Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth's secret lover

He was the son of John Dudley (English/Sutton), Earl of Warwick, Duke of Northumberland, and Protector of England during the reign of Edward VI. He first met Elizabeth when he was eight years old, perhaps when they were both pupils in the royal classroom. They became good friends, and their friendship lasted throughout their lives. Robert was an intelligent boy, certainly a match for Elizabeth intellectually, but he had little interest in the Classics. His passion, even as a youngster, was mathematics, astronomy, and astrology. He was also an incredibly gifted horseman, and nurtured this gift all his life. Speaking of his childhood relations with Elizabeth later in life, he said that "he knew her better than anyone else from when she was eight years old." He also added: "and from that age she always said that she would never marry."

In 1550, Robert married Amy Robsart, the daughter of a Norfolk squire. Traditionally, their marriage has been seen as a love match, but a clause in the marriage treaty suggests that it may have been for less romantic reasons. Robert was the fifth son, and therefore any marriage that could be secured for him would be advantageous. It was easier to marry off daughters than it was younger sons, as they were often not heirs to their father's lands and titles. Amy herself was an heiress, so the marriage was even more desirable in that respect. The wedding was celebrated with great style, and was attended by Elizabeth, and the Boy King himself.

Following his father's attempt to usurp the throne for his daughter in law, lady Jane Grey, Robert was imprisoned with his brothers in the Tower of London. He was kept in the Beauchamp Tower, which was only a walkway from the Bell Tower, where Elizabeth was herself a prisoner after the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt. Legend has it that they saw a lot of each other during at this time, and their friendship turned to love, but this is unlikely, given that both were strictly guarded. John Dudley went to the block, and Guildford was executed along with Lady Jane following Wyatt's rebellion, but the rest of the Dudley sons were spared.

After a year's imprisonment, they were released, probably following the death of their mother, Jane Dudley, in 1555. John Dudley, the eldest son, died shortly afterwards, but Henry and Robert joined the forces of Philip II and went to fight in France, where Henry was killed in battle. Robert then returned to England. At some point during Mary's reign, it seems that he sold some of his land to help Elizabeth out of financial difficulty. He was struggling financially himself, and Elizabeth never forgot his sacrifice.

With the accession of Elizabeth to the throne in 1558, his fortunes changed. He was made Master of the Queen's horse, a prestigious position that required much personal attendance on the Queen, as well as organizing her public appearances, progresses, and her personal entertainment. This position suited him perfectly. Not only was he a skilled horseman, but was a great athlete, had a flair for the spectacular, and shared the Queen's love of drama and music. It was obvious from almost the beginning of her reign that he was to be her favorite. Within the first year she had lavished titles, properties, and money on him, and had spent more time with him than with anyone else. Tongues wagged at their intimacy, and it was said that they were lovers, that Elizabeth was even carrying his child. However, while such stories can easily be dismissed, it is almost certain that they were, by this time, very much in love. Perhaps it was an inevitability. They knew each other better than they knew anyone else, had suffered very similarly in the past, and perhaps most importantly, respected and trusted one another. Like any couple they argued, but Robert always treated her with the respect her position demanded, and she would allow him to behave and speak with her in ways that she would allow no one else.

Their familiarity, and his position as favorite, meant that he incurred a lot of hatred, and if he benefited financially from the Queen's favor, he suffered for it in other ways. By 1560, he was the most unpopular man in Elizabethan England, and remained so until his death. Elizabeth was an astute judge of character, and it is unlikely that he would have been able to maintain pretended affection for thirty years. He seems to have genuinely loved the Queen, and his behavior at times testifies to genuine affection, rather than calculated manipulation. Had the political circumstances been more favorable, the Queen may well have married him.

The insuperable bar to their marriage lay in the circumstances of his wife's death. She was found dead of a broken neck at the bottom of a stair case, and many pointed the finger at Robert. For a long time people had been saying he meant to kill her so that he would be free to marry the Queen. The dissolving of a legally valid marriage was virtually unknown in Tudor times, and so divorce was not really an option for the couple. Certainly it would have made the legitimacy of any children Elizabeth had by Robert if they married, dubious. Whatever Robert's personal feelings for Amy may have been, it is incredibly unlikely that he had anything to do with her death. Amy was probably terminally ill with breast cancer as she was said to be suffering from a "malady in the breast." Recent medical advances suggests that a woman in this condition may have a spontaneous bone fracture, and walking up the stairs of her house in Oxfordshire, may have been enough to cause a spontaneous fracture in her spine, that proved fatal.

Such understandings were beyond the medical knowledge of the Elizabethans, however, and everyone, including Robert himself, thought that Amy had been murdered. Had the Queen married him, people would have believed the gossip, even that Elizabeth herself had been involved. Also, as Robert was hated only because of his monopoly of royal favor, promoting him to prince consort may have provoked a rebellion against the Queen. However, for some years, it seems that both entertained the possibility of marriage, and Robert in particular continued to hope for it for many years.

In 1563, Elizabeth put Dudley up as a candidate for marriage to the widowed Mary, Queen of Scots, whom she hoped to neutralise by marriage to a Protestant. The State Papers record how she hinted that this was to be a reward to Dudley, "whom, if it might lie in our power, we would make owner or heir of our own kingdom", for his loyal service. Mary, insulted by the idea of accepting Elizabeth's former lover, rejected him. In the following year, Elizabeth bestowed on him the earldom of Leicester.

In 1578, he married the Queen's cousin, Lettice Devereux, Countess of Essex. He may well have been in love with her, as she was certainly a very vivacious, attractive woman, but in all probability he married her because she was pregnant, and was pressurized into making an honest woman of her by her influential family.

In 1585, Robert was made commander of the English forces in the Netherlands. The Netherlands were revolting against the rule of Philip II, and the English were helping the Dutch in their campaign. Robert stayed in the Netherlands until 1587, although he did return to England during the Mary Queen of Scots crisis of 1586/7, and was present in England when Mary was executed. English involvement in the Netherlands was not particularly successful, and when he did return permanently, he received a lot of criticism for his actions there. Although Elizabeth herself had not always been pleased by what he had done, she would not hear a word said against his efforts there.