Elizabeth & Leicester: Power, Passion, Politics

Queen Elizabeth I’s affection for Robert Dudley is the subject of Sarah Gristwood’s wonderful joint biography. She sifts sources and accounts and it really does feel as though she gets as close as possible to understanding this passionate, intriguing relationship. She looks steadily at Elizabeth’s failings – her vanity, playacting and procrastination - while examining dispassionately the demanding expectations on Elizabeth as monarch. The House of Commons petitioned it would be ‘contrary to public respects’ if she remained ‘unmarried and, as it were, a vestal virgin’. In answer she explained: ‘I haply chose this kind of life in which I yet live, which I assure you for mine own part hath hitherto best contented myself show more and I trust hath been most acceptable to God.’

Her perplexed contemporaries hoped that Elizabeth’s great games of courtship would end happily. Elizabeth by contrast preferred her independence than marrying and surrendering her sovereignty and besides she had a great friendship of devotion, flirtation, adoration and gifts with the delectable Dudley. Yet, as Gristwood demonstrates, for Dudley there was a great cost – loathed by fellow courtiers as ‘the gypsy’, his own frustrated ambition and muddled relationships with other women. They continued loving, fighting and reconciling until his death in 1588 and then it continued almost beyond the grave. There was a terrible almost deadly coda with Elizabeth’s affection and indulgence of Dudley’s step-son, Essex. ‘What ifs’ are of doubtful use but the Scottish ambassador Melville said: ‘she would have chosen Lord Robert, her brother and best friend, but ... [was] determined to end her life in virginity’. Her decision was unique, inspired and successful and in stark contrast to the desperate failures of Mary Tudor and Mary Stuart. show less

I'm fascinated by Elizabeth's relationship with Robert Dudley and this is the best book I have found that talks about it. Solid scholarship and using a knowledge of the human condition to inform her suppositions, this is the book to read if the relationship fascinates you as well.

If you're unfamiliar with the life of Queen Elizabeth I and the people who surrounded her you might find this book a little overwhelming. But if you've read a fair share of biographies about the queen you'll find this one to be illuminating, certainly an accomplishment given all that has been published. This author may do to Leicester, what Antonia Fraser did for the revision of Marie Antoinette in history. By the books end, and after a very thorough analysis of the relationship and a respectful debate about the various perceptions of Leicester, you really have to revise your opinion of the man, and of the virgin queen. I had recently seen the brilliant new film with the goddess Cate Blanchett, and found the book an excellent companion show more piece to the film, or vice versa. show less

A good look at the Elizabeth and Robert Dudley relationship. Gristwood does a good job of tracing the relationship through its various phases, even though the evidence is thin for their early years. Nevertheless, Gristwood takes the reader through the ups and downs, scandals and pitfalls, of Elizabeth and Dudley's relationship, giving a real sense of each of their personalities and shortcomings. A good read for those interested in Elizabethan history.

This is a delightful love story which doesn't necessarily follow the traditional requirements for a Romeo-and-Juliet type of romance, however this one lasted for at least 30 years and beyond the grave and was certainly a formidable partnership. The book deals with much more than the first 18 months of Elizabeth's reign which are usually cited as the duration of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley"s "affair" and you get a real sense of the depth of their connection. Very touching, very moving and very readable

Finally in paperback. Nice to see all these details pulled together in this concise, readable study of bonny Robert Dudley, the Queen's favorite. I was particularly charmed by the section about Robert's surviving book of accounts and the homely details it revealed about his later life when he was married to Lettice Knollys.

Loved it. She truly nailed their relationship (or, rather, she truly nailed what I believe to have been their relationship) and this is going to be a main source for my Regina series....