The new Starz series Becoming Elizabeth follows the young Elizabeth Tudor after the death of her father, the notorious King Henry VIII of England. The historical drama, created by Anya Reiss, depicts the then-future queen of England as she navigates the treacherous waters of the English court. Like many period pieces, Becoming Elizabeth has its dramatized historical inaccuracies, but the show must be praised for its mostly true-to-life depictions of the most important characters of the English Court. Here’s every main character and how they’re portrayed compared to the real-life historical figures.

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Elizabeth Tudor

     Starz

Elizabeth Tudor (Alicia von Rittberg) was the second child of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry and his reason for converting the country to Protestantism. After her mother was beheaded, Elizabeth was disinherited and carried the stain of her mother’s apparent adultery for most of her life, which the series subtly shows.

The series depicts Elizabeth as she is typically portrayed, with porcelain skin and red hair, which was typical of the Tudor dynasty. Although many great actresses have played Queen Elizabeth I, Alicia von Rittberg does an excellent job of portraying the queen in her angsty teen years and the series gives us a pretty spot-on version of the young queen-to-be.

Mary Tudor

Mary Tudor (played by Romola Garai) was the first child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon (modern-day Spain). Mary was a devout Catholic like her mother and spent most of her life and reign trying to convert England back to Catholicism. Throughout her half-brother’s reign, she openly practiced her religion in the Protestant court and entertained the idea of fleeing to Spain, which the series heavily focuses on.

Although the show makes it feel like Mary was at court a lot, in reality, she was very rarely there and choose to stay at her residence. Becoming Elizabeth nails Mary’s fair complexion and red hair, which many films and series do not and depicts her as a loving sister, which is up for debate.

Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr (Jessica Raine) was Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife as he died only a few years after they were married. From all reports, they had a decent relationship, as opposed to how the show depicts it, and apparently, Catherine was a massive influence on the King to reconcile with his daughters, which led to both Mary and Elizabeth being reinstated in the line of succession.

After the King’s death, Catherine took in Elizabeth and married Thomas Seymour in secret, just as the show depicts. Although Becoming Elizabeth depicts Catherine’s actions fairly well, it is hard to tell if they capture her persona in the same light. But what the show does display is Catherine’s intelligence and might in a world dictated by men.

Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour (Knightfall’s Tom Cullen) was the uncle of King Edward VI and the younger brother of the Lord Protector Edward Seymour. After the King’s death, Thomas married Henry’s widow and moved into Chelsea Manor with Catherine and Elizabeth, where he engaged in odd behavior like entering the 14-year-old Elizabeth’s bedroom in only his nightgown and cutting her dress off her (which completely seems written for the series but actually happened to the teen). It is shocking how accurately Becoming Elizabeth captures Thomas’s antics and his desperate plight for power.

Jane Grey

Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey joined Becoming Elizabeth as Lady Jane Grey. Jane was the niece of Henry VIII by his younger sister Mary and held a legitimate claim to the throne. She moved into Chelsea Manor shortly after Thomas Seymour married Catherine Parr, and she was the center of Thomas Seymour’s plot to marry Jane to her cousin, Edward VI. It is hard to tell if Becoming Elizabeth accurately portrays Jane as she truly was a pawn to everyone around her, but the show does present Jane as the kind girl who fell victim to others’ plots.

King Edward VI

King Edward VI (Oliver Zetterström) was the youngest and only son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. As the only male child, he superseded his sisters as Henry VIII’s heir and was crowned King of England and Ireland at only nine years old. As a young king, his reign was massively dictated by his council, which saw massive inner fighting as they all battled for control. The show accurately depicts this chaos and also Edward as a boy who has no idea how to rule. Zetterström plays a great young British royal trying to figure out how to rule.

Edward Seymour

Edward Seymour (John Heffernan) was the uncle of Edward VI and the Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549. Edward Seymour’s tenure was filled with a war with Scotland, which the show briefly touches on, and complete mismanagement of not only the council but the country. Edward also spent most of the time battling his brother, Thomas, for power over the young king. Becoming Elizabeth focuses mostly on Edward’s struggle to keep control of the council and makes it feel like all he wanted was to be in power. But what the show misses about Edward Seymour was that he was ill-prepared for the role which was what truly lead to his downfall.

Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley (Jamie Parker) was a close friend and suitor of Elizabeth for most of her life. He was also a part of Edward VI’s court, especially after his father, John Dudley, assumed the role of Lord Protector. The first season of Becoming Elizabeth has given the impression that Robert will be the main love interest throughout the series. However, there is no known evidence of any romantic relationship between Robert and Elizabeth, but it is apparent from their writings that they were very fond of each other throughout their lives. So it is no surprise Becoming Elizabeth decided to put this relationship in the show.

With the first season of Becoming Elizabeth only showing the first few years of her brother’s reign, it will be interesting to see where the show goes and if their accuracy continues. There is hope that the series will follow Elizabeth through the bloody reign of her sister, Mary, up to Elizabeth becoming queen herself. Only time will tell as the series has yet to be picked up for another season. Becoming Elizabeth is already one of the best scripted series of 2022, and is currently available on Starz.