5 Mind Blowing Theories About Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I was considered to be one of England’s greatest and most popular monarchs. She was a patron of the arts and a true promoter of the English power being conveyed globally, however, her truthfulness has been questioned several times throughout history. There are many theories about the royal family itself but the ones about Queen Elizabeth I specifically have caught more attention due to her exceptionally private life. While these rumors about Queen Elizabeth might not be as far-fetched as the one about her descendant Queen Elizabeth II being a lizard, they’re every bit as fascinating.
Who is Queen Elizabeth? Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeth's birth. Anne's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.
When it comes to Queen Elizabeth’s reign (Golden Age), it was commonly agreed upon the fact that, under her rule, the English Renaissance reached new heights with the flourishing of poetry, music, literature, and of course, thanks to William Shakespeare, theater. It was also a great age of exploration and stability. The Queen herself was described as being intelligent, charming, and a natural leader. During a time when women were regarded as second-class citizens, she managed to lead her country into one of its most prosperous periods.
Theories regarding Queen Elizabeth have been circulating ever since the beginning of time. They aren’t ordinary theories either. From The Queen being a male to her being the “real” William Shakespeare, what you’re about to read is a variant collection of hidden agendas.
1) Queen Elizabeth I Was A Hermaphrodite
The Queen was known for her constant resistance to marriage, and it got many historians to wonder why. Some historians have posited that Elizabeth was born with both male and female sexual organs and that she remained a “virgin” because of it.
As researcher R. Bakan explains it, “characteristics of the testicular feminization syndrome are strikingly similar to descriptions of Elizabeth's appearance, personality, behavior… [these] individuals typically present attractive, intelligent, practical females, above average in height, slim, active, athletic with notably long and beautiful hands. They have a normal life span and are free of related illnesses and obvious malformations. The only signs of abnormality are the lack of menstruation and the absence or foreshortening of the vagina.”
However, this theory had proven to be wrong for a number of reasons. Firstly, there were many people intensely spying on her. For example, there were foreign ambassadors that believed The Queen was having sexual intercourse and had bribed one of her laundresses to smuggle out evidence that she was menstruating. Also, it was a common rumor among the public that The Queen had sexual liaisons, if anyone had seen anything out of the ordinary, that information would have gotten out.
2) Queen Elizabeth I was secretly replaced with a boy
As this conspiracy goes, when Elizabeth was ten, the bubonic plague hit London. As a precautionary measure, she was sent to the village of Bisley, far away from the dying masses in the big city. While she was there, she grew ill from some unknown disease and died. The governess who was tasked with caring for the future queen began to panic. The King, who had already executed Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn at the time, had scheduled a meeting with Elizabeth. So, the ultimate solution was to find someone who looked like Elizabeth from the countryside, dress him up in her clothes, and have him fool King Henry and the entire kingdom for the next 40 years of the “Elizabethan Era”.
Even though the theory is very out of the ordinary, when Dracula author Bram Stoker published his book Famous Impostors in 1910, the theory became more believable. It was said that “Elizabeth” was actually Henry VIII’s illegitimate grandson. Even Elizabeth's appearance was cited to add veracity to this claim: the Queen was said to have many masculine attributes, like long fingers and heavy facial stubble. Supporters of this theory said that Elizabeth wore heavy makeup to cover her stubble and a wig to hide a receding hairline. Some conjecture that this secret is the reasoning behind the monarch never marrying or giving birth.
The very existence of this theory shows how a female leader is very difficult to accept. Even though there is some evidence that the theory might be real, one can be disproved by the fact that Elizabeth had suffered from smallpox in 1592, which would explain the heavy make-up to cover the remaining scars the disease had left.
3) Queen Elizabeth I Was The Real William Shakespeare
There’s a small sect in literary academia that believes someone other than William Shakespeare wrote all of the bard's famous works. One contender was Queen Elizabeth.
There’s no real evidence to support this claim, but some scholars have argued that Shakespeare, who came from a rural area, did not have the necessary knowledge to write about life at court. Additionally, many of his plays served as Tudor propaganda, leading some to think that the author of these works might have strong ties to or be part of the Tudor dynasty. And finally, Elizabeth was known to write poetry and was considered to be an incredibly well-educated, witty person. You might think that some of Shakespeare’s content was too crude to have been written by the Queen, but in truth, she was known to curse like a sailor.
As entertaining as this theory is, it’s difficult to imagine the queen having the time to write 37 plays and 154 sonnets.
4) Queen Elizabeth I had a secret child with “William Shakespeare”
Yet another theory about Shakespeare. His truthfulness has been questioned several times and many theories regarding the true poet has risen. According to one of the theories, Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford was the true literary genius. Many events that occur in Shakespeare’s plays has shown similarities to the life of Edward de Vere, as well as the sophisticated language and the indicator of a very qualified education. Since writing plays were seen as degrading at the time (for someones who’s royalty), Edward de Vere never would have been able to expose that he was in fact “William Shakespeare”.
The theory claims that de Vere had had a relationship with Queen Elizabeth and secretly had a child with her. Supposedly, the child was called William Hughes. He is one of the potential candidates for the person on whom the "Fair Youth" of Shakespeare's Sonnets is based on.
5) Queen Elizabeth I was not Henry vııı’s daughter
Rumors of illegitimacy have always plagued royals, particularly when their mother was famously executed for adultery. It was no shock that Anne Boleyn was a charming and flirtatious woman. After all, she did win over The King himself. However, some have argued that she went a step further. Some scholars believe she slept with other men as a type of insurance. The most important thing for King Henry was securing a male heir; that’s partly why he ditched his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for the younger, and presumably more fertile Anne. Anne, who was a clever woman, might have gone to bed with other men to ensure a pregnancy.
If that was in fact the case, it backfired. Anne Boleyn was accused of being unfaithful to her husband and charged with sleeping with at least five other men. Before Anne’s trial, Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief minister, said, “the queen’s incontinent living was so rank and common that the ladies of her privy chamber could not conceal it.” This was said before the trial but it wouldn’t have been significant since The King always got whatever he wanted.
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