Elizabeth: not a virgin?

Elizabeth depicted herself as the Virgin Queen, but her decision not to marry may have been the result of a traumatic experience she had as a young woman. After Henry's death Elizabeth became infatuated with Catherine Parr's husband Thomas Seymour and may have had an affair with him as he was regularly seen entering the 14 year old princess's chamber. Seymour's beheading in 1549 must have traumatised the young Elizabeth who remained a lifelong spinster despite having many suitors in the early years of her reign and several younger boyfriends later in life


Edited by Nick1986 - 12-May-2012 at 21:39

I think she didn't marry not because of some psychological trauma, she was far too strong for that, but because of very real political reasons. All the marriage scenarios woudld have pose political problems:
1. if she had married a foreign monarch, she may had to choose between the interests of her people, and of people pf her husband
2. if she had married a British noble, this would bring internal political problems with other nobles
3. if she had married some insignificant princeling, this would bring any political advantages on the international scene, but he may have grown ambition and created problems.
4. in any of those cases she would been trapped in a role of married woman and a mother, and not  a prince. Marriage doen't have advantages for a woman, it mostly creates problems.

Besides, with being a spinster she had a leverage over her nobles - she could always use her remaining alone, as she did, when needed, to push buttons and get what she wanted from them. Last but not least, she could dangle herself as a prize to extract diplomatic compliance, as she did for quite a long time.

So, choosing spinsterhood was a very good decision, I think, for the time and mores she lived in, and for her personal situation; and I believe it was a conscious decision, since she would only lose from marriage, and gained nothing.

As for being a virgin or not, this I think we cannot know for sure, we can only guess; I rather think she had a full-blown love story, one at least, than going on dreams all her life.



Edited by Don Quixote - 12-May-2012 at 22:46

Nah, I don't get this feel while reading about her. She loved to flirt, /and lead men by the nose/, enjoyed dancing with men for hours, and had at least one love story  - with Robert Dudley, and kept his letters in a box...this is a red-blooded man's woman, if I ever saw one.

She had the affair, what is not clear is was it consummated or not. As for a child, I doubt that, if it was true it would appear at some point, and she wouldn't have to leave the crown to James I of Scotland /which actually worked better from political POV, because it forever joined Scotland to England, in a peaceful way that no war would assure so well/.

There actually was a madman from Norwich (i think) who claimed to be Elizabeth's son in the 1590s and demanded his birthright. He was whipped and expelled from the town: a lucky escape when compared to the equally insane William Hacket who was hung for treason

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex is Elizabeth's best-known alleged lover. He gave her what some believe to be an engagement ring that she wore until her death. She deeply regretted beheading him for treason in 1601

Originally posted by unclefred Perhaps she was a closeted lesbian?

Highly unlikely, although many believe she couldn't have children

Originally posted by Centrix Vigilis A lesbian? Nope.... tough ole bitch to the end and fairly attractive....but she was about as much a lesbian as I am gay.   And that dog don't hunt.

Thank you for clearing that up for us!  I'll sleep a lot better tonight.

I support the theory that she was a spinster - not a virgin - for political reasons, and because she was strong willed and did not want to share the throne or the decisions that rule entailed.

I'm a little hazy on the whole Queen-King thing, though.  If someone marries a Queen, does he automatically become a King, or does he become the Prince Consort, as Phillip is now?

Does a princess who marries a King automatically become a queen, or is that a case-by-case decision made by the King she married?

Back in those days someone who married a queen did become a king and ruler. No-one in England fancied Dudley as a king, so her council did their best to stop it.

Edited by Toltec - 04-Sep-2012 at 21:50

Originally posted by Toltec Back in those days someone who married a queen did become a king and ruler. No-one in England fancied Dudley as a king, so her council did their best to stop it.

Thanks for that info.  I suspected as much, and it does  much to explain the reluctance of rulers to share.

Kings, of course, needed some young queen to produce a royal male heir, but no such advantage came to a Queen because the royal lineage would pass to the King's male heir rather to her side of the family.