Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk

Military member of the English high nobility and first Duke of Suffolk. Brandon grew up at the court of King Henry VII and was a great friend of his son, Henry VIII, with whom he fought in the Italian War of 1542 - 1546. He served as accredited ambassador to King Louis XII, and after the death of King king, manages to secretly marry the sister of the English monarch, Mary Tudor. Brandon was in favor of the divorce between King Henry and Catherine of Aragon although he also had no great devotion to Anne Boleyn. In the third season he has to face the massive Catholic uprisings in the north of England. Charles Brandon was the closest friend and loyal ally of King Henry VIII. Apart from Henry himself, Charles is the only character to appear in every episode in the series. In both the series and in real life, Charles is perhaps the only person who successfully retained Henry VIII's affection for over forty years. The first Duke of Suffolk, Charles jointly held the position of President of the Privy Council with the Duke of Norfolk at the end of Season One. Although it is unclear whether Charles still holds this position in subsequent episodes (as he is banished from court several times), he continues to serve on many of Henry's council meetings and frequently serves as one of the King's top military commanders. Of all of the characters in the series, his storyline is probably the most fictitious, as only a little of Brandon's real life is seen here.

Charles once disobeyed Henry by marrying his sister, Princess Margaret Tudor, but he learned from this mistake and always did the king's bidding no matter what was asked of him - even if his own orders horrified him. Charles was initially a rather immature and sexually deviant man, but he became more mature and just-natured as he grew accustomed to the power Henry bestowed on him; despite always considering Henry a friend, he becomes increasingly disillusioned and upset with the bloody events of Henry's reign, and while unwilling to criticize his friend and king in public, he eventually acknowledged to himself that Henry was chiefly to blame.

Charles played an important role in the downfall several key figures of Henry's court; such as Cardinal Wolsey, sir Thomas Cromwell, queen Anne Boleyn and her family, although historically he was not so deeply involved. He was usually referred to as "your grace" or "Suffolk" in court (although some of his rivals derisively called him "Brandon") but the king, Margaret Tudor and Catherine Brooke always called him by the name of Charles. He is portrayed by English actor Henry Cavill from seasons 1-4.