The 6 Suitors Of England's Most Famous Queen | Why Did Elizabeth I Never Say 'Yes' To The Dress?

Elizabeth I is possibly the most famous English Queen in history despite having reigned over 400 years ago but Elizabeth's life still raises questions and one of the most prominent is why she never married let's look at her early life and find some possible answers to that question Elizabeth's early life was surprisingly difficult for someone born a princess born on the 7th of September 1533 at Greenwich Palace she was the daughter of King Henry VII and his second wife anbin this itself had caused controversy before Elizabeth was even born Henry had put his first wife Katherine of aragan to one side and his daughter from that marriage Princess Mary was no longer heir to the throne this separation would coincide with a break from the Catholic Church but Henry's main reason for taking another wife was due to wanting a son as his Royal heir therefore when Elizabeth was born she was the heir presumptive to the English throne and she was treated with the opulence and honor expected of her station despite not being a boy Henry publicly was delighted with his new daughter although privately he was disappointed the notices announcing the birth of the royal child had to have an S added on to the word Prince as it had been assumed and predicted a prince would be born not a princess at 3 months old Elizabeth was given her own household at Hatfield house but she still had regular visits from her mother Anne who also ensured she was given the best and most expensive of everything showering her daughter with as much love as she was able however Henry was already growing hired of an just a few months after and after a few more miscarriages and still births that came to nothing he was flirting with one of his Queen consort's ladies in Waiting Jane Seymour Anne had made it very obvious she was not going to leave her position any more quietly than Katherine of aragan had and Henry wanted rid of her charges were trumped up against her that she had committed adultery with not only members of her household and other Nobles but also with her own brother historians today agree almost unanimously that these charges were very likely completely made up in order to remove Anne but unfortunately she was found guilty an was beheaded on the 19th of May 1536 when Elizabeth was just a few months shy of being 3 years old despite not actively having had anything to do with her parents relationship it would have a dramatic effect on Elizabeth's life like her Half Sister Mary she was now declared illegitimate and removed from the royal succession as her father married Jane Seymour just a few days after Anne's death it's uncertain when exactly Elizabeth was told about what had happened she was a very clever child and she asked her governess one day why instead of calling call in her Lady Princess as everyone had before they were now addressing her as Lady Elizabeth it must have been an awkward and emotional conversation and although Henry was emotionally distant he insured Elizabeth received a Renaissance education and she was quick to pick up several languages and could convers on a seemingly endless number of intellectual subjects her governess appointed in 1537 Katherine cat Ashley would not only become the princess's friend until her death but taught her many of the foreign languages she came to know over the years Elizabeth would have several renowned tutors from William grindle who taught her Latin French and Greek and Roger Asam who would also teach Elizabeth philosophy Classics and elements of the Protestant Faith Elizabeth was also skilled with several instruments and loved walking outdoors hunting and dancing her father would then marry Anna Cleaves in a short-lived marriage but she was a kind stepmother to all three children then would come Henry's disastrous marriage to the tragic and young Katherine Howard who would end up meeting the same fate as anbin in February 1542 at just 8 years old Elizabeth had got on well with her youth ful and Kind Third stepmother and Katherine Howard's death hit her hard probably not least because of the Echoes of what had happened to her own mother she apparently said I shall never marry at this point it's not surprising such a young girl had this view in her mind marriage was inextricably tied with death whether that was intentionally through a Tyrant King or unintentionally through the dangers of childbirth Henry's final wife Katherine par would also do her utmost to repair the relationship between the king and his daughters he had barely looked at Elizabeth as she reminded him too much of anbin but par was taken with the sweet and intelligent child the princess had become and she helped soften Henry towards her it was also Katherine par who helped oversee the education of Elizabeth and her influence would only have encouraged the punishing educational schedule the princess was put under but Elizabeth thrived in it she also got on well with her new stepmother and made her a gift of a translation of a poem by margarit of Novar M thees or mirror of the sinful Soul at new years's in 1544 when Elizabeth was just 11 after Henry's death in January 15 47 Elizabeth went to stay with her former stepmother Catherine bored of the newly elaborate rituals at court it was something that would stain her reputation and remain as a question mark over her entire life and weirdly also brings us to sutor number one Thomas Seymour Catherine had against the wishes of the Regency Council married Thomas Seymour Baron seamour more of Sudley Just 4 months after the King's death unknown to Catherine Thomas had actually already pressed his suit to the extremely young Elizabeth just shortly before proposing to Catherine Elizabeth had turned him down but at the age of 14 the young princess was an impressionable and naive teenager and it seems seore had designs on her regardless while Elizabeth stayed with Catherine at the old Manor in Chelsea Thomas would often come into the princess's bedroom wearing only his night gown and slippers and would only stay in the room if she was still in bed it was behavior that horrified cat Ashley but Katherine happy with her first ever pregnancy brushed it off as innocent fun since she still saw Elizabeth as merely a child and perhaps wanted to put her head in the sand a bit about her husband Tom would openly romp with Elizabeth in front of the household servants tickling her and slapping her on the buttocks at times Catherine even joined in showing how suitably gaslit she was by her attractive but manipulative husband we cannot apply modern thinking to a historical situation that we have patchy details for but it still feels very uncomfortable while Elizabeth appears to have had something of a crush on Seymour to start with she also at times appeared uncomfortable Rising early with plenty of maids in her room to ensure she was up and dressed before he arrived eventually Catherine came across Elizabeth and Thomas in each other's arms and she connected the dots it would appear Catherine had attempted to join in with her husband's actions in order to perhaps curtail him or even to make them appear more innocent as she was joining in whatever the case in May 1548 Elizabeth was sent away to Sir Anthony Denny's household at chessen she would maintain contact with Catherine par until her former Stepmother's death through letters Elizabeth wrote a remorseful letter to Catherine for what had happened although whatever did happen could not be considered the fault of a 14-year-old in any era when Catherine died on the 5th of SE September that year Thomas had a few months of genuine grief before he decided to have another go at marrying the princess he once again sent an offer of marriage to Elizabeth and she turned him down flat some historians have suggested cat Ashley liked Seymour and encouraged Elizabeth to go for it but that seems highly unlikely given her shock at his earlier Behavior the princess Elizabeth was shaken up by the events at Chelsea and this was compounded by events in January 1549 Thomas Seymour had attempted to enter the young King Edward's apartment and kidnap him and the sorted details of his behavior with Elizabeth came out then living at Hatfield once again Elizabeth was interrogated by Sir Robert tret who was convinced of her guilt Elizabeth was cool and logical with tret admitting nothing especially as there was no evidence of her having conspired with Thomas Seymour and eventually she and her household were free from suspicion Seymour was found guilty of treason and beheaded on the 20th of March but the whole Affair had left a bad taste in Elizabeth's mouth about men and when connected to her fear of marriage was likely a large factor in her later decision to remain unmarried on the 17th of November M 1558 Elizabeth went from being third in line to becoming Elizabeth the Queen of England at this point regardless of how she may have personally felt about marriage she would have been expected to get herself a husband if only to produce hires for England's throne but it was a complex matter as it had been for her sister Mary any husband of the Queens could possibly make a fuss about not actually ruling the country themselves or they could find England swallowed up into another Empire in the making taking away its independence ideally the Future Husband also had to be Protestant although this itself was complex and not set in stone while Elizabeth certainly leaned towards protestantism she certainly wasn't militant about it the way her brother Edward had been and she liked a lot of Catholic traic ings in ceremonies she made it clear from the start with her famous quote that she had no desire to make Windows into men's Souls that she was happy to allow both faiths to exist if everyone behaved themselves this was different from Mary who had been Catholic and went for a Catholic husband who funnily enough was Elizabeth's first sutor during her Reign enter sutor number two brother-in-law to potential fiance Philip II of Spain Philip's marriage to Mary Had resulted in no children and it was little surpris considering in their marriage of less than 5 years they had only spent about 6 months together but why look across Europe for another wife when you can just look across the palace room from a political point of view it made sense to maintain the connection with England for Spain because it kept a European balance of power but in reality he had already been spotted by some courtiers apparently flirting with Elizabeth even before Mary's death but for Elizabeth she had never flirted back and she still didn't entertain any desire to marry her former brother-in-law aside from the entire argument her father had created over marrying your dead sibling spouse with his brother Arthur and Catherine of aragan which was a load of nonsense in itself there was a whole host of other the reasons Elizabeth didn't want to accept the proposal the first was that she had seen firsthand how unpopular the marriage had been with the English people this was partly because they were worried about England being merged into the hapsburg Empire one day and partly because well the population at that time tended to be somewhat xenophobic and didn't want a foreign King from a Catholic country and the fact Philip was Catholic was it self a sticking point even if Elizabeth ignored this fact there might always be pressure that she should convert and Elizabeth was also well aware of the connection her people made between Mary and Phillip and the unpopular Mass burnings at the stake for supposed Protestant Heretics in Years Gone by another reason was that Elizabeth needed someone who would support her in running her kingdom Phillip was very wrapped up in Spain and his other lands to the point he had hardly been by Mary's side during her Reign it would also cause a conflict if england went to war with another kingdom that wasn't at war with Spain something that had been a problem for Mary as well when Philip had insisted English soldiers were needed in a Spanish War all in all Elizabeth didn't want to marry Phillip but she also didn't want to cause him offense so she did the only sensible thing possible and didn't give him an answer eventually philli would grow tired of waiting for her and ended up marrying Elizabeth valir instead in 1559 a year later however it didn't actually sour the relationship between Elizabeth and philli at first he defended Elizabeth when the pope would threaten her with excommunication and a peace was at first maintained between the two kingdoms it was only years later after Elizabeth had sided with the Dutch Protestants rebelling from the hapsburg Empire and when she had encouraged English privateers to attack Spanish ships especially those coming from the new world that this put an end to that peace but before that Elizabeth still had plenty of other potential husbands to come and one of the most famous would be her favorite sutor number three Robert Dudley first Earl of leester Robert Dudley was an older brother of Guilford Dudley the husband of Lady Jane gray Robert himself had been put in the tower for his part in the whole Affair and Guilford along with their father John Dudley first Duke of North umberland had been executed Robert had also nearly been beheaded but narly escaped due to his mother and brother-in-law Henry Sydney cozying up to the Spanish cour that came with Philip II Robert was also already married to Amy robsart having wedding 1550 a relationship that appears to have become genuinely as a love match however very early on Elizabeth made it clear that while she wanted to have Robert around as her favorite she wasn't going to extend the same Hospitality to Amy when Elizabeth became Queen She also made Robert master of the horse this was a role of great responsibility and he was a good fit as he was an excellent Horseman and had a great interest in the transport and breeding of the Queen's stable however it was also a role which allowed him to touch the Royal person helping Elizabeth on and off her horse by April 1559 he had also been made a knight of the gter and they would often go riding together alone he was also Elizabeth's type he was lean and muscular liked being outdoors and riding and showed off his body in fashionable clothing Robert was very tall at 6 foot goodlooking and had dark hair with a reddish Hue to it just like the queen he had a skill for languages loved music and dancing and loved learning in general it was obvious to any one with eyes that Elizabeth was in love with him she spent most evenings with him the pair laughing and talking together playing music to each other while it's highly likely Elizabeth simply saw a way to have male companionship without the mess of actually marrying him it didn't stop people noticing and thinking the worst obviously the rumor mill started and it had plenty to feed on other courtiers grumbled at how much free time he got with the queen and also at how casual he was with her some worried that his family Ambitions would return others still murmured that the queen had taken him as a lover and was even pregnant with his child when news got around that Amy was Ill with a malady in her breast things intensified there were Whispers that once the poor woman was dead Elizabeth and Robert would marry it must have been heartbreaking for Amy to hear these rumors and she spent most of her time away from Court due to her family's ancestral home being in a state of disrepair she lived mostly with friends in different parts of the country and by September of 1560 Amy was living at cumnor place near Oxford on the 8th of September Sunday Amy sent her household staff away to a fair being held at Abington nearby she seemed to be in an agitated state of mind not quite herself and remained at the house all alone when everyone returned she was found dead at the foot of a flight of stairs apparently having broken her neck Robert was at Windsor with Elizabeth when he found out the news on the 9th of September and he immediately called for an inquest the first worry was that it might have been suicide although no one believed Amy as religious as everyone else of her time would have committed what was considered a mortal sin the inquest found that it was death by misadventure or rather that Amy had fallen down the stairs accidentally causing two head injuries and breaking her neck which caused her death Robert paid for an elaborate funeral for her and didn't return to court for several months while he was in mourning however it wasn't long before malicious talk started around Robert and Amy's death some of it supposedly started by Elizabeth's Chief advisor William cile and the English ambassador to France Nicholas Throckmorton it's almost certain neither really believed Robert had committed murder but it was a useful way to keep him from ever becoming King consort some people now whispered that Amy's death had been planned by Robert and Elizabeth that they had poisoned her for months beforehand or even that Dudley had got his gentleman retainer Sir Richard Vernie to do the deed today the most likely explanation is that Amy's malady in her breast was probably breast cancer and this could possibly have weakened her spine with metastatic cancerous deposits leading to even a short fall easily snapping the poor woman's neck and while at the time Elizabeth tried to ignore the Whispers and never suspected the man she loved of Murder She recognized that if she married Dudley her International reputation would be in tatters forever even at home there were rumors of the nobility rising up if Robert became her consort they would remain friends throughout their lives but nothing more and besides that Elizabeth already had other foreign suitors to contend with although she was getting good at the game of making everyone guess what she was going to do this would be displayed perfectly with Sutter number four Charles II Arch dukee of Austria Charles was a member of the hapsburgs but from the Austrian line at the time they weren't getting on well with the Spanish side of their family and so had Elizabeth married him it would have created some Conflict for England but there were some good factors in in Charles's stad he didn't actually have a principality of his own in 1559 when the offers of marriage began and so his ambassadors argued he would be able to therefore move permanently to England and Aid Elizabeth in running her State Administration and Parliament marrying Charles would also link England to the mighty Habsburg Empire securing it against Spanish threats the only teeny tiny mostly in significant thing they wanted in return was Elizabeth's conversion to the Catholic faith and giving up her independence she probably couldn't think of anything worse Baron Casper Brer Ambassador for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I reported back that although Elizabeth didn't seem keen on the marriage she was also being extraordinarily kind to bruyne himself she kept him close inviting him aboard her barge and to dinners chatting merrily and asking questions about Charles the queen was well aware that the confusion would mean she could keep stringing everyone along while still keeping them happy to stay and alongside Charles was another prospective husband one that had actually been suggested before Elizabeth even became Queen sutor number five Eric the 14th of Sweden Eric had made his suit very plain even rudely so by demanding an answer to his proposal before she was even crowned ever graceful in response Elizabeth simply replied that he should offer marriage once she was actually Queen he did so sending her a gift of expensive tapestries and cloth on top of this despite the pair never actually having seen one another Eric sent passionate love letters to Elizabeth which was a great source of entertainment for her after all who doesn't like having their praises sung an alliance with the Swedish King seemed perfect on the surface he was Protestant and England and Sweden had maintained friendly relations for many years a trade alliance between the two countries would also be very useful however Elizabeth for all her clever traits was still a woman who had been brainwashed by her heartless father and she was nervous of portraits after knowing her father's irritation at an of Cave's images she didn't trust the pictures she was sent but when she was given Eric's portrait she publicly complimented it the Swedish King had been pretty pleased with it as well it's often said that this was the reason Elizabeth then turned him down but in fact that came after he suggested coming in person to visit her Elizabeth had already known noted that a marriage between them would mean Eric had to come and live in England something which realistically would never happen it was obvious her subtle hints at no thank you hadn't worked and so she sent Eric a mildly passive aggressive letter thanking him for the proposal but saying she had no romantic feelings for him and so the answer to the proposal was a clear no in February 1559 9 it turned out to be a wise choice as the Swedish King was mentally unstable and years later after marrying his mistress Corin Mon's daer Eric then murdered several courtiers he suspected of conspiring against him as for Charles II Elizabeth initially turned him down in the same year but her warmth towards the Ambassador gave the hapsburgs hope and they pushed once again with an offer of marriage in 15 64 but again Elizabeth gave maddening answers when Charles's emissaries pushed her for one she replied that she couldn't commit to marrying while she hadn't seen someone face to face but equally she didn't want Charles to visit England either as otherwise she might feel pressured to say yes to marrying him the new Ambassador for Charles Alo DEA Quadra was told by Elizabeth that it was unseemly for Queen and M Aiden to invite someone to be her husband and therefore the arch dukee should do as he saw fit without involving her but equally she continued to ask questions about Charles such as what languages he spoke and what interest he had the negotiations dragged on for another 4 years although at many times Elizabeth gave Hope by seeming to once again consider the match seriously before throwing something in the way which meant she couldn't marry Charles his father also insisted that if they married and Elizabeth died he wanted Charles to succeed her if they had no children by 1568 the queen was now 35 and her chances of having a child were looking slim especially as she continued to maintain that she wish to be celibate with no husband eventually the negotiations would come to a stand still as Elizabeth decided the religious question between them was just too difficult to overcome a few years later in 1571 Charles instead married Maria Anna of Bavaria for his first wife who in true hapsburg style also happened to be his niece now of an age where most women would be winding down child rearing and were considered middle-aged Elizabeth had less offers for her hand but was was still considered a glittering prize she was after all a queen over a strong mostly Protestant financially stable Kingdom and having an heir wasn't impossible either anyone who did marry her even without an air might be able to take her throne afterwards and remarry in the 1570s Elizabeth began to consider a French match years before wanting to prevent the alliance with between England and Austria Catherine deichi had sent a shortlived offer of marriage from her son Charles the 9th of France at the time the French King was only 14 years old to Elizabeth's 31 years and the idea of marrying him gave the English Queen obvious ick however in later years she would consider a marriage to Henry juk vonu who would later become Henry III of France in 15 70 however due to the fact he was Catholic and 18 years her Junior it's likely Elizabeth never really considered this proposal with any seriousness it was meant purely to stir up concern from Spain however Elizabeth would end up taking an offer from Henry's younger brother slightly more seriously enter Sut number six Francis jukov vonu in 157 2 at the time Francis was not what we might delicately call Elizabeth's type the poor young man had caught small pox while still a child as Elizabeth herself had as a young woman but unlike Elizabeth it had left Francis with pitting and scars on his face he also apparently had a deformed spine and reports of his looks were not favorable but his mother Catherine declared that his beard just coming in at 17 years old would cover the worst of the scarring and an alliance between France and England would have mean a powerful buffer against Spain for both of them on top of this Francis was considered to otherwise be healthy and strong and his conviction to Catholicism was Far flimsier than his brothers Elizabeth was by now nearly 40 the large age gap between herself and Francis was what worried her the most although she also wondered if she might be able to use the matter of his disfiguring small pox marks to have Cal thrown into a marriage Alliance but the small matter of Charles the 9th deciding to kill off his hugenot subjects in August 1572 in the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre put a halt to proceedings with Elizabeth quite understandably saying she would never consider a French match while their Protestant sub subjects were being targeted it wasn't until July 1573 that Charles announced his subjects should be free to follow religion as they saw fit and negotiations resumed finally in March 1574 it was agreed that Francis would come to visit Elizabeth in England something that had not been extended to any other sutor while everyone was fully aware that this marriage would not be as easy as one in her youth might have been due to the age Gap and the fact it was highly likely no children would come of it Elizabeth's advisers still hoped this might be the one however the meeting didn't happen Francis was implicated in an Intrigue against his brother Henry who had become king in May 1574 and had been placed under house arrest Francis escaped and joined forces with Henry I Prince aond and Henry king of naar and their combined strength was enough to convince his brother Henry III to sign the Edict of buou on the 6th of May 1576 not only did this edict allow hugenots the right of public worship for their religion but it also gave secret treaties to those who had forced Henry's hand Francis gained the duy of onju along with other lands becoming the Duke of onju as his brother Henry also remained childless Francis was now also next in line for the French throne his new position went to his head a little and he began to place himself as a protector of French Protestants positioning himself as a potential leader for the Dutch people as well Elizabeth did not want Francis meddling in Dutch Affairs and she realized one way to keep him from that would be to possibly reopen the negotiations for marriage equally it was an attractive Prospect for Francis politically at least the English Queen may now have been wearing wigs and thick makeup but she was still a powerful ruler with a financially strong country at the French Court Francis was considered a nuisance and he still yearned for a crown of his own it seemed a good solution and he made the first move in around 1578 by sending a letter declaring his Devotion to Elizabeth the queen would be moved to chase what would be her final courtship for other reasons as well Robert Dudley was still kept constantly close to Elizabeth's side as her friend and advisor but that hadn't stopped him from pursuing romantic Affairs and he had at least one illegitimate son by 1574 but sometime around 1573 he had taken up with another lover letis NS she was a cousin once removed of Elizabeth herself and at the time was married to Walter Deo first Earl of Essex they had previously flirted many years before in the summer of 1565 and the Queen's jealousy had been made vly known then Essex went to Ireland in July 1576 and died of dentry in September once again the ugly head of poisoning and murder accusations reared up but an inquest found nothing suspicious on the 21st of September 1578 latis and Robert were secretly married and it would be another 9 months before it was publicly made known to Elizabeth she was brokenhearted at what she saw as a betrayal and was angry that her permission for the marriage had not been sought out reportedly she took this out on Leti when she turned up at Court one day boxing the poor woman's ears eventually she would forgive Robert and allow him to return to court but she never extended the same courtesy to letis but it was at least a line drawn under their relationship and Elizabeth had to do away with the fantasy she would ever be able to marry the man she loved but this allowed her to really consider marrying Francis instead and negotiation got underway once again by November 1579 Francis had sent one of his favorite cours to England in order to prepare Elizabeth for what he called his frenzied wooing sending 12,000 crowns with of jewels as well she in exchange sent him a portrait miniature of herself as well as a pair of fine gloves Elizabeth also kept with her at all times a tiny geming crust Ed book Francis had sent for her it's not strange that she might have changed her mind on marriage at this point with the Vigor of Youth she had been steadfast in her belief to remain a Virgin Queen but as she grew older it's likely Elizabeth grew lonely for male companionship she no longer had this with her beloved ear of Lester and the jke of anju's pockmarked face and difference in age suddenly didn't seem as important anymore but still she was anxious that Francis only wanted her for her crown and determined they needed to meet in person but although some of Elizabeth's Council were delighted she was finally considering marriage and thought Francis was a good choice many courtiers were still against the match due to the dukee being French and Catholic nevertheless on the 17th of August 1579 Francis finally arrived at Greenwich to secretly visit the queen eager to meet his new potential bride at Sunset Elizabeth snuck out of the palace with one of her ladies to dine with Francis and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw due to the many rumors and reports of his looks she had expected a disfigured misshapen short man covered in scars on his face and instead she found an attractive young man with dark hair and sparkling eyes witty and far more handsome than she had been led to believe she declared I have never in my life seen a creature more agreeable to me Francis gave her a frog-shaped earring which Elizabeth would wear throughout their courtship and she nicknamed him her little frog although it's not clear if this was due to the earring or the unflattering slang nickname sometimes given by the English to French people whatever the truth there was an unmistakable attraction between the odd pair and Protestants in the country were outraged whereas before Francis would probably have willingly changed religion to marry Elizabeth as the heir to the French throne he now had to remain a Catholic or risk losing it he had to leave late in August and on his departure Elizabeth penned a short poem titled on monu's departure lamenting Francis needing to leave her side he left his Ambassador behind to finalized the marriage however Elizabeth's subjects reacted strongly against the match writing pamphlets condemning the marriage on the Juke and many of Elizabeth's advisers warned about religious riots breaking out on English soil the queen must have sadly realized her marriage to Francis could never really really happen but she had to maintain the illusion of it to keep friendly relations with France when French emissaries were sent in 1581 to draw up the terms for the marriage Elizabeth surprised them by stating she might not wish to marry Francis at all but she still wished to have an alliance of Friendship with him Francis himself was therefore forced in November running out of resources in the Netherlands to visit a Elizabeth himself once more the pair once again slipped into behaving as lovers and the young Duke was even overheard to have said he longed day and night to be allowed into Elizabeth's bed to show her what a fine companion he could be the queen even publicly stated in front of witnesses the jke of onju would be her husband kissing him on the lips and exchanging rings with him as a gesture of her pledge in front of witnesses it was as good as a formal betral but just two days later she told Francis that for the sake of her subjects even though privately she felt differently she could not marry him Francis initially accepted this and in exchange Elizabeth offered him a loan of £60,000 to lead a Dutch campaign against the Spanish in December however at the end of the month he was still at the English Court determined somehow he would still marry Elizabeth and he burst into tears when she said he must from that point on think of her only as a sister finally by February 1582 Francis had left and by then Elizabeth was taken with another of her famous favorites Sir Walter Raley the Duke of onu would be the last of Elizabeth's serious suitors and from that point on she would in she was married to her kingdom and her subjects she had in the years she remained unmarried created a cult of personality around herself based on the iconography of the Virgin Queen this would now be the Persona Elizabeth leaned heavily into for the rest of her life recognizing she really would never marry she would continue to have favorites but these were never more than flattery and compliments to a renowned but aging Queen and Elizabeth enjoyed them but was well aware of what they were only two men ever came really close to claiming her heart both at different times of her life Robert Dudley was her childhood friend and sweetheart and her love for him was never really broken after she died a letter from him was found in her belongings marked with words in her hand his love last letter the unfortunate events of his family and the death of his first wife ensured Elizabeth could not marry him as she unlike her father chose her country and subjects over her own desires and Francis juk of onju was an unlikely contender in the contest to marry the English Queen but it seems to too connected regardless of their difference in age and religion he seems to have been genuinely heartbroken at her refusal in the end to marry him and Elizabeth seems to have agonized over the decision in a way that shows she also at least at some point really did consider marrying her little frog it's not difficult to imagine why Elizabeth took the route she did into celibacy and remaining single as a child she must have been traumatized by the knowledge of how her mother Anne and her stepmother Katherine Howard both both died the connection of marriage to death colored her youthful thinking on the subject and the dangers of the heart were brought sharply home with the Tangled events of Thomas Seymour when she came to the throne of England as a young woman her intelligence and logic won out over her heart and Elizabeth calmly rejected offers from Europe cleverly stringing them along for years it was only in her later years recognizing ing the last possible attempt she might become a wife Elizabeth wavered in her decision to remain unmarried but remaining the Virgin Queen would ensure the safety of England for decades to come the unity of Scotland and England by passing her throne to James II of Scotland and cementing her Legacy as a legend for generations to come if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like And subscribe so you don't miss any new documentaries [Music]

Channel: History's Forgotten People

Views: 18,767

Keywords: queen elizabeth i, queen elizabeth, elizabeth i, elizabethan history, 16th century history, tudor history, why didn't elizabeth I marry, robert dudley, thomas seymour, francis duke of anjou, charles archduke of austria, erik XIV of sweden, Philip II of Spain, elizabeth I suitors

Id: ti1b8ljeH8I

Length: 44min 47sec (2687 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2024