Elizabeth I never married, went bald early and forbade a post-mortem on her body, so conspiracy theories about her life abound. One of the best is the “Bisley Boy”.
The young Princess Elizabeth was staying at the royal hunting lodge of Over Court in Bisley, Gloucestershire, with her father, Henry VIII. While he was out one day, she got a sudden fever and died. No one wanted to upset her father (he had just had Catherine Howard beheaded for adultery) so Elizabeth was buried in Over Court and a hunt began in Bisley for a replacement. The best they could manage was a boy of the same age who had red hair.
In 1870, the vicar of Bisley, Thomas Keble, claimed he had found a coffin containing a girl in Tudor dress while renovating Over Court. He then secretly reburied the coffin in an unmarked location so the house didn’t become a shrine.
Found in the "facts about princesses" entry in the QI ("
Quite Interesting") blog at The Telegraph.
Henry VII was a big failure in the family department, but I'm sure he would have been able to recognize the child as not being his own.
ReplyDeleteWasn't this theory first publized by Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula? Because I think I remember watching a show on that.
ReplyDeleteYes, she had to be a male because a woman is too stupid to be such a successful monarch. I'm sure Victoria was a boy too.
ReplyDeleteSometimes!!
from Wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the tale was invented as a joke by a local clergyman in the 19th century.
* This is referenced in the last episode of Blackadder II, where Queen Elizabeth I is indeed replaced with a man. She is poisoned (along with the rest of the cast) and 'doubled' by the evil Prince Ludwig the Indestructible of Bavaria, a master of disguise.
...played by Huge Laurie. Funny, because the thought comes from the QI blog. He and QI host Stephen Fry are very close friends.
ReplyDeleteIf you've never seen QI, find a way to. It is absolutely right up your alley.
I'm a great fan of QI as best I can watch it via YouTube clips. It's not carried on my television feed.
ReplyDelete