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When Elizabeth's father Henry VIII died, Elizabeth remained with her stepmother, Catherine Parr. Catherine later married Thomas Seymour, who Elizabeth supposedly loved and who might have been her first love. After an uncomfortable closeness developed between them, she was sent to live with Sir Anthony Denny in Cheshunt. Denny had been a close confidant of Henry VIII.

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15y ago
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15y ago

Well a great subject of historical debate in my opinion but sadly one that will never be answered in full. However it can be noted that Elizabeth I had a number of admirers, particularly the most famous, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Elizabeth came very close to marrying Lord Robert, but faced great opposition from William Cecil who was Chief Advisor to the Queen.

Unfortunately for Lord Robert or the Queen, depending on how you view the topic, a number of factors led to the impractiability of marriage between Dudley and Elizabeth.

- The Dudley family name was already tarnished by many previous Dudley's actions, particularly his father John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland who led the coup to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Robert Dudley was involved with this along with his father and brother, and narrowly escaped death. Cecil was always very wary of this. (coincidently Lord Roberts stay in the Tower of London coincided with that of Elizabeth herself)

-During the reign of Mary I upon Robert Dudleys release and pardon he married Amy Robsart. Who later died a mysterious death. Elizabeth I was rumoured to have been involved and so had to distance herself. (1560). Robert never fully recovered from this, possibly due to Cecil's influence and power at court.

-Dudley then proposed in 1561 to Philip II to restore Roman Catholicism in England in return for Philip's endorsement of Dudley's marriage to Elizabeth. Dudley had a close relationship with Philips government, as when he was released from the Tower along with some of his brothers he served in Philips army against the French.

-1563/64 Elizabeth realising that marriage to Robert was a growing impossibility, proposed Robert Dudley to Mary Queen of Scots to nulify her claim to the English throne. This was rebuked as Mary married her cousin, Lord Darnley.

-1569 the Earl of Leicester was implicated in the Rising of the North, an attempt to place Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. However ntohing concrete of Dudleys involvement was found and again in 1571 he came close to being implicated in the Ridolfi Plot. It is also at this time that Robert becomes closer to the Puritan factions amid Elizabeths tighter control and possible persecution of the Catholics.

Lord Robert remained a close 'ally' of sorts of the Queens, however many doubted his true intentions at court and in life. He later commanded Protestants forces in the Netherlands, again going into disgrace by declaring himself Lord of the Netherlands and again married possibly bigamously again, with one wife dieing again a mysterious death. I firmly believe that Elizabeth I had no intentions of marrying Lord Robert, after all he had opposed her accession to the throne in favour of Lady Jane Grey. I believe as the true Tudor she was that she played Lord Robert for the greater good of the country.

Also possible 'lovers' if you can call them that was the Duke of Anjou, heir to the throne of France of whom Elizabeth I refered to as her Frog, due to an earing shaped like a Frog he gave her. In 1579 talks opened however due to pressure from the Protestants, opposed to Anjous Catholic religion and the peoples hatred of the French laid to the marriage contracts falling down in 1581. Elizabeth saddened penned Anjou a good bye note On Monsieur's Departure.

I would also mention here, Thomas Seymour, brother of Protector Somerset and Uncle of King Edward VI. Elizabeth during her teens lived with Seymour and the Dowager Queen, Katherine Parr. Seymour became obsessed with Elizabeth and it is suggested that Seymour openly abused her, which some suggest led to Elizabeths self styling as the Virgin Queen.

This may be a long answer but my opinion on the subject is that Elizabeth never had any lovers at all. A complete opposite stlye to her mother, Anne who went hell for leather to seduce Henry VIII. I will add the charges laid against Anne were trumped up however I believe that this scarred Elizabeth and shaped her into the Virgin Queen. It is also suggested that Elizabeth used her single status as a method of appeasing all in her realm and abroad.

As for any other lovers, documents of this nature are few and far between. Henry VIII did research the possiblity of marriage contracts with other countries particularly the French but that ended when the French and the Holy Roman Empire negoiated peace.

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16y ago

There's no evidence to refute the status of Elizabeth First as a Virgin Queen. Many people doubt it, based primarily on a general doubt on anyone powerful and beautiful remaining a virgin throughout life, but no one has ever been able to find proof she ever actually "did the deed." She had a general mistrust of men, based on incidents from her childhood (both her father's callous treatment of his wives and on the scandal involving her stint as Thomas Seymour's ward), plus the man she truly loved (Robert Dudley, later Earl of Leicester) was never "available" to her because of his marriages to other women and the scandal of his first wife's death. The Earl of Essex (Dudley's stepson) was famous as a favorite of Elizabeth's later in her reign, but she was decades older than he was; her "favoritism" wasn't sexual, at least in that case.

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13y ago

Queen Elizabeth I was rumoured to be in love with Robert Dudley.

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13y ago

lots of people and i think 2 were Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Fransis Drake

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14y ago

It is said that Elizabeth I was in love with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.

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13y ago

She married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in November of 1947. They had four children and are still married today. Philip is now the Duke of Edinburgh.

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13y ago

Essex

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Q: Who was Queen Elizabeth I first love?
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