The Sword and The Rose - Historical Inaccuracies

Historical Inaccuracies

There are many historical inaccuracies in the film. Charles Brandon was actually a childhood friend of King Henry and not a newcomer to court as is depicted in the film; he had already received the title of Viscount from Henry in 1513. Furthermore, the couple's aborted attempt to sail to the New World never happened; indeed, this is much of an anachronism as the earliest serious English attempts at North American colonization would only occur under Queen Elizabeth I, some fifty year later. It was Brandon and not the Duke of Buckingham who escorted Mary back to England after the death of Louis. The Duke's involvement is purely fictitious and his wife Eleanor Percy is eliminated entirely from the story. King Henry is portrayed as a middle aged and corpulent figure, although at the time he was only 23. His wife Catherine of Aragon is also shown as a brunette although she was blonde.