Summary
- My Lady Jane is a historical fantasy series set in 16th-century England, focusing on Lady Jane Grey and Mary Tudor, blending historical facts with YA fantasy storytelling.
- Based on the novel The Orphan Queen, the show features supernatural elements like shapeshifting creatures and explores themes of female empowerment and avoiding arranged marriages.
- While the series contains historical characters and events, it diverges from reality with the introduction of fictional Ethians and altered storylines, such as Jane Grey’s escape from her loveless marriage.
New to Prime Video on June 27, 2024, My Lady Jane is a wistful historical fantasy with romantic flourishes. Set in 16th-century England, the show follows several real-life historical figures and imagines them in fancifully fictional scenarios that have a fairytale quality. Much of the drama concerns Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader), an English royal who ascended to the throne for nine days in 1553.
Although the series primarily focuses on Jane Grey and Mary Tudor (Kate O’Flynn), My Lady Jane weaves historical facts with YA fantasy storytelling to create an otherworldly glimpse into the past and tell an updated tale of female empowerment. While the characters are rooted in reality and certain historical events retain their accuracy, a supernatural storyline involving shapeshifting creatures makes for a wild TV experience.
What Is My Lady Jane About?
Based on the 2015 young-adult novel The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane is an 8-part British historical fantasy romance TV show created by Gemma Burgess. The series concerns Lady Jane Grey (Bader), an independent-minded noble forced to marry Lord Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel) after her father, Henry Grey, dies without an heir to the throne. While Jane’s cousin, Edward VI (Jordan Peters), vies to become the King’s successor, Jane and her assistant Susanna (Máiréad Tyers) conspire to avoid marrying Dudley.
Upon fleeing the wedding, Guildford’s forces capture Jane and Susanna. The story becomes supernatural when Susanna reveals she belongs to a race of Ethians, humans that can shapeshift into animals. Jane, who belongs to a normal group of humans called the Verity, inherits the throne after Edward secretly bequeaths it to her in his will. Edward’s pet dog, Petunia, also reveals that she is an Ethian who was sent to protect him.
Unable to avoid marrying Guildford, Jane discovers her husband is also an Ethian who cannot control his equine metamorphosis. Changing from human to horse by day and night, Guildford pleads with Jane to cure his ailment. As Jane abides by his wishes, the story shifts to Princess Mary (Kate O’Flynn) and Edward’s uncle Lord Seymour (Dominic Cooper), who conspire to kill the King and usurp his power. Despite the supernatural fantasy subplot, the book-to-TV fantasy series is a rousing coming-of-age tale for real-life leaders Jane Grey and Mary Tudor.
How Historically Accurate Is My Lady Jane?
My Lady Jane incorporates historical characters and events and spins them into a romantic fantasy. Apart from the characters mentioned above, real-life figures on the show include Jane’s mother and Mary’s daughter, Lady Frances Grey (Anna Chancellor), Jane’s younger sister Lady Katherine Grey (Isabella Brownson), the Duke of Norfolk (Will Keen), Queen Elizabeth I (Abbie Hern), the Duke of Leicester (Jim Broadbent), and more. Fusing fact and fiction, made-up characters on the show include Susanna, Lord Stan Dudley, Margaret Grey, and others.
My Lady Jane also honors the real-life marriages and social maneuvering the historical characters are known for. For instance, in Episode 3, “With a Girl Like You,” Lady Katherine marries Lord Seymour, a truism that springboards the fantasy elements regarding the Ethians. In Episode 5, “I’m Gonna Change the World,” the real-life Lady Margaret Beaufort (Barbara Marten) is introduced to assist her grandson Edward. Yet, in the same episode, the fascinating historical accuracy is neutralized when Jane invites the Ethians to a coronation ceremony before consummating her marriage with Guildford.
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At nearly every turn, My Lady Jane weds fact with fantasy to tell a fun fictional tale. The overarching narrative traces Lady Jane’s attempt to flee a loveless marriage and earn her famous reputation as the Nine-Days Queen after using her wits and wiles to take the throne of England from July 10 to July 19, 1553. The story disavows the archaic nature of arranged marriages and advocates female empowerment, using the past to tell a progressive story about today.
Where Does My Lady Jane Veer from Reality?
My Lady Jane‘s widest departure from reality involves the supernatural Ethian storyline. While none of the shapeshifting human-animal hybrids existed in real life, much less in the 1500s, the Prime Video Original TV series incorporates the fantasy element to underscore how alienated Jane and her female companions were in the past. The notion of Susanna, Guildford, and Petunia infiltrating the royal family as secret Ethians may not square with historical fact, but adds an exhilarating escapism to the show that mirrors Jane’s attempt to flee from Guildford.
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One of the biggest fantasy elements involves Guildford’s attempt to find a cure to reverse his Ethian status. Once he flees with an Ethian to find a cure, the entity’s spokesperson, Archer (Michael Workeye), tries to assassinate Jane. When the plan fails, Archer and his Ethian friend Fitz (Joe Klocek) tempt fate on the whim of a bowling contest. Archer wins, leading to Jane’s arrest. While Jane was arrested and executed in 1554, that’s not how her fate plays out on the show.
Similarly, My Lady Jane reaches a climax at London Tower, where Jane kills the Duke of Norfolk. In truth, Norfolk died of natural causes after his health slowly declined. The show ends with a climactic clash between the Ethians and the Verity, paving the way for Lady Jane to ride off into the sunset. Throughout its eight episodes, My Lady Jane blends historical characters and events with fictional fantasy to highlight power dynamics in modern-day romance.
My Lady Jane is available to stream on Prime Video.
