Duke of Buckingham Charles Dance The Duke of Buckingham was a wealthy aristocrat of noble blood who served as a trusted advisor to Henry VIII. Unfortunately, he was not the most trusted; that privilege was reserved for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a low-born clergyman. At Wolsey's prompting, the King became both jealous and suspicious of Buckingham, who stood to inherit the crown if Henry died without an heir. For his part, the Duke became a leader of disaffected nobles excluded from high offices who had grown to resent Wolsey. While Buckingham warned the King against the Cardinal's monopolizing influence, the Cardinal convinced the King that Buckingham was after the crown. Wolsey had the last laugh, bringing Buckingham up on treason charges for which he was executed at Tower Hill on May 17, 1521. Shortly after his death, the King divorced Katherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. Charles Dance is an accomplished British actor who has appeared in such feature films as Swimming Pool (2003), Hilary and Jackie (1998), and Gosford Park (2001). He will be familiar to Masterpiece Theatre viewers as Maxim de Winter in Rebecca. He also starred as Sire Henry Carlisle in Mystery!'s Murder Rooms: The Dark Origins of Sherlock Holmes. He wrote, produced, and directed the feature film Ladies in Lavender (2004) starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.