F.A.Q.

Here is a list of some of the most frequent questions I am asked. Before e-mailing me please check that your question is not here.

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Question: If Elizabeth became Queen on 17 November 1558 why was she not crowned until 15 January 1559?
Answer: Coronations take time to organise so it was a few weeks into her reign before Elizabeth was crowned.

Question: Where can I find more information on portraits of the Queen?
Answer: The book Gloriana: The portraits of Queen Elizabeth by Roy Strong remains the leading work in this field.

Question: Were Robert Dudley and the Queen lovers?
Answer: While it is likely that Queen Elizabeth and Robert Dudley had romantic feelings for each other, it is unlikely that they ever consummated their relationship. Even if all moral considerations of the day were cast aside by both, there was still the problem of a potential pregnancy, and a pregnancy outside of wedlock would have been a political disaster for the Queen. They were openly affectionate with each other, however, and gave each other support and comfort in difficult times. The foundation of their relationship was always friendship and this remained even when the public passion of their early relationship had waned.

Question: I am looking for information on an Elizabethan ancestor, can you help?
Answer: Unfortunately, unless the person is a well known figure of the period it is unlikely I can be of assistance. However, there are a lot of websites dedicated to family history, such as ancestry.com and findmypast.com, that are a good place to start.

Question: Why did Queen Elizabeth never marry?
Answer: There is no easy answer to this question. The Queen declared from a young age that she had no wish to marry but, aside from personal choice, there were also political and religious obstacles to marriage that made marriage difficult for her as queen.

Question: Who was Queen Elizabeth's mother?
Answer: Anne Boleyn was Elizabeth's mother. She was King Henry VIII's second wife and was Queen Consort of England 1533-1536.

Question: Are Queen Mary I and Mary, Queen of Scots, the same person?
Answer: No. Queen Mary I was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. She was Queen of England from 1553-1558. Mary, Queen of Scots, was the daughter of King James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. She was Queen of Scotland 1542-1567.

Question: How did Queen Elizabeth die?
Answer: She died of natural causes on 24 March 1603 after a brief sickness.

Question: Who became King after Elizabeth's death?
Answer: King James VI of Scotland. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great, great grandson of King Henry VII.

Question: What happened to Queen Elizabeth's clothes after she died?
Answer: They were inherited by the new Queen Consort, Anne of Denmark, wife of King James VI. A few items of clothing have survived the centuries, such as a corset, pair of boots, hat, gloves and Christening robe, but all that is left of Elizabeth's beautiful gowns is the Bacton Altar Cloth which is thought to have been made from one of her dresses.

Question: Did the Queen ever attend plays at any of the London Theatres such as Shakespeare's Globe Theatre?
Answer: No, she did not. It would have been too dangerous due to the risk of disease and assassination. The Queen had her own company of actors called The Queen's Men who performed plays at court.

Question: Why is Queen Elizabeth sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Tudor?/ What does 'house of Tudor' or 'house of Stuart' mean?
Answer: The Queen's surname was Tudor. 'House of Tudor' refers to the Tudor dynasty i.e all monarchs who were of the Tudor family. The Tudor dynasty lasted from 1485-1603. 'House of Stuart' refers to the Stuart Dynasty i.e. all monarchs who were of the Stuart family. The Stuart dynasty lasted from 1603-1714.