boy" (the fate of his elder brother, Edward V of England, is left unmentioned), and becomes his uncle's favourite, reflected by his being seated at the side of the king at the banquet on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field, which is a victory for the House of York during the Wars of the Roses. Richard is crowned King Richard IV of England after Richard III is accidentally killed by Edmund, and though he by far favours Harry over Edmund, he is genuinely-saddened by Edmund's imminent death in the final episode. As he drinks a toast to his dying son's honour, he and the entire royal court are killed after Lord Percy poisoned the entire vat of wine in an exaggerated attempt to kill the Black Seal, a group of assassins led by Edmund's arch-enemy. Gertrude of Flanders Gertrude of Flanders (Elspet Gray) is the wife of King Richard of England, Scotland and Ireland and mother of Princes Harry and Edmund. In attitude, Gertrude is mostly distant and absent-minded. She had an affair with a Scottish laird, which may have resulted in Edmund's birth. She often gives Edmund unwanted advice and embarrasses him. Her character's name is never spoken in dialogue in Blackadder, but appears in the credits. She is also a skilled practitioner of witchcraft, which she uses to help Edmund escape execution. But she, along with her royal family, is killed in the series' finale, after drinking wine poisoned by Lord Percy. Nursie Nursie (Patsy Byrne), real name "Bernard", appears in all six episodes of Blackadder II and two of the Blackadder specials; Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth. Once Queenie's childhood nurse, by the time of her appearances in Blackadder II, Nursie is either senile or otherwise irreversibly stupid, but remains at court at the side of the Queen for unknown reasons (possibly being kept-on as a lady's companion, though her continued presence at "Queenie's" side reinforces her portrayal as 'childish'), as the Queen repeatedly treats Nursie with contempt. Nursie frequently embarrasses both the Queen and herself by openly recounting tales of the Queen's childhood, prompting Queenie's standard reply of "Shut up, Nursie." She is also known for her complete non sequiturs in conversation. Lord Blackadder describes her as "a sad, insane old woman with an udder fixation." In the series' finale, she is killed by Prince Ludwig the Indestructible along with the