Virgin Queen’s secret liaisons with French ambassador
Elizabeth I gave diplomat access to her chambers and hid scandalous relationship, Tudor historian claims
SHE has come to be known as the Virgin Queen, a monarch who took a vow of chastity upon her ascension to the throne, insisting she was “married” to her country.
But the love life of Queen Elizabeth I has long been the subject of great speculation amid rumours of various secret liaisons.
Now, Dr Estelle Paranque, a historian and Tudor expert, claims to have discovered evidence of an intimate relationship between the monarch and a French ambassador to whom she grew close when he moved to the UK.
Bertrand Salignac de la Mothe Fénélon, a French nobleman and experienced diplomat, was sent to England in November 1568, and stayed for seven years.
According to letters he sent back to the French court, uncovered by Dr Paranque, he caught the eye of the Queen, and she gave him the unusual and somewhat scandalous privilege of access to her private chambers. He was, claims the historian, soon to be found constantly by her side.
La Mothe Fénélon wrote that Queen Elizabeth often had “a very jovial and happy face” when she was around him, whether they were hunting, dining or discussing politics together.
Her admiration appeared to have been reciprocated. He wrote to
King Charles IX of
France of her hunting prowess, describing his awe when he saw her hunting “fallow deer with a crossbow”.
La Mothe Fénélon, unusually, wrote of her good looks, telling the
French court that one day she greeted him, “having decorated her court, being herself well dressed and looking as a wonder”. He remarked that she was “better dressed than usual”.
Dr Paranque said: “I think ... he admired her and I think that we can be a bit suspicious about the fact that maybe he had a crush on her. He liked spending time with her.
“She also blamed him for having forgotten her when he hadn’t seen her for a long time. It was not really the sort of ambassadorial rhetoric. They definitely had a friendship.”
After enjoying his company at dinner, the Queen frequently took La Mothe Fénélon to her private chamber to seek his advice. As well as having the usual official diplomatic discussions, the two discussed private matters while hunting, during snatched conversations in corridors and in the corner of her private chamber.
On Jan 18 1572, he told Catherine de Medici that “she ordered me to bring a stool, and led me to sit next to her in a corner of her private chamber”. Dr Paranque said: “These secret locations where no one else was invited further demonstrate that Elizabeth and La Mothe Fénélon did not want their friendship to be discovered. Maybe she was confessing something personal? We cannot be sure, but La Mothe Fénélon’s tone indicates these interactions were not considered entirely proper behaviour.”
They discussed a potential marriage to Henri, Duke of Anjou, older brother of François, Duke of Alençon. Dr Paranque added: “In many ways, by being the intermediate between Henri and Elizabeth, the French ambassador ended up being the one wooing the queen.” Her book, Elizabeth I of England through Valois Eyes: Power, Representation, and Diplomacy in the Reign of the Queen, 1558– 1588, is available to order online now.