The close and possibly romantic connection between Queen Elizabeth I and her courtier Robert Dudley, the 1st Earl of Leicester has undoubtedly fascinated people for a long time.
As per The Guardian, although Queen Elizabeth I never married and was known as the “Virgin Queen” she maintained a strong and long-lasting relationship with Robert Dudley.
This relationship has inspired many books and movies, such as Elizabeth and Elizabeth I.
A new immersive artwork, offering a new perspective on the relationship between Queen and Robert, is set to be displayed at Kenilworth Castle.
This castle, where Dudley lived, was also the place of Elizabeth’s longest visit to a courtier’s home in 1575, which was 10 years after she rejected Robert’s marriage proposal on Christmas Day.
Elizabeth and Robert knew each other from childhood before she became queen in 1558 at the age of 25.
Despite Elizabeth reportedly telling Robert that she would never marry, he continued to pursue her romantically throughout his life.
English Heritage has asked Lindsey Mendick to create the work at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.
Mendick said in a statement, “As I read more about Elizabeth, I began to understand the profound vulnerability of her reign. She was not just the iconic queen with ‘the heart and stomach of a king’, but the child scarred by her mother’s execution and a woman surrounded by an ever closing circle of men in a perpetual battle of wits.”
Queen Elizabeth was furious when Robert secretly married Lettice Knollys, one of her cousins.
Despite this betrayal, both remained close friends until his death in 1588 at the age of 55.
