Picture of Queen Elizabeth I
 

Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I

  • Interesting Facts and information about Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I
  • Katharine Parr
  • Thomas Seymour
  • Rumours and Scandal erupt regarding sexual misconduct

Picture of Queen Elizabeth I

 

Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth's childhood had been fraught with changes. One minute the beloved daughter of the King and his Queen, a Princess loved and pampered by everyone. The next minute her mother is brutally murdered by her father and the cherished Princess is striped of her title and declared a bastard. She sees her father marry Jane Seymour and give birth to a Prince. Jane then dies and is replaced by another stepmother - Anne of Cleves.

 
 
 

Anne of Cleves keeps her life but not her position as King Henry's wife - the marriage is annulled. In the same year her 49 year old father marries a kinswoman - Catherine Howard aged just 17 years old. Poor, tragic, Catherine Howard follows the same fate of her cousin, and Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn. She is beheaded. Elizabeth's childhood was filled with such terrible and bloody events. Her father married again in 1543 - Elizabeth is just 10 years old. This time he marries a widow called Katharine Parr. Katherine unites the children of Henry and ensures their return to court. Katharine Parr treats Elizabeth as if she were her own daughter. The marriage between Katharine Parr and Henry VIII lasts until 1547 when Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father dies. Elizabeth is left an orphan at the mercy of the powerful men and politics of the court...

 

Elizabeth lives in the Household of Katharine Parr
Katharine Parr becomes the guardian of Elizabeth after Henry's death and they lived at Whitehall and Chelsea. Katharine has known only old men as her husbands and she falls in love with a younger ,handsome man. He also happens to be one of the most ambitious men at court - Thomas Seymour the brother of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector of the young King Edward VI - Elizabeth's brother. Thomas Seymour was the Lord High Admiral of England and brother to the deceased Jane Seymour. The Seymours were powerful and unscrupulous men. Thomas was bitterly jealous of his brother. He sought to gain influence over the young King Edward and displace his brother. He wanted to marry an heiress. He had already made a suit to Anne of Cleves and when it was turned down he turned his attentions to Katharine Parr. He courted Katharine in secret and married her with indecent haste in May 1547 - just four months after Henry had died. Their  marriage was without permission from his brother or the Privy Council - it would not have been granted as theoretically Katharine could have been pregnant by King Henry.

 
 

Thomas Seymour
Thomas Seymour was handsome, bold, energetic, charming, clever and boisterous. He managed to gain the approval of the young King Edward and was forgiven for the secret marriage to the rich Queen Dowager, Katharine Parr. Katharine, Thomas Seymour and the fourteen year old Princess Elizabeth all lived in the same household at the Admiral's property at Sudeley Castle. By November 1547 Katharine Parr became pregnant. Katharine was deliriously happy. And so was Elizabeth. For the first time in her young life she was living in a happy family unit. Katharine treated her like a daughter. Thomas Seymour treated her in a different way...

Teenage Scandal of Princess Elizabeth
Thomas Seymour and Elizabeth became friends. Thomas was reported to have paid morning visits to Elizabeth, in her bedchamber, before she was dressed. There was romping, laughing and giggling. Elizabeth was very flattered. She was receiving attention from a handsome, older man. No one knows how far these romps went. Seymour was reported to have extended this 'playfulness' in the presence of his wife and the servants. There was a report of Seymour slashing and ripping the gown of Elizabeth in the gardens of the house. Talk started - gossip increased. Elizabeth denied any scandal or bad behaviour. But things had gone too far and early in 1548 Elizabeth leaves Katherine Parr's household under questionable circumstances. There appeared to be no animosity between Katharine and Elizabeth. Neither were comfortable with the conduct of Seymour and it is possible that Elizabeth was sent away for her own protection. Elizabeth wrote to Katharine affectionately after she left her household. Katharine gave birth to a girl named Mary at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire a short time later on 30 August but died shortly after on 5 September of puerperal fever.

The Scandal of between Princess Elizabeth and Thomas Seymour is investigated
Despite the rumours Thomas Seymour applied to be a suitor of Elizabeth after the death of Katharine. His suit was rejected by the Privy Council. Seymour continued to plot for power and was arrested for treason. Elizabeth was implicated with the plots and the scandal surrounding Seymour and Elizabeth merited investigation. Kat Ashley and Thomas Parry were arrested on January 21 and questioned in the Tower about the relationship between Seymour and Elizabeth. There was even rumours that Elizabeth was pregnant by Thomas Seymour and that she had gone to the house of Thomas Parry to give birth to the child. Elizabeth was questioned but swore she was still a virgin and nothing was proved. Kat Ashley was released from the Tower on 26 February. Elizabeth confidently withstood all interrogation from Sir Robert Tyrwhit and obtained a public announcement in order to maintain her reputation. Her frustrated interrogator reported of her: "she hath a very good wit and nothing is gotten of her but by great policy." Thomas Seymour was found guilty of High Treason and executed on March 10 1549. The scandal terrified the young Elizabeth and taught her a valuable lesson. From the time the scandal erupted Elizabeth dressed in a sombre fashion and behaved in a prim and virtuous fashion as befitted a virtuous Protestant young lady.

Elizabeth Feigns illness

 

Queen Elizabeth I
More details, facts and information about the life of Queen Elizabeth I can be accessed via the Elizabethan Era Sitemap.

Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I

  • Interesting Facts and information about Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I
  • Katharine Parr
  • Thomas Seymour
  • Rumours and Scandal erupt regarding sexual misconduct
  • Kat Ashley & Thomas Parry questioned in the Tower
  • Elizabeth is interrogated by Sir Robert Tyrwhit
  • A public announcement maintains Elizabeth innocence
 
 

Queen Elizabeth's Coat of Arms

 

Queen Elizabeth's Coat of Arms

Teenage Scandal of Queen Elizabeth I

 

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