Elizabeth I. Ruthless ruler, jealous lover? #shorts #shortsfeed #shortvideo #history

Elizabeth I. Ruthless ruler, jealous lover? #shorts #shortsfeed #shortvideo #history

Despite being known as the ‘Virgin Queen’, salacious rumour and scandal from the Tudor court imply that Queen Elizabeth I had a long string of lovers throughout her life. Perhaps one of the most scandalous of these lovers was Robert Dudley.

The relationship between the queen and her favourite came under scrutiny when Dudley’s wife, Amy, died suddenly in 1560. Found at the bottom of a staircase with a broken neck, rumours swirled as to whether Amy’s death was a tragic accident, suicide, or the result of a murder.

What made the mystery more interesting was that all the staff in the Dudley household were out for the day at the local fair, meaning that no one in the home would witness the cause of her fall, or provide first aid.

Suspicions turned towards Elizabeth as the mastermind behind the ‘accident’ as she had grown weary of having to share Dudley. Rumours vary from Elizabeth hiring assassins to push Amy Dudley down the stairs, to having her poisoned in the weeks leading up to her death. The truth, however, is lost to time.