The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
“Wealth means nothing at all if you do not know, to the last penny, what your fortune is. You might as well be poor if you do not know what you have.”
The Other Queen is Mary, Queen of Scots. The timeline for this novel of intrigue by Philippa Gregory is from 1568 to 1587, the years that Mary was held in England, and beheaded. Her sojourn begins as a courtesy provided by Queen Elizabeth First. Mary is granted sanctuary in England from Scotland, where she has been defeated by the Protestant Lords, who include John Knox. They are resolute that a Roman Catholic monarch will not sit upon the throne.
Gregory narrates events through the perceptions of three major players: the Earl of Shrewsbury, his wife, Bess, and Mary, Queen of Scots. By using multiple voices, that of Mary herself and both her caretakers, husband and wife, readers gain a peek into the complex nature of the events surrounding this turbulent time in British history.
Mary is portrayed as scheming and calculating. She constantly emphasizes her royalty and infallibility as God’s anointed queen and stresses her desire to be free. She is confident that Elizabeth would never have the audacity to execute her; she who is the queen of Scotland, the queen consort of France, and heir to the English throne. She believes so strongly that she may be in Elizabeth’s place that she feels no remorse in her plotting to dethrone her cousin. She has no hesitations about using her charm and sexuality to influence men to conspire against Elizabeth.
Earl of Shrewsbury, Queen Mary’s guardian, an honorable man true to Elizabeth his monarch, but who nonetheless becomes besotted with the beautiful, wily and youthful Queen Mary. He becomes her gallant, which creates a severe quarrel with his wife, Bess.
Bess’s story is intriguing. She is truly a self-made woman, unusual for those times when women of the nobility were owned by their men and told so in no uncertain terms.
It is easy to get caught up in the intrigues and double-crosses and to care for the characters. The decent George quietly becomes obsessed with the beautiful queen he is forced to hold in imprisonment. Bess hardens her heart as she watches her newlywed husband fall in love with Mary and spends their fortune on the queen’s upkeep. Mary desperately tries to liberate herself from her hardship, all the while keeping up her charming royal presence.
Philippe Gregory takes a different approach to write about an often-told story: the imprisonment of the deposed Mary Queen of Scots by her cousin Elizabeth I of England. Unfortunately for Mary, things did not work out for her. But Philippa’s novel has done a wonderful job of bringing her to life. Not as a helpless twit at the mercy of political machinations, but a young woman entrapped by birth and circumstances to spend most of her life as a prisoner, but never giving up on hope and the desire to free herself and rule her own country.
Anyone interested in history should find this fascinating. Although there are multiple interpretations of the accountability of Mary and all those involved with the many plots to restore her to the Scottish throne Gregory’s story is as plausible as any and more fascinating than most.
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