Donatella Barlow is a minor character in the third season of Reign. She is portrayed by Christina Rosati.
She was a close friends to Elizabeth I from when they were young girls, and remained a trusted confidante until she was arrested for threatening the queen, and locked in the Tower of London.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Lady Donatella, was originally born and grew up in Florence Italy. However she was still a young teenager when she moved over to England to marry her husband. At one point, most likely during King Henry VIII rule, she became close friends with Princess Elizabeth.
In the Series[]
Season Three[]
Betrothed[]
Lady Donatella met with Queen Elizabeth in the gardens for high tea. The two women were having a lovely chat, until Elizabeth brought up a favour she needed from her longtime friend. She requested, that, since she was from Florence, Italy, that she would testify that she had been the one to harbour Catherine de' Medici while she was in England, who was in fact her cousin. She also needed to inform the High Court that Queen Elizabeth had had no knowledge of the former French Queen being at court. Elizabeth told her this was of national importance. To which she agreed.
After testifying to the High Court, Queen Elizabeth informed her, she also needed to tell them that she had introduced Catherine de' Medici to Queen Elizabeth, however under false pretenses, as she had not told her who she was. After doing this, she found out she was to be stripped of all her titles and money for lying to the crown.
Lady Donatella was mad at Queen Elizabeth, who had promised her she would be fine and would only receive a slap on the wrist from The Vatican. However now, she and her husband would be stripped of their titles and money, and sent away from court. Lady Donatella threatened to out Elizabeth to everyone, to tell them that the Queen had put her up to this. Elizabeth reassured her friend, that everything would be fine, and she would give her all the gold she and her husband needed to restart elsewhere. Lady Donatella thanked her Majesty, and returned to her room to begin packing.
However before she was able to reach her chambers, she was taken by the Queen's guards to The Tower of London. She was arrested for threatening the Queen of England, and would stay there for the remainder of her life. It is unknown, if her husband was arrested too.
Unbeknown to her, Queen Elizabeth made sure she did not lose her head, as such accusations would have left her executed by law.
Personality[]
Lady Donatella is a very kind, if not slightly sassy young woman. She enjoys the finer things in life, and was the loyal friend to the Queen of England. She also loves being know as her husband's exotic wife. She also has a great respect for her fellow Italian Catherine de' Medici, saying she would kill to meet her.
Trivia[]
- Cristina Rosato confirmed to the ReignWikia Twitter account that she was playing Lady Donatella in September.
- There wasn't a historical "Lady Donatella", or even a "Lord Barlow". However, there was a lady-in-waiting named Helena Snakenborg. She was known as Elizabeth's "exotic lady", but she was Swedish, not Italian.
See Also[]