In the annals of English history, few monarchs loom as large as Elizabeth I. The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, Good Queen Bess – her many epithets reflect a reign that saw England emerge as a world power. But long before ascending to the throne, the young Elizabeth faced a scandal that could have ended her royal ambitions before they began.
The death of Elizabeth‘s father, King Henry VIII, in 1547 plunged England into uncertainty. Henry‘s nine-year-old son Edward VI took the crown, with Edward‘s uncle, Edward Seymour, serving as Lord Protector. The Regency Council, meant to limit the Lord Protector‘s power, was packed with Seymour‘s supporters. Tensions ran high as an underage king and feuding nobles threatened to destabilize the kingdom.[^1]
Elizabeth, then 13, found herself navigating this treacherous landscape from Sudeley Castle. Once the home of her beloved stepmother, Catherine Parr, it now also housed Parr‘s new husband: Thomas Seymour, the Lord Protector‘s younger brother. Charming and ambitious, Thomas had married Henry VIII‘s widow with indecent haste, wedding her a mere six months after the king‘s death.[^2]
Timeline of Key Events:
- January 28, 1547: Henry VIII dies
- February 1, 1547: Edward VI succeeds Henry at age 9
- February 1, 1547: Edward Seymour becomes Lord Protector
- April 1547: Catherine Parr secretly marries Thomas Seymour
- May 1548: Elizabeth sent away from Parr‘s household
- September 5, 1548: Catherine Parr dies after childbirth
- January 16, 1549: Thomas Seymour arrested for treason
- March 20, 1549: Thomas Seymour executedThomas Seymour‘s flirtations with the teenage princess, a dalliance tolerated by his wife, began soon after Elizabeth joined the couple‘s household.[^3] The thirty-something Seymour would visit Elizabeth‘s bedchamber in the early morning, tousling the girl in her bed and slapping her buttocks. Parr even occasionally joined in the "jokes". While Elizabeth giggled, she also blushed with embarrassment.[^4]
"Kat Ashley governess to Princess Elizabeth made the complaint to the Queen and the Queen came suddenly upon them when they were all alone, he having her in his arms, wherefore the Queen fell out, both with the Lord Admiral and with her Grace also."[^5]
— Contemporary account of Catherine Parr discovering Seymour embracing Elizabeth
Elizabeth‘s governess, Kat Ashley, reported the "unseemly" behavior, but Parr dismissed the encounters as harmless fun. Yet there was a sinister edge to the horseplay. Seymour, whom historian David Starkey describes as "violent" and "manipulative", sought increased power and influence.[^6] Marrying Elizabeth, then third in line to the throne, was key to his machinations.
When a furious Parr reportedly found Seymour and Elizabeth locked in an embrace in 1548, the queen acted swiftly to protect the princess, sending her away to Sir Anthony Denny‘s estate.[^7] But Seymour‘s plotting only intensified after Parr‘s death in childbirth that September.
Rumors swirled that Seymour, described by contemporaries as a "virile adventurer", intended to marry either Elizabeth or her sister, Princess Mary.[^8] An increasingly desperate Seymour was arrested in January 1549 attempting to break into King Edward‘s apartments at Hampton Court Palace, pistol in hand.[^9] His exact intentions remain murky, but treason seemed afoot.
The Privy Council aggressively investigated all those close to Seymour, including Elizabeth and her household. In a letter to the Protector, Elizabeth asserted her innocence:
"Master Tyrwhit and others have told me that there goeth rumours abroad which be greatly both against my honour and honesty…I pray God I never have such thought in my heart, to think it of him, nor I trust in God, he would not attempt any such thing to me."[^10]
Under intense scrutiny, Elizabeth steadfastly denied any impropriety in her relationship with Seymour. Her servants‘ accounts aligned with hers, and no evidence of a sexual relationship came to light.[^11] Thomas Seymour had no such saving grace. Found guilty of treason, he was executed on March 20, 1549.[^12]
Ages of Key Figures in 1547:
- King Edward VI: 9
- Princess Elizabeth: 13
- Princess Mary: 31
- Thomas Seymour: 39
- Catherine Parr: 35While Elizabeth escaped formal charges, the scandal marked her deeply. In a world where women were prized for chastity and easily ruined by rumor, the Seymour affair had the potential to destroy her. Historian Tracy Borman argues that Elizabeth‘s famous virginity was "a reaction to the scandals that had blighted her early life and very nearly destroyed her reputation."[^13]
Indeed, the incident taught Elizabeth caution in navigating the sexual politics of the court. Her sister Mary‘s disastrous marriage to Philip II of Spain and subsequent unpopular reign only reinforced the perils of matrimony.[^14] As queen, Elizabeth deftly managed her suitors, using the lure of marriage as a diplomatic tool while never surrendering her authority.
The Seymour affair also illuminates the precarious position of noblewomen, even royal ones, in Tudor England. Sexual reputation was paramount, but women had little recourse against powerful men who sought to exploit them. Elizabeth‘s status as Henry VIII‘s daughter afforded her some protection, but also made her a target for those seeking to wield influence.[^15]
Ultimately, Elizabeth‘s triumph over the scandal demonstrates her resilience and shrewd political instincts, even at a young age. She learned to armor herself with a carefully cultivated image of chastity and virtue, one that would serve her well as England‘s Virgin Queen. In a 1559 speech to Parliament, Elizabeth declared:
"And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a Queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin."[^16]
The Seymour scandal taught Elizabeth that her sexuality, and the perception of it, could be both a liability and a source of power. By embracing virginity, she reclaimed the narrative and wielded her maidenhood as a political weapon. The girl who had been at the mercy of rumor and innuendo transformed herself into an icon of purity and strength.
In the end, the Seymour affair was but one of many trials that forged Elizabeth into the formidable monarch she became. It was a crucible that might have consumed a lesser woman, but Elizabeth emerged tempered and refined. The scandal that once threatened to destroy her instead laid the foundation for one of the most celebrated reigns in English history.
[^1]: Guy, J. (1995). Tudor England. Oxford University Press.[^2]: Weir, A. (1998). The Life of Elizabeth I. Ballantine Books.
[^3]: Starkey, D. (2001). Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne. HarperCollins.
[^4]: Somerset, A. (1991). Elizabeth I. St. Martin‘s Press.
[^5]: Haynes, A. (1987). Sex in Elizabethan England. Sutton Publishing.
[^6]: Starkey, D. (2001). Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne. HarperCollins.
[^7]: Weir, A. (1998). The Life of Elizabeth I. Ballantine Books.
[^8]: Somerset, A. (1991). Elizabeth I. St. Martin‘s Press.
[^9]: Erickson, C. (1983). The First Elizabeth. Summit Books.
[^10]: Marcus, L.S., Mueller, J., & Rose, M.B. (2000). Elizabeth I: Collected Works. University of Chicago Press.
[^11]: Weir, A. (1998). The Life of Elizabeth I. Ballantine Books.
[^12]: Brigden, S. (1988). New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors, 1485-1603. Penguin.
[^13]: Borman, T. (2009). Elizabeth‘s Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen. Bantam.
[^14]: Whitelock, A. (2014). The Queen‘s Bed: An Intimate History of Elizabeth‘s Court. Sarah Crichton Books.
[^15]: Levin, C. (1994). The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power. University of Pennsylvania Press.
[^16]: Marcus, L.S., Mueller, J., & Rose, M.B. (2000). Elizabeth I: Collected Works. University of Chicago Press.
