Queen Elizabeth I facts and myths

Elizabeth had many lovers - MYTH

Famously, Elizabeth lived and died as the 'Virgin Queen', resistant to being married off and obviously childless.

However, Elizabeth had many favourites and close friends who were men, including Robert Dudley, Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, and Robert Devereux, as well as many prominent suitors, including many of the crown rulers of Europe and their heirs.

We may never know if Elizabeth had non-platonic relationships with any of them, though no evidence has ever conclusively proved that she took lovers or companions before or after taking the crown.

Elizabeth loved a sweet - FACT

Elizabeth had a notoriously sweet tooth, and had a particular taste for candied violets. Eventually, the sugar cane caused many of her teeth to go black. 

Elizabeth was declared illegitimate - FACT

Her father Henry VIII declared Elizabeth to be illegitimate and she only returned to the line of succession under the king's Third Succession Act in 1543. 

Elizabeth spoke and read at least seven languages - FACT

Supposedly, Elizabeth spoke five languages fluently by the age of eleven, and continued to learn bits of other languages, including German, as she grew older. Before long she could speak or read English, Welsh, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, and Italian.

Elizabeth nearly married Thomas Seymour - FACT

Thomas Seymour, the husband of her father Henry VIII’s final wife, Catherine Parr, and the uncle of her younger half-brother, Edward VI, was executed for attempting to get the young Elizabeth to marry him.

While to this day we only have partial accounts of what took place between them, this episode has been much-discussed in both historical and fictional accounts of the Queen’s reign.

Elizabeth was a natural redhead - FACT

Portraits of Elizabeth typically depict the queen with flaming red hair and an extremely white complexion. Earlier depictions of Elizabeth suggest that her red hair was natural; her ultra-white face was created through lead-based make-up that may have led to health issues in her later life.

Elizabeth was a murder suspect - FACT

Elizabeth came under suspicion when the wife of her favourite, Robert Dudley, died under mysterious circumstances. This story has become a favourite for writers of mysteries and thrillers to explore in their novels.

Elizabeth was a bit Catholic - FACT

Despite ruling as a Protestant monarch, Elizabeth adhered to her sister’s Catholicism during Mary’s reign.

Elizabeth I was a man - MYTH

Many misogynists and conspiracy theorists have argued that, due to her extraordinary leadership qualities, noted academic brilliance, and financial acumen, Elizabeth must have been a man. An overwhelming amount of evidence declares this notion to be false and discriminatory.

Elizabeth nearly married her sister's husband - FACT

Mary’s husband, Philip II of Spain, proposed to Elizabeth after Mary’s death. Mary and Philip were cousins, and Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, had divorced Mary’s mother in part because he became convinced it was wrong for a man to marry his brother’s wife. Philip apparently had less compunction about creating a parallel situation with Elizabeth. Elizabeth turned Philip down and eventually fought a war against him, the Spanish Armada.

Find out more about the Spanish Armada

Elizabeth wrote Shakespeare’s plays - MYTH

Conspiracy theorists have proposed that Elizabeth, a gifted wit and writer herself, might have written some or all of Shakespeare’s plays. This argument often has classist origins – many scholars have been reluctant to ascribe some of the greatest works of literature of all time to the son of a glover from Stratford – and is almost certainly false.

Elizabeth was a survivor - FACT

Queen Elizabeth survived smallpox as a young woman, though none of the portraits of her show the scars she probably had from the disease.