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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Esther Addley

Drama depicts King James I of England and his male lover – but how much of it is true?

Tony Curran as King James VI of Scotland and I of England in Mary & George.
Tony Curran as King James VI of Scotland and I of England, centre, in Mary & George. Photograph: Sky UK/AP

In 1617, King James I of England addressed the privy council about the young man whom he had recently, spectacularly, promoted. “I, James, am neither God nor an angel, but a man like any other,” he told them. “Therefore I act like a man.

“You may be sure that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else … Christ had his John, and I have my George.”

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