FUN FACTS about the Tudors

Fun Facts about The Tudors (in history, the actors & the series) If you know something FUN ie. amusing, odd, quirky, unusual, different and maybe strange that might make us smile or that we might not know about add it here! click the easyedit button

In history

King Henry VIII - Henry had a fondness for fart Jokes and other less sociable body functions - He built a 2-story, communal public lavatory with 14 seats at Hampton Court.( The mind boggles at 14 people all sitting together doing their "business") - He was a big gambler and in two years it was recorded he lost £3,250 on cards which by today's standards is an enormous amount and he would be a candidate for Gamblers Anonymous ( if he wasn't a king) - Despite having his own mistresses, it was forbidden for a man to appear in public with his mistress. - Henry had a remarkable memory and could remember the names of every servant employed in all the royal households. - It is said, that even though he was a large man, he had a high pitched voice - He loved to dress up in costume, and "was especially fond of bursting in upon Queen Katherine of Aragon and took boyish delight in these disguisings. Katherine seemingly never tired of feigning astonishment that it was her husband who had surprised her." He tried this unsuccessfully later with his 4th wife-to-be, Anne of Cleves who did not have the same reaction as her predecessor and he came out the room declaring : "I like her not!" - Henry liked to mix with the "common people" and at the christening of his first son with Katherine of Aragon, who lived for only a few weeks, he allowed peasants at the celebration to rip his clothes off him, while he just laughed. - He self-medicated and his prescription book shows methods for treating ulcers, some of them apparently devised by Henry himself. He was terrified of catching the plague, spending most summers away from London to avoid it. - In an age, where few people bathed regularly, Henry was ahead of his time as he was fastidious and obsessed with cleaning due to his fear of germs. - By the end of his life, his waistline measured 4 and half feet around and there were mechanical devices made to get him in and out of bed ....and on and off his horse. - Henry was a big spender. His post-mortem inventory listed nearly 20,000 items, including the largest tapestry collection on record, 70 ships and 6,500 handguns. He died in massive debt.

Queen Katherine of Aragon -Katherine had a great fondness for monkeys and had them as pets because they reminded her of her homeland, Spain where they proliferate particularly in Andalusia. -It is a myth that Katherine grew up in the Alhambra Palace in Granada - she spent more time in other cities such as Barcelona and Cordoba. For most of her childhood, she travelled the length and breadth of Spain following the itinerent court of her parents, which must have been good practice for moving from palace to palace with Henry. -Katherine was known to have a low and resounding voice.

Anne Boleyn -Anne owned dogs and it was recorded that she had a Greyhound named Urian and a poodle named Purkoy reportedly named for the French word pourquoi, meaning,"why?" A pourquoi head tilt is a gesture particularly common to Havanese dogs. The little dog fell out a window and was killed a few weeks before Anne's execution and no one wanted to tell her because they knew how much she loved the little dog. -She was known to dislike monkeys and peacocks

Jane Seymour - Jane preferred to be in close proximity to Henry, she did not enjoy when he travelled, in fact, during Jane's pregnancy, the farthest Henry travelled from her was 60 miles. - Jane was extremely talented at needlework. - The bed in which Jane gave birth to Edward VI and later died in remained in Hampton court until the 1580's. -Jane had very strict dress codes for her ladies, once replacing one of her ladies whole wardrobe just because it was in the french fashion.

Actors on The Tudors

Jonathan Rhys Meyers - JRM owns a horse named "Belle" but he doesn't own a car - He has a pet chihuahua called "Boo Boo" - He "hates computers" (only uses it for itunes to download world music, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) <embed allowfullscreen="true" height="120" src="http://widget.wetpaintserv.us/wiki/thetudorswiki/widget/youtubevideo/a10d84bc571f9f70b2526b17834e0f841cecb9cd" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="149" wmode="transparent"/> but "loves television" and his favourite show is Law & Order: SVU ("Mariska Hargitay," he says, placing his hand on his heart, "is my crush.")

Henry Cavill - Has a knack for languages. Speaks nine languages, including Italian, French, Nepalese, and Russian. - If he wasn't an actor he would have joined the Military Forces just like his brothers & father. - Has an interest in Egyptology. He has auditioned for various super hero movies (Superman Returns, Batman Begins) eventually winning the role of Superman, in 'Superman,,' Man of Steel, set for release in 2013. He also stars as Theseus in the 2011 epic movie 'Immortals,' currently in post production. (He also auditioned for Casino Royale but lost to Daniel Craig because Cavill was thought to young for the role.

Maria Doyle Kennedy - Owns her own record label named Mermaid Records.Below is a video of "Mother". Taken from the Mermaid Records Album "MÜTTER" 2007. <embed align="bottom" allowfullscreen="true" height="164" src="http://widget.wetpaintserv.us/wiki/thetudorswiki/widget/youtubevideo/56e557b5555aa9ec12180b459abb71612bb087ce" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="203" wmode="transparent"/> - After learning a bit of Spanish for her role in "The Tudors", she took some more lesson's and moved over there for some time. - Was pregnant for the second series and gave birth to a boy.

Natalie Dormer - Speaks French - Quite skilled at fencing and is a member of the London fencing academy - Mezzo soprano singer & trained dancer - Enjoys playing poker, favorite game is Texas Hold'Em, has the poker nickname "The Queen"

Anita Briem - Has a fascination with combat and weapons. She studied hand to hand combat and trained with all different kinds of swords and weaponry. - Although Jane Seymour avoided the fate of being sent to the Tower, Anita's character in Dr Who almost died there when she nearly walked off the roof whilst being under a hypnotised state. -Earlier this year (2009), Anita appeared in The Airborne Toxic Event’s music video for “Sometime Around Midnight”

Annabelle Wallis - On her resume, her performance skills include modern dancing and athletic skills, hip hop and rollerblading. - She speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish & Armenian. -Annabelle was part of set of women who auditioned for Jane Seymour in the second season of The Tudors, but Anita Briem recieved the role. When Anita dropped out before the third season, Annabelle was called back to play Jane Seymour.

Joss Stone - First CD she bought was Aretha Franklin's Greatest Hits - Is a Vegetarian (from birth) - Joss wanted to play Jane Seymour in The Tudors but her touring schedule was too busy, instead she was cast as Anne of Cleves

Tamzin Merchant - In "Pride and Prejudice" Tamzin played the piano forte herself - Tamzin appeared in the Groove Armada/Mutya Buena Music Video - 'Song 4 Mutya' - Tamzin appears briefly in Jamie T's 'If You Got The Money' Music Video. - Has two poems published for Platforms Magazine: “Ode to a Toilet” and “Where Does Revent Stop?”

Joely Richardson - Has played a queen before in The Affair of the Necklace as Marie Antoinette. - Her ex-husband is Tim Bevan who is one of the producers of the show. - Before she became an Actress, Joely was on her way to becoming a Tennis Star after receiving a scholarship to Harry Hopman Tennis School in Tampa, FL. Her father put a stop to it and Joely followed in her sisters footsteps as an actress. -Joely's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, has played two prominant figures in Tudor history before her: Anne Boleyn in A Man For All Seasons, and Mary of Scotland in Mary, Queen of Scots.

The Tudors series

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham - In the movie Sleepy Hollow, Steven Waddington's character is de-capitated. The model of his head created for that scene was flown in and used again for Buckingham's beheading in Season 1, episode 2 -

Katherine of Aragon - Maria Doyle Kennedy was pregnant during the filming of the second series so they had to use trick lighting, camera angles, good use of costuming and props to conceal the bump.

Anthony Knivert - Callum Blue broke his arm during the filming of the first season so his line's had to go to other characters making him not as prominent as scripted as they did not have casts in Tudor Times!.

Pope Paul III - Michael Hirst wrote another scene for the pope as a bargaining tool to have Peter O'Toole to play him.

Anne of Cleves - In order to be more believable as Anne of Cleves, Joss Stone had to learn how to play the harpischord. - Joss also had to have heavy make-up to cover her nose-peircing and tattoos.

The Many Thomas' of The Tudors. Have ever noticed that there were a lot of men in the court of King Henry VIII who bore the name Thomas?! Here are just a few to name: Thomas Cromwell, Sir Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Cranmer, Thomas Tallis, Thomas Howard, Thomas Wyatt, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More to name a few. The interesting fact is that,Anthony Knivert's first name was really 'Thomas' and was changed for what ever the reason in The Tudors series, quite possibly because of the amount of Thomas' in King Henry's Court!