Queen Catherine of Aragon

Catherine is Henry VIII's queen when we meet her, a Spanish princess turned English consort who has borne the weight of court and childbirth alike. She's devout, dignified, and quietly shrewd, aware her marriage is a political inheritance as much as a romance, and determined to hold her place beside a restless king.

Maria Doyle Kennedy plays Catherine with a stillness that reads as strength rather than passivity, letting small shifts in her expression carry decades of political instinct. The writing gives her real intelligence and faith rather than victimhood alone, so her scenes crackle with a queen who understands exactly what's being taken from her, and refuses to pretend otherwise.