Defender of the Faith," but a brush with death causes the king to seek a solution to his lack of an heir. Princess Margaret marries the decrepit King of Portugal reluctantly, but the union is short-lived; Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn intensifies when Anne goes home to her family estate.moreless

8.9

EPISODE RATING: Great

186 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate It

Watch Online

Episode Clips

See All

go

TV.com

Free

Showtime

Free

My Sport
go

TV.com

Free

Showtime

Free

Injured King

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

James Frain

Thomas Cromwell
Sam Neill

Cardinal Wolsey
Jonathan Rhys Meyers

King Henry VIII

Fan Episode Reviews (10)

See All

His Majesty, The King

8.5

"Great"

By TrueTvWatcher, Feb 22, 2011 Report Abuse

His Majesty, The King was a superb episode of The Tudors. I really enjoyed watching this episode as the plot lines grew more complex and the characters really moved the scenes. I enjoy all the complexities of the stories and characters. This episode was very entertaining and gives viewers a look into what life may have been like at times for these people. It was interesting to see the Royal Court in Lisbon, Portugal. I thought Princess Margaret was excellent and did the only thing she could. Henry had a couple near death experiences making him think of the future. This episode is the begining of the major changes he goes through. I look forward to watching the next episode of The Tudors!!!!!moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
0 0
Facts for sex.

4.5

"Poor"

By mexilhona90, Oct 29, 2010 Report Abuse

"The Tudors" isn't known for its History accuracy, but this particular episode is revolting. The way they played with reality just so Princess Margaret could make her contribution to the long list of sex scenes on this show is a very poor notion.
According to the story line time, the King of Portugal was Manuel I, who died at the age of 52, so he wasn't nearly as old as he was portrayed in this episode. Plus, he was the King that started the Portuguese Discoveries, so it was kind of offensive to watch him as an old man who just wants to have sex with a younger woman. The way they portrayed Portuguese people was also particularly offensive. The murder scene was another inaccuracy: Manuel I died of natural causes.
It's really a shame that this series has to invert History in this way. This episode had everything to be great, from acting to the sets. I didn't hate it, I just don't think there was any need of diminishing the image of Portugal to get a "better" story line.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
4 0
The plot thickens...

8.1

"Great"

By Ting13, May 11, 2008 Report Abuse

Conspiracies and conspiracy theories are all over the place... What irks me a bit is that I'm not sure whether Wolsey is a bad guy or a good guy. I don't really care either way, but it feels like the show hasn't decided yet and that makes the whole thing a bit confusing. They should also explain further how Henry could break his treaty with the French with apparently no reprocussions (sp?). What exactly was the point of the storyline with the French treaty if it's just tossed aside in the next couple of episodes? Though maybe this will be dealt with more in later episodes.

I don't know how much accuracy there is to Henry's "near death" experience, but it worked quite good as a tool to move the story forward and to get him to finally decide to divorce Catherine. I have to voice a complaint about the show here though, and that is that Jonathan Rhys Meyers is far too young to plan Henry VIII at this stage of his life. Henry looks like he's in his early 20ies while Catherine looks like she's in her mid 40ies. They do not look like they could have been married for 15-or-so years. I have no problems with Rhys Meyers' acting per se, but they should have cast someone who at least looked like he was in his mid 30ies.

Anyway, they are handling the storyline with Anne Boleyn rather well. The poor actress doesn't get to do much other than to walk around and look at things (mostly the king) but they are doing a nice job of portraying one of the perhaps largest reasons why she managed to become more than just another mistress to him.

As a fan of "24" I was happy to see an actor from that show appear. James Frain was really good as Paul Raines and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him on "The Tudors".

I have to say though that my favorite part of the show at this point is the subplot with Princess Margaret and Charles Brandon. I know nothing of the actual life of Princess Margaret (only that since Princess Mary isn't on the show the character appears to be a combination of the two actual women) but it's not too hard to see where this is going. The actors have chemistry and did a good job in their scenes together. I'm looking forward to how this plot evolves. While it's interesting to follow the famous stories of Henry and his many wives, the character of Henry is so high on himself that the love stories are less interesting. There seems to be a lot more potential in the storyline with Margaret and Charles.

However I didn't like how they handled the parts with the Portugese king. The wedding night scene cracked me up, but other than that it wasn't that well handled. Regardless of how terrifying it must have been to be married off to an old man in a foreign country, that was always a risk if you were a princess, and Margaret must have been aware of that. Her behaviour when she arrived and when she got married was... "unprofessional". And I didn't like that she became a murderer towards the end of the episode.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
2 0
The story of Henry VIII.

10

"Perfect"

By Angel200489, Oct 03, 2007 Report Abuse

As a reward for his denunciation of Martin Luther in his book, the Defence of the Seven Sacraments, the Pope christens Henry "Fidei Defensor" - "Defender of the Faith", but a brush with death, while playing sport, causes the King to seek a solution to his lack of an heir. Henry seeks Cardinal Wosley to get him a divorce from Queen Katherine. Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn intensifies. Charles Brandon falls in love with Princess Margaret when he escorts her to the Portuguese Court, in order for her to marry the decrepit King of Portugal. However, the union does not last long.moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
0 0
Historical Accuracy????

4.7

"Poor"

By happyfantom, Jun 18, 2007 Report Abuse

I have a Simple doubt.... I've been checking History trying to know wich Portuguese King has Princess Margaret married to. The Portuguese tradition was to make alliances with the Spanish Kingdoms by marrying their kings with Spanish Princess es. Searching all the Kings, from that time, only one has married with an English Lady: Philippa of Lancaster, and that was in the 14th century before King Henry and Princess Margaret were ever born. Portugal only had one Queen named Margaret and she was Austrian. So... where does this marriage come from? Didn't Henry VIII ruled England in the 16th Century. If it isn't Philippa or Margaret the Austrian who are portraid in this episode who is she? Who is that misterious Portuguese King?moreless

DO YOU AGREE?
2 0

Write a Review

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

Trivia
ADD TRIVIA
- Goof: The landscape scene depicting Lisbon actually depicts the University of Coimbra, with is some 15k km to the north. Edit
- The King of Portugal in power at the time of this episode was Manuel I. Like most Portuguese kings, he died of natural causes at the age of 52. Edit
- In fact Princess Margaret married James IV, King of Scots, not the king of Portugal. Her sister, Mary, married a much older man, 52 year old King Louis XII of France, when she was just 18 years old. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- This episode is rated TV-MA for violence and adult content. Edit
- Original International Air Dates: Germany: June 14, 2008 on ProSieben Greece: June 24, 2008 on Mega Switzerland: December 30, 2009 on SF1 Slovakia: January 21, 2011 on Doma Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- King Henry: You almost lost an eye. Anthony Knivert: Never use that one much anyway. Edit
- Charles Brandon: Your highness must be looking forward with great anticipation to your wedding? I hear the king was a great horseman... in his time. And famous for his beautiful mistresses. Princess Margaret: Don't tease me. I don't like it. Charles Brandon: Will you like it when an old man tries to make love to you? Princess Margaret: Your grace goes too far. Already. Charles Brandon: Gospel says the truth will make you free. Princess Margaret: Now you are blasphemous! Edit
- Thomas Boleyn (to Norfolk): There will come a point when the King's belief in his minister will hang in the balance and then, Your Grace, we shall drop our truth into the scales... and the scales will fall. Edit
Allusions
- Help by adding allusions to this episode. Add allusions