Robert Dudley

Birth of Robert Dudley ~ Earl of Leicester

.

The story of Queen Elizabeth and Robert Dudley is one of the most touching stories, in Queen Elizabeth's reign.

Robert was born on 24th June 1533 the fifth son his parents, John Dudley~ 1st Duke of Northumberland and Jane Guildford.

On 6th July 1553, King Edward VI died, and Robert's father attempted to transfer the English crown to Lady Jane Grey, who was married to Robert's brother, Lord Guildford Dudley.

Robert Dudley, his father and four brothers were imprisoned in the Tower of London, and condemned to death.

His father went to the scaffold.

In the Tower, Dudley's stay coincided with the imprisonment of his childhood friend, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was sent there on suspicion of her involvement in Wyatts rebellion.

Guildford Dudley was sent to the block in February 1554.

The surviving brothers were released in the autumn.

All surviving Dudley children were restored in blood by Mary I's next parliament, in 1558.

On 18th November 1558, the morning after Elizabeth's accession to the throne, he became Master of the Horse.

This was an important court position entailing close attendance on the sovereign.

It suited him, as he was an excellent horseman, and showed great professional interest in royal transport and accommodation, horse breeding, and the supply of horses for all occasions.

Robert Dudley had always been Queen Elizabeth's favorite.

They were forever in each others company, and grew closer and closer.

After the mysterious death of his first wife, Amy Robsart, they grew apart.

The constant accusations, had them both down as orchestrating Amy's murder, so they could be together.

Robert's subsequent remarriage to the queen’s cousin, Lady Lettice Knollys, had the brokenhearted Elizabeth, in tears of rage.

Elizabeth banished them from Court.

Dudley was eventually forgiven, and Elizabeth summoned her childhood friend back to court, and to be in her constant presence.

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, passed away on the 4th of September 1588, at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire, he was 58 years old.

His health had not been good for some time.

Some accounts say he was suffering from malaria, or stomach cancer.

Just a few weeks earlier, he had rode through the Streets of London, with Elizabeth at his side, celebrating the defeat of 'The Spanish Armada'.

Robert's death had come unexpectedly, hitting Queen Elizabeth harder than anything she had been through, before.

A week before he died, Robert had sent Elizabeth, what turned out to be his farewell letter, full of devotion and loyalty to his 'Gloriana'.

The Letter reads.....

“I most humbly beseech your Majesty to pardon your poor old servant to be thus bold, in sending to know how my gracious lady doth, and what ease of her late pains she finds, being the chiefest thing in this world I do pray for, for her to have good health and long life.

For my own poor case, I continue still your medicine and find that (it) amends much better than with any other thing that hath been given me.

Thus hoping to find perfect cure at the bath, with the continuance of my wonted prayer for your Majesty’s most happy preservation, I humbly kiss your foot.

From your old lodging at Rycote, this Thursday morning, ready to take on my Journey, by your Majesty’s most faithful and obedient servant,

Leicester.”

Upon receiving the news of the tragedy, a deeply distressed Elizabeth locked herself in her apartments for several days, grieving for her best friend, and seeing nobody.

William Cecil, eventually had the door broken.

Robert’s last letter, was Elizabeth's most treasured possession.

She inscribed it “His last letter” and kept it in a locked casket, by her bed, until she died in 1603.

Elizabeth and Robert, the man she referred to as her "Eyes", or as "Sweet Robin", were 'in love' for most of their lives.

There is absolutely no real evidence that they were intimate, and on her deathbed, Elizabeth solemnly swore that ~

‘though she loved him dearly…nothing unseemly had ever passed between them’.

.

Source~olivialongueville/Wikipedia.

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

.

Robert Dudley Created: circa 1564.

Formerly attributed to Steven van der Meulen.