 |
| "His Last Letter" |
"A personage so dear unto us."
-Queen Elizabeth describing the Earl of Leicester in a letter to the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1588, the year that he died.
On this day in Elizabethan history in 1588, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester died. Queen Elizabeth I was inconsolable at the loss of her lifelong friend, the man whom she affectionatley called her "eyes". Whether their relationship was ever physically consummated or not is irrelevant; Leicester was the love of her life.
To learn about the Earl's last months with Queen Elizabeth, his final illness, and "His Last Letter", treasured by Queen Elizabeth until her own death in 1603, please view our feature-length article.
