Was a forbidden love with a PRISONER the reason Elizabeth I never married? Historian says queen fell in love with English statesman while in the Tower of London aged 21 and did everything to keep him ‘close’

Thought to have have one of the most glorious reigns in history, Elizabeth I also happened to be the only queen of England never to get married.

Having spent her 45-year reign leading her country to victory, establishing the Church of England and immersing the country in arts – there was little time left for Elizabeth to pursue romance.

But according to one historian, Elizabeth may have found love after all, having developed one special connection with a statesman while imprisoned in the Tower of London alongside him in her youth. 

Before she became queen, Elizabeth had struggled with a turbulent relationship with her older half-sister, the former Queen Mary, who was the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

When Elizabeth was just 20-years-old, her sister, who was 17-years her senior, sentenced her to the infamous Tower of London, a particularly frightening feat for the young princess whose mother, Anne Boleyn, had been killed there 18-years earlier.

Luckily, the future queen went on the escape – but not before she met someone special, with historian Tracy Borman speculating whether Robert Dudley was the real reason she never tied the knot.

Channel 5’s Inside The Tower of London, which airs on Thursday night, reflects Elizabeth’s narrow escape from death in the notorious tower, and how one individual she met there may have stopped her from ever marrying.

In 1554, Princess Elizabeth had ‘fallen foul of her sister’, and had been instructed to be sent to the Tower of London.

The pair had notoriously had a fraught relationship. Mary, believing Elizabeth was involved in a plot against her, ordered her to be sent to the tower.

Speaking in the documentary, historian Tracy Borman said: ‘For 20-year-old Elizabeth, the prospect of being brought ere to the tower must have devastating.

‘Her mother Anne Boleyn had been executed here 18-years earlier and Elizabeth must surely have felt that she was going to meet the same fate.’

Elizabeth was taken to the tower by barge, fearing she may have spent a lifetime locked away or worse, meet the execution.

She arrived at the tower on 18th March 1554 and was to be kept in the queen’s apartments. As a small offering of respite, Elizabeth was allowed out of her chambers to stroll the towers walkways.

It was on one of those occasions that Elizabeth would meet someone who would ‘change the course of her life forever’.

In the chance encounter, Elizabeth met Robert Dudley, and English statesman who was the 1st Earl of Leicester.

His father, John Dudley had been executed by Elizabeth’s arch rival, Queen Mary.

But Robert, along with three of his brothers, was being held at the Beecham tower, waiting their fate.

As Tracy explained: ‘It was a real meeting of minds. Both were fiercely intelligent, well educated and united by their protestant religion.

‘And I think this created a real intimacy between them. I can’t imagine their relationship would have developed in the way it did if they hadn’t had this bonding experience here in the tower.’

Throughout the coming months, the pair became ever closer but their time was cut short when Elizabeth was released due to a ‘lack of evidence’.

‘She would have been relived, she’d been living in fear of her life for several weeks. But on the other hand she was leaving Dudley behind to an uncertain fate and this was someone she’d grown really close to in her time in the tower. So it must have been a bitter sweet experience.’

Four years later, after struggling from a lifetime of ill health, Mary died, leaving Elizabeth to become queen.

‘Now that Elizabeth has become queen, you might think she’s free to marry but it’s not that simple. There are all kinds of constraints for a queen when it comes to choosing a husband.

‘Should she go for someone from overseas or choose one of her English nobles. But her advisors have their own ideas and she had pressures from all directions.

‘And what she does, shocks everybody. Elizabeth chooses not to marry at all.’

Elizabeth’s decision to remain single, is still one that remains a mystery to historians and royal fans alike.

But Tracy has her own theory. ‘There are all sorts of reasons why Elizabeth chose not to marry,’ said Tracy. ‘Her family history wasn’t a great advert for marriage, her mother had been executed on the orders of her father.

‘But I wonder if there was another reason at play here that had more to do with Elizabeth’s heart than it did her head and possibly, Robert Dudley.’

While the pair had been imprisoned in the what was unlikely to have been a romantic setting, it was there that they developed a friendship that would last half a century. 

Dudley was released from the Tower of London five months after Elizabeth. Once back amongst society, Elizabeth did everything within her power to keep Dudley, her beloved aide, in her life.

‘She even went as far as moving his bed chamber next to her own private room.

‘And in the public court, it seems she couldn’t keep her hands off him. When she gave him an honour, she tickled his neck at the same time.

‘You can imagine a court filled with gossip. All of this is utterly scandalous,’ Tracy lamented. 

Despite the two never making their relationship official through marriage, it is clear that her affections were strong. 

As the documentary explained, after Dudley’s passing, Elizabeth kept the last letter than he ever sent her in a box beside her bed for the rest of her life.

Tracy commented: ‘Was Elizabeth really the virgin queen? Did they or didn’t they. While I don’t think Elizabeth should be defined by her love life.

‘We should perhaps focus on her huge achievements as queen. Her relationship with Dudley is undeniably fascinating.

‘There was so much that could have gone wrong. He was from a family of convicted traitors. 

‘Yet their relationship lasted 50 for years, despite all the trials and tribulations, Elizabeth stood by him.

‘The relationship that was forged right here at the tower, would endure,’ she said.

Inside The Tower of London airs on Channel 5 on Thursday at 8pm.