Elizabeth I's Secret Lover

by Robert Stedall

  I know I have but the body of a weak, feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King – and a King of England too – and think foul scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any Prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm.18

  This was stirring stuff, worthy of Shakespeare, and she commended Robert to them as her Lieutenant General. Her appearance shows that his standing was still paramount. She dined with him and his officers and slept at Ardern Hall nearby, ready to watch her soldiers drill.19 During dinner she received news that the Armada had been driven by the storms up the east coast to Scotland.

  Despite this, rumours persisted that Parma was ready to cross the Channel. Elizabeth was reluctantly persuaded by Robert to move back to London. Respect for Parma meant that some cunning trick was suspected. Huntingdon wrote from Newcastle bemoaning the lack of preparedness, but Robert turned to the Dutch for support. Although his authority had been revoked in March, the Calvinists still looked to him as their leader. Yet further assistance was refused. Killigrew, who was now the ambassador in Holland, found his position intolerable and asked to be recalled, as did Sir William Russell, the Governor of Flushing, who blamed the States General for weakening his garrison.

  By mid-August, the danger was past. Robert was required to break up the camp at Tilbury by his money-conscious colleagues on the Council. He must have been thankful. He was considerably weakened by his efforts with discomfort from the pain in his stomach and his continuing malaria. Yet he made a triumphant entry back into London with an escort of gentlemen and ‘a picked contingent of soldiers’.20 None of them had fired a shot, but, in the prevailing euphoria, they were welcomed as heroes.21 Camden states that, for a second time, Elizabeth contemplated making Robert her deputy with the title of ‘Lieutenant Governor of England and Ireland’, but to Robert’s mortification, Burghley and Hatton talked her out of it. He was still, however, the man she trusted most. She dined with him every day and her confidence in him remained firm to the end. He stayed at court while Essex staged a troop review in the tiltyard at Whitehall, during which Essex took part in two jousts against the Earl of Cumberland, ‘two of the best horsemen in the country’.22 Robert watched with the Queen from a window, but his continuing malaria prevented him from attending other celebrations. He excused himself from the Queen, who readily agreed for him to return to Buxton. She also provided medicine prescribed by her own physicians.

  On 26 August, Robert and Lettice left Wanstead by easy stages to make for the Midlands spa. He was 56, feverish and ill. On 28 August, they were the guests of Lady Norreys (the mother of Sir John) at Rycote, from where Robert wrote an inconsequential note to Elizabeth asking after her health and thanking her for some token just received. It was his last letter to her. He was now very ill, but managed to travel on for a further twenty-five miles, with an overnight stop at Oxford, to reach his lodge at Cornbury. On arrival, he took to his bed and died there on 4 September after several days and nights of pain.

  Lettice was with him and there were immediate rumours that she had poisoned him so she was free to marry her lover. This is unthinkable, and she much later chose to be buried next to Robert at Warwick. Although there were other rumours that Sir James Croft’s son, Edward, was involved in a plot to poison him, this seems another fabrication. The post-mortem showed no evidence of foul play. His massive physique had been undermined by a chronic intestinal complaint and his malaria had taken hold.

  Aftermath

  There is no evidence that Lettice was remotely unfaithful to Robert during the latter part of their marriage and she retained a strong influence over him. Nevertheless, eyebrows were raised when, seven months after Robert’s death, she remarried Sir Christopher Blount, thirteen years her junior. Blount was a Catholic but had acted as a double-agent for Walsingham in attempting to infiltrate the offices of Archbishop Bethune in Paris. He had always been loyal to Robert, being a gentleman of his horse, and his father, Sir Thomas, had been tasked with unravelling the mystery of the death of Amy Robsart. Blount and Lettice were certainly greatly attracted to each other, but she also needed his help in unscrambling Robert’s huge debts.

  Lettice was appointed as Robert’s executrix to be assisted by Howard of Effingham, Ambrose and Hatton. With their help, she obtained probate within twelve days of his death. Robert’s will had been written without proper legal advice in the Netherlands and was found to be defective. It began with a personal expression of his Puritan faith. He sought to be buried next to his ancestors in the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick church, where Lettice later erected a magnificent tomb to his memory. Ultimately, she was also buried there as his ‘moeltissum uxor, (most tender wife)’, out of her love and conjugal fidelity. Effigies of Robert and Lettice lie side by side.

  His bequests begin with a preamble: ‘They cannot be great … I have always lived above anything I had (for which I am heartily sorry), lest that through my many debts from time to time some men have taken loss by me.’1 He left Elizabeth a pendant formed of three great emeralds arranged with diamonds around a large table-diamond hung with a rope of 600 ‘fair white pearls’. His principal heirs were Lettice, his ‘faithful and very loving and obedient careful wife’, and Ambrose, his brother. Robert Jr was to inherit some properties when he was 20 or 21, and in some instances, others after the deaths of Lettice or Ambrose. Lettice received Drayton Basset in Staffordshire, Balsall and Long Itchington in Warwickshire, and Wanstead house, park and related lands and tenements. She also received most of the jewellery, the contents of Wanstead and half the contents of Leicester House, which was to be hers for life with the remainder to go to Robert Jr, failing whom to Essex. Lands, the ownership of which was disputed by Lord Berkeley, were to go to Ambrose, from whom they were to pass to Robert Sidney, Philip’s brother. At the age of 20, Robert Jr was to receive the house and lands at Aldersbrooke, including the adjacent pond which was part of the manor of Wanstead. On the death of Ambrose, he was also to receive Kenilworth and the manors of Denbigh and Chirke. Nevertheless, any thought that he might marry Arbella Stuart ended with his father’s death.

  Robert’s estate was indebted to the extent of £50,000, of which £25,000 was owed to the Crown. In view of her continuing malice towards Lettice, Elizabeth was not about to concede anything. Inventories were made to prepare the contents of Wanstead, Kenilworth and Leicester House for sale. Not everything, particularly the jewellery, was included in the list. Although the sale raised £29,000, this was insufficient to settle all the outstanding debts. Despite this, by the end of Elizabeth’s reign she had been repaid £22,000 of the £25,000 owed and the balance of £3,000 was remitted by James I. The problem for Lettice was not so much Robert’s debts, but Blount’s profligate dissipation of her remaining jewellery. Although she did not complain, he sold magnificent pieces in every year and parted with valuable property leases to finance their extravagant lifestyle. In 1596 he joined Essex’s expedition to Cadiz, followed a year later by an expedition to Fayal in the Azores. He was beheaded in 1601 after his involvement in Essex’s ill-fated rebellion.

  Although the will provided £200 per annum for the maintenance of the ‘Master and poor men’ of Lord Leycester hospital at Warwick, Lettice was in no mood to hand out money unnecessarily, and she made no contribution, even though the will had suggested increasing the charity by adding a provision ‘for some number of poor women’.2 Ambrose was left to meet the cost of maintenance, but when he died in 1590, the hospital was destitute. Two years later, Thomas Cartwright, who was still the Master, had to write to Burghley for assistance, after providing money from his own resources. Following Blount’s execution, Lettice retired to the country, living at Drayton Basset, as a ‘highly thought of old lady’, until the age of 92. She was ‘a brisk and benevolent grandmother to “the grandchildren of her grandchildren”’. She also showed later munificence. Her epitaph states that ‘the poor that lived near, death nor famine could not fear’.3

  Robert’s principal heir, his bastard son Robert
who now took the surname Dudley, was only 13 when the will was drawn and it may be for this reason that his uncle, Howard of Effingham, was asked to assist Lettice in handling the will. Robert Jr now took the place intended for the Noble Imp. When Ambrose died in 1590, Kenilworth passed to Robert Jr. Before he could take possession, Blount made forcible entry to occupy the castle. ‘It took an order from the Privy Council to dislodge him.’4 As has been seen, Robert Jr was less successful when he attempted to claim that he was Robert’s legitimate heir in 1603. Lettice filed a Bill in the Court of Star Chamber against his claim and against his mother, Douglas, and stepfather, Sir Edward Stafford. This established that his procedure for bringing the action was unlawful, so that the case never came to trial.

  Robert Jr bore a strong likeness to his father, but with fair hair and a beard. He shared his father’s athleticism, ‘famous at the exercise of tilting’.5 He was an expert horseman and was instrumental in teaching dogs to sit to await the picking up of partridges.6 He became a skilled mathematician and distinguished navigator, renowned as an explorer and naval architect. Although he married Alice Leigh, by whom he had several daughters, after the Court of Star Chamber case, he left his wife. He was granted leave to go abroad, and was accompanied to Italy by his beautiful cousin, Elizabeth Southwell, dressed as a boy. They never returned.

  In the midst of the great rejoicing over the outcome of the Armada, Robert’s death had robbed Elizabeth of all happiness. In floods of tears, she shut herself in her chamber alone, refusing to speak to anyone. Eventually, Burghley ‘and other councillors had the doors broken open and entered to see her’.7 It was characteristic that she would want to mourn in private, but she still made a minute examination of Robert’s estate, seeking to recover anything owed to her. This apparent insensitivity was aimed more against Lettice than against Robert’s memory.

  Robert had acted as Elizabeth’s consort and, in her eyes, no one ever replaced him. Camden reported: ‘The Earl of Leicester … saw farther into the mind of Queen Elizabeth than any man.’8 She had been infatuated with him. Even Essex never shared the same intimacy with her. She would not hear a word said against him. When, in 1596, her godson John Harington published a book containing some slightly disparaging comments, she banished him from court ‘until he had grown sober’.9 After her own death on 24 March 1603, the casket of her personal treasures found by her bed contained the letter that Robert had written to her from Rycote. It contained nothing of importance but was annotated: ‘His last letter.’

  It has generally been accepted that there was no great sense of loss at Robert’s death. Even his protégé, Edmund Spenser, in The Ruines of Times written much later suggested:

  He now is dead and all his glories gone

  And all his greatness vapoured to naught

  That as a glass upon the water shone

  Which vanished quite, as soon as it was sought.

  His name is worn already out of thought.

  Ne any poet seeks him to revive.

  Yet many poets honoured him alive.

  Robert has not received a great press from historians, partly, it would seem, because he was Burghley’s rival for the Queen’s ear, and Burghley is always idealised as the ultimate minister. There are many instances of Burghley’s underhand dealing, particularly in blackening the name of Mary Queen of Scots and in fabricating plotting against the Crown to make the Catholic threat seem more real than it was. Robert was certainly not faultless, but he was loyal. This book attempts to redress the balance. It may seem a surprise that Elizabeth, with her shrewd judgement of character, saw so much good in him. It is suggested that her passion and devotion were such that when he was denied to her as a husband, she forsook all thought of matrimony and ‘lived and died a virgin’. It seems likely that they enjoyed a sexual relationship in the early part of her reign and, indisputably, he was her only true love. Even when their passion had cooled, she remained unfailingly loyal, but was not above some very public criticism of his shortcomings. In any other circumstance than as Queen she would undoubtedly have married him. In part, her decision was a political one, as the resultant jealousy would have damaged her popularity. It would also have removed her from the international marriage market, which was her strongest political card on the Continent. It would be unfair to blame Robert for having thwarted each royal suit as it materialised. It was always Elizabeth who took her suitors to the brink before letting them down. This left her free to carry on the wooing process just one more time. It may well be that her doubtful fertility played a part in her decision not to marry. She had watched the acute embarrassment of Mary Tudor at first hand. If she did enjoy a sexual relationship with Robert, she certainly did not become pregnant by him, and if she could not achieve it with her handsome paramour, what chance would she have elsewhere? It was better to play the part of the virgin queen than the barren wife. She knew she had a perfectly acceptable successor in her godson, James VI, and always took a great interest in his upbringing. She wrote to him regularly, and although he did not always tow her line, he was always her common-sense heir.

  The Dudleys’ ambitions made them unpopular. Robert’s father and grandfather were both executed for treason, but family members were intensely loyal to each other and proud of their heritage. ‘Like his father and grandfather before him [Robert] was a dedicated supporter of the Tudors and wore himself out in their service.’10 It is thanks to him that Elizabeth survived the uncertainties of the first part of her reign, and by the time of his death was well equipped to stand alone as Gloriana, enduring the strains of office and sifting the advice of her councillors.11

  Robert’s receipt of lavish gifts from his royal patroness caused jealousy and he undoubtedly benefited from kickbacks in return for providing access to the royal presence. Perhaps it was jealousy that brought accusations of him being an inept politician, an incompetent soldier, a meddler in Elizabeth’s marriage negotiations and a great lothario, unbecoming to his standing as a committed Puritan. The reality needs to be examined with care. As a politician, he was an important member of the Council, always more hawkish than the rest. His policies ensured that England was militarily prepared and had a well-organised navy. He fought tenaciously to encourage Elizabeth to stand up to superior forces on the Continent. Although he sparred with Burghley, it has been shown that they needed and respected each other.

  As a soldier, Robert has been criticised for his failure in the Netherlands. This is unfair. He fought with inferior numbers and resources against Parma, who was the finest general of his age. He had some notable successes and showed great personal bravery and resource. He was let down by uncertain allies, a shortage of money, vacillation from Elizabeth and the States General, and treachery from his own officers. Despite this, he prevented the United Provinces being subsumed under Spanish control and, other than Sluis, secured the coastal ports of Holland and Zeeland, thereby thwarting their use by the Spanish during the Armada.

  While acting as a royal intermediary, Robert was almost always sheltering Elizabeth from opportunistic pleas at her own request. There is no evidence that he abused her trust. On the contrary, he was vital to the smooth running of the Household. He was the consummate courtier, performing his duties diligently to put visitors at their ease. If he pocketed money, he used much of it for charitable welfare or to finance protégés, expeditions and other projects for the benefit of the commonweal.

  As a devastatingly attractive man, Robert was sought out by a string of beautiful women. It was his great tragedy that Amy Robsart failed to conceive, but there can be no doubt that as his relationship with Elizabeth developed, he tired of his young wife. It was hardly unusual for attractive men at court to look elsewhere when away from home. Robert probably behaved little differently than the other studs of his period. He was careful to conduct his misalliances with great decorum and discretion, avoiding serious contemporary criticism. His relationship with Douglas Howard seems to have become known even to the Queen, but she accepted it a
s the norm. There is no evidence of him giving any commitment to marry her, making his position clear to her from the outset. His attraction for Lettice was probably more all-consuming. By then his relationship with Elizabeth had run its course and Douglas had become irksome. It is easy to assume that, while her husband was in Ireland, Lettice made much of the running in what became an irresistible love affair. As the probable granddaughter of Henry VIII, she was a catch to appeal to Robert’s self-esteem.

  Leaving aside political, military and personal considerations, Robert was undoubtedly the greatest Englishman of the Elizabethan age with a plethora of achievements. He was largely responsible for funding Drake’s circumnavigation and was a champion of mercantile expansionism. He encouraged the colonisation of the Americas. He was the great supporter of academic endeavour, whether in the fields of navigation, Renaissance poetry and drama, classical study or Puritan scholarship. He financed numerous protégés who are now household names. He was the great upholder of Puritanism, raising its dogma to a place in Christian worship that allowed it to punch above its weight. As Master of the Horse he transformed the bloodline of English equine stock for military and ceremonial use. He was a great equestrian and athlete in his own right, always chivalrous and brave in the tiltyard and magnificently attired on ceremonial occasions. He was perhaps the greatest impresario of his age, showcasing the great pageants of Elizabeth’s reign, allowing her to appear to glittering effect before her adoring public. He spearheaded the development of the London theatre, combining classical style with ribald comedy. This created an environment which allowed Shakespeare to flourish. He formed his own team of players, many of whom went on to perform for Shakespeare. In an age burgeoning with the building of fine properties, when fortification was no longer the object of the day, he created Kenilworth, Wanstead and Leicester House as the most opulent mansions in the land, outdoing the rival efforts of Burghley, Shrewsbury, Bess of Hardwick and many others. In 1575, he held a party lasting eighteen days at Kenilworth, which was arguably the most sumptuous event of the Elizabethan age.