Orgies, murder and a king’s secret ‘husband’: The scandalous true story of ‘Mary and George’
Endless candlelit orgies will be most viewers’ takeaway impression of King James I’s court when they start watching the racy new Sky Atlantic costume drama, Mary & George.
Starring Nicholas Galitzine as the king’s adored secret lover, George Villiers (the 1st Duke of Buckingham), and Julianne Moore as his social-climbing mother, Mary, the series was “inspired by” Benjamin Woolley’s 2017 non-fiction book, The King’s Assassin, and maybe also by Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winner film, The Favourite. This means that facts aren’t allowed to get in the way of a good story.
Which is fine. As the author of The Favourite, the non-fiction story of Sarah Churchill’s relationship with Queen Anne, I know that real life doesn’t always give you the pace and compact drama that successful fiction needs.
