by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

Favorite: a person treated with special or undue favor by a king, queen, or another royal person

Born on June 24, 1532, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was the sixth but the fifth surviving of the eight sons and the seventh of the thirteen children of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and Jane Guildford. Robert and his siblings received an excellent humanistic education from Roger Ascham, John Dee, and Thomas Wilson.

Robert had twelve siblings but only seven survived childhood:

• Henry Dudley (1525 – 1545), married Winifred Rich, no children; died at the Siege of Boulogne
• Thomas Dudley (circa 1526 – 1528), died in early childhood
• John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick (circa 1527 – 1554), married Anne Seymour, daughter of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, no children
• Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick (circa 1528 – 1590), married (1) Anne Whorwood, had one son who died in infancy (2) Elizabeth Tailboys, 4th Baroness Tailboys, no children (3) Anne Russell, no children
• Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney (1531 – 1586), married Sir Henry Sidney, had seven children including the poets Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke; served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I
• Henry Dudley (circa 1531 – 1557), married Margaret Audley, no children, killed in the Battle of St. Quentin
• Guildford Dudley (circa 1535 – 1554), married Lady Jane Grey, no issue, beheaded
• Charles Dudley (1537 – 1542), died in childhood
• Katherine Dudley, Countess of Huntingdon (1544 – 1620), married Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, no children
• Temperance Dudley (died in 1552), died in childhood
• Catherine Dudley, died in childhood
• Margaret Dudley, died in childhood

Robert served at the court of King Henry VIII and then at the court of King Edward VI as a companion to Edward. At the beginning of the reign of King Edward VI, Robert’s father was created Earl of Warwick. By 1550, he headed the Privy Council as Lord Protector and was the de facto ruler of England. John Dudley was created Duke of Northumberland in 1551. Robert’s mother Jane had served as a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves, King Henry VIII’s second and fourth wives.

On June 4, 1550, Robert married, in the presence of young King Edward VI, Amy Robsart, daughter and heir of Sir John Robsart of Syderstone and Elizabeth Scott. Lord Robert, as he was styled as a duke’s son, became an important local gentleman in Amy’s home shire, Norfolk, and served as a Member of Parliament for Norfolk in 1551–52, and 1553 and 1559.

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, Robert’s father, was the mastermind in the scheme to put Lady Jane Grey, the wife of his son Guildford, on the English throne after the death of fifteen-year-old King Edward VI on July 6, 1553, most likely from tuberculosis. Lady Jane was the eldest of the three daughters of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Brandon. Her mother Lady Frances was the elder of the two surviving children of King Henry VIII’s younger sister Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk.  Jane’s reign lasted for nine days. In the Duke of Northumberland’s absence, the Privy Council switched their allegiance from Jane to Mary, the elder daughter of King Henry VIII, and proclaimed her Queen on July 19, 1553. The Duke of Northumberland was executed on August 22, 1553. Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were executed on February 12, 1554.

Robert and his brothers John, Ambrose, and Henry were imprisoned at the Tower of London and condemned to death for signing the letters patent in which their sister-in-law Lady Jane Grey was declared Queen of England. The brothers were held in the Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London where they made carvings in the walls. John carved their heraldic devices with his name “IOHN DVDLI” which can still be seen. Robert’s mother Jane Dudley and his brother-in-law Sir Henry Sidney were busy befriending the Spanish nobles around Queen Mary’s new husband, Prince Philip of Spain, hoping they would use their influence to have the Dudley brothers released. In October 1554, John, Ambrose, Henry, and Robert Dudley were released due to their efforts. Robert’s brother John died shortly after his release from the Tower of London. The Dudley brothers were slowly welcomed back to court. The status of the surviving Dudley children was restored by Parliament in 1558.

Queen Mary I died on November 17, 1558, and her younger half-sister came to the throne as Queen Elizabeth I. Because Robert had been a companion of Elizabeth’s half-brother King Edward VI, the two were well-acquainted and it was natural for the new queen to turn to him to be one of her most trusted courtiers. The day after her accession to the throne, Elizabeth named Robert her Master of the Horse. Although it is a ceremonial role today, it was an important role in Tudor times. The Royal Household was divided into three departments. The Lord Chamberlain was responsible for the “chamber” or the household above stairs. The Lord Steward was responsible for the kitchens and domestic duties or the household below stairs. The Master of the Horse was responsible for the household outside including royal transportation, horses, horse breeding, hounds, kennels, stables, coaches, and mews. These three men were considered to be the Great Officers of the sovereign’s court and were also members of the Privy Council. Robert was also responsible for organizing a large part of Elizabeth’s coronation festivities.

By 1559, rumors were swirling that Robert was always at Elizabeth’s side and that Elizabeth seemed to be in love with him. In England and throughout Europe, rumors that lasted during the rest of Elizabeth’s life circulated that Elizabeth and Robert had children. Several diplomats reported back to their counties that some courtiers speculated that Elizabeth would marry Robert “in case his wife should die”, as Amy was “very ill in one of her breasts,” probably meaning breast cancer. Robert’s wife Amy Robsart did not come to court. Robert visited her for four days at Easter 1559 and Amy came to London for a month during the summer of 1559. That was the last time they saw each other.

A year later, on the morning of September 8, 1560, at Cumnor Place in Cumnor near Oxford, England, Amy sent her servants away and later was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a broken neck and two wounds on her head. The coroner’s inquest found that she had died of a fall downstairs and died by “misfortune” or accidental death. Robert was at Windsor Castle with Elizabeth and was told of his wife’s death by a messenger on September 9. Amy Dudley’s death caused a scandal. Despite the verdict of the coroner’s inquest, Robert was widely suspected of arranging his wife’s death although this view is not shared by most modern historians. For the rest of his life, Robert remained Elizabeth’s closest favorite but she could not risk a marriage with him because of the negative effect it would have on her reputation.

Robert’s apartments at court were next to Elizabeth’s. For many years, he was rarely allowed to leave court because his presence was essential for Elizabeth’s well-being. Robert was often Elizabeth’s unofficial consort on ceremonial occasions. He assumed control of court ceremonials and was responsible for organizing innumerable festivities. In 1564, Elizabeth created Robert Earl of Leicester.

On September 21, 1578, at his country house Wanstead Hall in Essex, Robert married Lettice Knollys. Lettice was the widow of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, and the mother of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who would become Queen Elizabeth I’s favorite. Her parents were Sir Francis Knollys and Catherine Carey, daughter of Mary Boleyn, sister of Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn. Therefore, Catherine was Elizabeth I’s first cousin, and Lettice Knollys her first cousin once removed. Robert feared Elizabeth’s reaction to his marriage and insisted that it be kept secret. However, Elizabeth found out about the marriage two months later. She banished Lettice permanently from court. She never forgave her cousin and never accepted the marriage. Although Robert remained at court, he was alternately humiliated in public by Elizabeth and treated as fondly as always. Robert and Lettice had one child who died in childhood, Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh (1581 – 1584).

Robert remained a powerful and important political figure for the rest of his life. From the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign in 1558 until his death in 1588, Robert was one of her most conscientious privy councilors. Robert and William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (Lord Burghley) were considered the most powerful and important political figures of Elizabeth I’s reign and worked intimately with her.

In July 1588, as the Spanish Armada came closer to the coast of England, Elizabeth appointed Robert Lieutenant and Captain-General of the Queen’s Armies and Companies. On August 19, 1588, when Queen Elizabeth I gave her famous Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, a bareheaded Robert walked beside her horse. However, Robert had been in ill health for some time. Modern historians suspect the illness was malaria or stomach cancer.

On his way to take the healing baths in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, aged 56, died at Cornbury Park near Oxford, England, on September 4, 1588. Elizabeth was extremely upset and locked herself in her rooms for a few days until Lord Burghley ordered the door to be broken down. Six days before Robert’s death, Elizabeth had received a letter from him. She kept the letter, labeled “his last letter” in her bedside treasure box for the rest of her life. At his request, Robert was buried in the Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Warwick, England, where his son had been buried. Lettice survived her husband by 46 years, dying on December 25, 1634, aged 91. She was buried with her husband in a tomb she had erected opposite the tomb of their son.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Amy Robsart. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Robsart> [Accessed 29 November 2020].
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• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lettice Knollys. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettice_Knollys> [Accessed 29 November 2020].
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• Weir, Alison, 2011. The Children Of Henry VIII. New York: Random House Publishing Group.
• Weir, Alison., 2013. The Life Of Elizabeth I. New York: Random House Publishing Group.