Hello Wonder!

The second episode of The Wonder Podcast tells the story of Queen Mary I who has been called a 16th-century Greta Thunberg – she was passionate, clever and very determined.

She was also the first proper queen of England. Her father Henry VIII once called her ‘the greatest pearl in the kingdom’ yet today she is remembered as ‘Bloody Mary’ since she had hundreds of her Protestant enemies burned at the stake.

All the Tudor kings and queens were ruthless killers. Her father executed some 50,000 people – about two percent of his subjects. And Mary’s sister Elizabeth I’s favourite torture method was to have her enemies hung, drawn and quartered. Does Mary really deserve her bloody nickname?

The Mary I podcast is read by the actor Pandora Colin, with sound editing by Max Watson. The script was written by Henrietta McMicking, with editing by Camilla Akers-Douglas. Our theme music is by the amazing James Burrell. Thanks also to Oli Morgan, mastering engineer at Abbey Road Studios. The painting of Mary 1, by Master John (1544) hangs in London’s National Portrait Gallery.

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