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Hey friend, welcome back.

Today on the channel, I am sharing a conversation I had with Kendra Drown Pitts, a TudorCon

speaker all around Mary the first superfan. She's actually on the committee to help plan

TudorCon. So we covered a lot of ground in this one from Mary's dramatic rise to power

in 1553 to the disastrous marriage with Philip of Spain, Wyatt's rebellion,

her phantom pregnancies, and of course, the burnings. But we also look at Mary as a person,

someone who grew up in a world that shifted under her feet, who experienced deep emotional trauma,

and who tried to rule as a woman in a system that was never designed for her.

It's a rich and honest discussion and a chance to reconsider the woman behind the nickname Bloody Mary.

So let's get into it with Kendra.

Okay, Kendra. We're going to talk about Mary the first and we're going to talk about the loss of Calais. We're going to talk about the marriage to Philip and Wyatt's rebellion

and her phantom pregnancies. And that's a lot. So then if we run out of time and there's more time,

but that's what we'll talk about. There's a lot with Mary to talk. How did you come to fall in love with Mary? Because you really have feelings for her, don't you? I do. I started off with a love for Elizabeth. One of the very first adult movies I ever watched was Kate Blanchett's Elizabeth.

And I was thinking, my goodness, the intrigue. This is incredible. And I just wanted to learn more.

And off the side was always Mary. And it was always like the nicknames and the horrible sister.

And when I started actually reading more about Mary in some of the historical fiction books and what, I'm like, there's more here.

...