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The love story that rocked the court of Queen Elizabeth I
Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester, was one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourite ladies-in-waiting. But the two went from friends to enemies over an incident in 1578 that was so serious, it made the Queen’s blood boil and saw Lettice banished from court for the rest of the Queen’s life.
But what did Lettice do to incur the Queen’s wrath? It was all over a love triangle; 16th Century style. Lettice infuriated the monarch by secretly marrying the man many believed to be Elizabeth’s one true love, Robert Dudley.
On learning the news that the two had wed, the Queen was heard to yell at Lettice, “As but one sun lightened the Earth, she would have but one queen in England,” before smacking her across the ear and sending her away from court forever.
It wasn’t so much that Lettice had married in secret — and without the Queen’s permission — but the fact she’d “stolen” Robert Dudley from Her Majesty. It was an unforgivable betrayal.
According to historian Nicola Tallis, the Spanish ambassador the Count de Feria wrote about Elizabeth in 1559, “They say she is in love with Lord Robert and never lets him leave her.”
At the time, England was rocked by rumours that the Queen and Robert were “more than friends”, with some spreading the word that “Her Majesty visits him in his chamber day and night”.
Nicole Tallis wrote: “Dudley had already won Elizabeth’s heart, but romantic attachment was not her sole consideration. Dudley would spend more than a decade attempting to persuade her to become his wife.
“At times Elizabeth seemed to consider it, toying and tormenting him as she persistently refused to give him a definitive answer. This was such a source of frustration to Dudley that, in 1565, he resorted to provoking her jealousy in order to sting her into a decision.”
And that decision involved Lettice Knollys, who was nearly a decade younger than Queen Elizabeth but said to be very similar to her in appearance; both women had striking red hair. They were also related; Lettice’s grandmother was the…
