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Maria Doyle Kennedy shares ironic true story while filming The Tudors Season 2

By Alexandria Ingham

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 26: (L-R) Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor Sam Neil and actress Maria Doyle Kennedy arrive at the premiere screening of Showtime's "The Tudors" at the Egyptian Theatre on March 26, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 26: (L-R) Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor Sam Neil and actress Maria Doyle Kennedy arrive at the premiere screening of Showtime's "The Tudors" at the Egyptian Theatre on March 26, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) /
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We know Maria Doyle Kennedy well as Aunt Jocasta but you may also remember her as Catherine of Aragon in The Tudors. During Sasnak City, she shared a fun story.

Maria Doyle Kennedy is known by many as Catherine of Aragon in The Tudors. While at the Outlander convention, Sasnak City 2019, work on The Tudors came up and she couldn’t help but share a fun but ironic story that had everyone laughing.

Did you know that the show wasn’t initially going to include Catherine? She would be mentioned, but that’s it. Instead, the storyline was going to be focused on Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn only. Things changed and Maria Doyle Kennedy was asked to star in the season instead.

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That was great. She was more than happy to do that, but there was something she needed to make everyone aware about. It turns out that she was pregnant at the time.

What’s the problem? Whether you’ve seen The Tudors or not, you likely know that Maria’s character, Catherine, wouldn’t have any more children. In fact, one of the big issues for Henry VIII was that his first wife was unable to give him a son. Yet, Maria Doyle Kennedy was pregnant with a son. Ironic, right?

During the final scenes, Maria was close to giving birth. That meant the bed had to be adapted. It was more like a bathtub with fake legs at the bottom. This helped to hide the bump because the pregnancy simply couldn’t be written into the show without completely throwing the baby out with the bathwater in terms of history. It’s also the reason for so many shawls during the second season (which was accurate considering Catherine was living in poverty in a crumbling castle during this point).

It certainly had everyone laughing during Sasnak City. Who would have thought a story from so long ago would come up?

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Sasnak City 2019 continues throughout the week. We’ll bring updates and news as we can.

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