'Mary & George' Chronicles the Rumored Murder Plot of King James I of England

Power. Scandals. Death plots. ‘Mary & George’ takes us into the depths of George Villiers’ intimate relationship with King James.

Apr. 12 2024, Published 11:10 a.m. ET

Spoiler alert: This article would possibly contain spoilers for Mary & George.

We’ve all heard about scandal and corruption within the Royal Family, but there’s so a lot more beyond King Henry VIII’s six wives. Centuries later, at first of the Stuarts’ royal bloodline, King James VI of Scotland and I of England (we’ll simply discuss with him as James), impressed rumors of homosexual affairs due to his penchant for younger and good-looking males.

Starz’s newest collection, Mary & George, chronicles King James’s influential courting with George Villiers, a seemingly powerless guy who amassed some sway in the royal court of the seventeenth century. George’s mom, Mary, introduced her son from anonymity to a leadership position thanks to her plotting and scheming. And one rumored scheme is that George in reality killed King James, but is that true?

George Villiers possibly did not kill King James, but there’s no solution to know for sure.

The dating between George and James happened virtually 500 years ago. At this point, all we will be able to pass on are the anecdotes and data already shared, which can be what impressed Benjamin Woolley’s e-book, The King’s Assassin: The Fatal Affair of George Villiers and James I. The guide is the source material for Mary & George and revolves round George and James’s relationship ahead of George allegedly poisoned James.

In the 342-page book, Benjamin chronicles how George fell into James’s want. Mary’s husband had just passed away, and she or he and her son have been ready to lose all in their monetary belongings. So, she hatched a plan to get her son into the king’s good graces and self belief. Knowing that King James I surrounded himself with young and good-looking males, she introduced her son, George, to the courtroom.

James was temporarily enamored with George, and in spite of George taking a position because the king’s bedfellows, James endured to deny rumors of homosexuality, claiming that anal sex was once an irredeemable form of sodomy. On the opposite hand, James steadily acted in ways in which confirmed forget for laws as he felt he was once above the law, in all probability both religious and state legislation, as evidenced in his partying popularity.

James and George got so shut that George was necessarily his right-hand man. But to dispel rumors of homosexuality, he when compared their dating to that of Jesus and his disciple, John. "I wish to speak in my own behalf and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, and therefore I cannot be blamed. Christ had John, and I have George,” he told his Privy Council in 1617.

But when it came to James’s death, many speculated that George had something to do with it, considering the fact that George was by James’s side at the time. But James long-suffered from various ailments — teeth loss, arthritis, gout, and kidney stones were frequent issues for the aging alcoholic king. As his health deteriorated, George grew closer to James’s son, Charles, to secure his place in the council going forward.

In 1625, King James fell deathly ill to a bout of malaria that caused a stroke. As George sat by James’s bedside, he gave him medicine that could have actually worsened James’s condition. Benjamin shared of George’s potential murder of James: “It may have been by accident - the application of a quack remedy while the king was weakened by a malarial attack. But there is compelling evidence that Villiers, overcome by ambition and frustrated by James's passive approach to government, poisoned him.”

George was acquitted of all accusations, even supposing he remained unpopular all the way through the rustic after James’s death. Many still suspected he purposely killed the king based on his own ambitions, however in accordance with the evidence from the time, that seems unlikely. More most likely is the fact that James merely fell too ill to survive past fifty eight years outdated, which superseded the existence expectancy of that technology through a minimum of 20 years.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfmbalecaepquflWLDqrjLopyrq12gtq24jKSgp59dn66usdI%3D