The final episode of ITV’s gripping drama The Lady has answered the biggest question on viewers’ minds: why Jane Andrews actually killed her boyfriend Thomas Cressman. The show, which tells the true story of Sarah Ferguson’s former dresser who became a convicted murderer, ended with a courtroom showdown that revealed Jane’s side of the story. But as the credits rolled, many fans were left wondering about the mysterious “King of the Wing” scene and what really happened to the real Jane Andrews after prison.
The four-part series starring Mia McKenna-Bruce as Jane and Ed Speleers as Thomas Cressman has kept audiences hooked with its portrayal of a relationship that turned from fairytale romance to deadly violence. The finale finally showed Jane in court, explaining her actions and revealing the abuse she claimed led her to kill the man she loved .
How Jane Andrews ended up killing Thomas Cressman
The Lady’s final episode picks up right after the murder. Jane is driving around the country in a daze, ignoring calls from worried friends and family. Even Sarah Ferguson (played by Natalie Dormer) reaches out to beg her to give herself up to police . But Jane keeps running until she eventually overdoses on painkillers and is found in a lay-by .
Once she recovers, the drama moves to her trial at the Old Bailey. This is where viewers finally hear Jane’s version of events. She takes the stand and explains that her relationship with Thomas was not the perfect romance it appeared to be from the outside. According to Jane, Thomas Cressman was physically and sexually abusive .
In the courtroom scenes, Jane describes Thomas as controlling and violent. She claims he pushed her down the stairs, hit her, and raped her on the morning of the killing . She tells the court that she acted in self-defence when she picked up a cricket bat and later a knife during a struggle. She says she panicked and did not even realise he had died when she left the flat .
But the prosecution tells a completely different story. They argue that Jane killed Thomas in a fit of rage because he refused to marry her. They paint a picture of a jealous and possessive woman who could not handle rejection after her fairytale dreams fell apart .
The jury ends up believing the prosecution. Jane is found guilty of murder, and the judge gives her a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years behind bars . As he puts on his black cap, he tells her: “In killing the man you loved, you ended his life and ruined your own” .
The real reason Jane killed Thomas according to the drama
So what is the real reason The Lady gives for why Jane killed Thomas? The show walks a careful line. It shows Jane’s claims of abuse in detail, including her testimony about Thomas tying her to the bed and forcing himself on her. But it also shows the prosecution attacking her credibility and suggesting she made it all up .
The drama makes clear that Jane Andrews did kill Thomas Cressman – that fact is not in dispute. But it leaves space for viewers to understand how someone could reach that breaking point. The writer Debbie O’Malley has said they wanted to show the human behind the headlines, not to excuse the killing but to understand the struggles that led to it .
In the trial scenes, Jane’s barrister argues that she suffered from battered woman syndrome and acted in self-defence after years of abuse. Jane herself breaks down on the stand as she describes what Thomas did to her. But the prosecution brings up her past relationships and points out that other women who dated Thomas never accused him of violence .
The show does not give a simple answer. Instead, it shows how Jane’s mental health struggles, her difficult childhood, and her desperate need to be loved all came together in a perfect storm. When she finally snaps, it is presented as the tragic end of a woman who had been broken long before she met Thomas .
What happened to Jane Andrews after the trial
The Lady does not stop with the guilty verdict. It follows Jane into prison, where she struggles to adjust to life behind bars. One of the most talked-about scenes in the finale shows her in a session with a psychotherapist, who suggests she may have borderline personality disorder (BPD) and depression .
This matches what happened in real life. After her conviction, doctors diagnosed Jane with BPD, though this did not help her win an appeal. Two psychiatrists assessed her, with one concluding she was suffering from a depressive illness and post-traumatic symptoms on top of her existing personality issues .
The show also covers her appeal in 2003, which was rejected. Text on screen explains that she was released on licence in 2015, sent back to prison in 2018 over harassment allegations that were never proven, and finally released again in 2019 .
What The Lady leaves out is the time Jane escaped from prison in 2009. She was held at East Sutton Park Prison, an open prison for low-risk inmates. In November that year, she simply walked away after the 8pm roll call and was missing for three days .
Police eventually found her at a Premier Inn hotel near the prison, where she had turned up with her parents. She was reportedly covered in mud and wrapped in a scarf, suggesting she had slept rough. The escape is believed to be connected to a penpal named Mark Ellson, who failed to meet her as promised .
Thomas Cressman’s brother Rick was furious about the escape and the decision not to charge her for absconding. He said the whole situation left him “traumatised and depressed” and reminded him of the night his brother was murdered .
Who is the King of the Wing in The Lady finale
The final moments of The Lady left many viewers scratching their heads. Jane tells her mother she has a new penpal, and we see a newspaper clipping about a man with the surname “Affcott” who is described as the “King of the Wing” .
So who is this mysterious figure? The truth is, there is no public record of Jane Andrews ever corresponding with anyone by that name. The show seems to have invented this character or given him a fictional nickname .
But the real Jane Andrews did have a penpal. His name was Mark Ellson, a man who was in prison for fraud. He started writing to her while both were locked up, and they developed a connection. When Ellson got out of prison, he visited Jane. But he later told the press she “latched onto” him and became obsessive .
When Ellson failed to meet her in November 2009, Jane escaped from open prison to find him. She was found three days later. Ellson cut off contact after that, but reports suggest Jane kept writing to him anyway .
The “King of the Wing” in The Lady is likely a fictional version of this real-life penpal. The wing part of the nickname probably refers to the prison wing where they first connected. It is a small detail that adds mystery to the ending while hinting at the real story .
How the Thomas Cressman family reacted to the drama
The Lady has been hard to watch for the family of Thomas Cressman. In real life, they have always strongly denied the abuse claims Jane made at her trial. They point out that none of his former partners ever accused him of violence, and there was no evidence to back up her allegations .
Thomas’s father Harry spoke out after the trial, saying Jane tried to ruin their son’s reputation to get out of prison. “I understand that anybody who is behind bars will do anything to get out of that position,” he said, “but what she did to try to ruin our son’s reputation is totally despicable” .
A former girlfriend of Thomas named Christina Spanier also defended him. She told the BBC it felt “like she was killing him all over again” with the false accusations. She insisted Thomas was never violent and pointed out how unfair it was that he was not alive to defend himself .
The detective who led the murder investigation, Jim Dickie, was even blunter. He said: “She murdered him in real life, and then attempted to murder him in death by trying to ruin his reputation” .
The Lady does include these opposing views. In the courtroom scenes, the prosecution questions Jane aggressively and suggests she is lying. But some critics have questioned whether it is right to make entertainment out of such a painful story when the victim cannot speak for himself and his family are still grieving.
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Where to watch The Lady finale
The Lady aired on ITV in the UK and is now available to stream on ITVX. All four episodes are online, so you can watch the finale whenever you want. For viewers in other countries, the series is also available on BritBox International .
The show comes from Left Bank Pictures, the same company that made The Crown. It has the same high production values, with 1990s period detail and a soundtrack featuring Depeche Mode and Blondie .
If you have already watched the finale and want to learn more about the real Jane Andrews, there are plenty of articles and documentaries available. Just remember that The Lady is a drama, not a documentary. It takes some creative liberties, like creating the Aleksandra character and changing the name of the prison .
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