Was Queen Elizabeth I a Man?

history buffs in the crowd. She was the daughter of King Henry the Eighth and his second wife, who was in Bolyn. This episode is a little different from most of our other episodes this season. Instead of talking about the life of the impostor in the mix, we have to talk about the documented life story of this famed monarch before we delve into what is a persistent rumor of impostorism regarding her true identity. It was unlikely she would rule England, but she did ascend to the throne.

Elizabeth had an older half sister, Mary Tutor, who was the king's first child with his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Mary was the only one of Henry and Catherine's children who lived to adulthood. Elizabeth also had a younger half brother named Edward. Edward wasn't just the king's first son, he was also considered to be the king's only legitimate son in the eyes of royalty. Edward was born to

Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife. In fifteen thirty six, when Elizabeth was three years old, her father, the King, had parliament a null his marriage to his second wife, that was Elizabeth's mother, Anne, and then he ordered and to be beheaded, claiming it was because she did not give birth to a son during their marriage. Henry had always wanted a male heir who would replace him as king after his death, and there also was a little bit of a pinch of adultery and a little conspiracy thrown

into this mix. Nothing is ever quite as lean or simple as it's usually stated in the historical record, generally very true with someone like Henry the Eighth. Henry and Anne's annulment meant that their marriage had never happened in the eyes of the church, and that meant that Elizabeth and her half sister Mary were now considered to have been born out of wedlock. That meant that they were removed from the line of succession, so Edward would be

king and neither Mary nor Elizabeth would be crowned. Obviously, though that rule didn't stick, or we'd be here talking about a totally different king or a queen. It was later that a parliamentary act returned both Elizabeth and Mary's ability to ascend to the throne. After their father's death

in seven it was Edward who was crowned king. He will be known from now on when we speak of him as King Edward the sixth And when Edward died just six years into his reign, Mary and a cousin, Lady Jane Gray, were both in line for the throne. But before he died, Edward had appointed Lady Gray as his successor. Mary, who thought that she would be crowned, had something that Lady Jane did not, and that was

the support of the people of England. It was popular opinion, true or not, that Mary unseated Gray after she had been on the throne for just nine days. Lady Jane was actually deposed by the Royal Council. She was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. But it was Mary who initially decided not to carry out that sentence on the fifteen year old. Fifteen year old. The next year, though, Lady Jane's family was once again embroiled in an insurrection

attempt and Lady Jane was beheaded. Yeah, at that point it was like, Okay, this is your being treasonous. We have to get rid of you. The bids for power very dangerous, dangerous to have a fifteen year old in power. As all of this is playing out, Elizabeth was under the care of her stepmother, Catherine Parr. Parr had hired tutors on Elizabeth's behalf. Most girls during this period of time did not really go to school or have much,

if any education. A lot of certainly poorer children, regardless of sex or gender, would not have had a lot of education. But even within the royals, the girls usually did not get a bunch. But Elizabeth, being a royal, did receive a formal education even though she was a girl, and since she was young, she was known for being quite an intellectual and it was said that she had quote an influential mind. At age fourteen, her curriculum included

subjects such as mathematics, history, geography, and astronomy. Elizabeth also learned to play several musical instruments, and she loved to dance and ride horses and hunt. By the time she became queen, Elizabeth flewently spoke Greek, French, Italian, and Latin. But things are hardly idyllic. Staying with the Pars, tension rose between Catherine Parr, Catherine's new husband, Thomas Seymour, and Elizabeth was removed from the Par's home and sent back

to the royal estate at Hatfield. This part of the story that we're about to tell is brief, but it includes ex litation of a miner and it may be triggering her or troublesome for some listeners. So if you need to mute us for a minute, or just jump ahead a little bit and we'll meet you right back here. So here's the situation Elizabeth was in. Thomas Seymour may have and likely did, have some sort of a relationship

with Elizabeth. There are some stories that air kind of on the side of nothing inappropriate having happened between the two, but many other accounts tell a story of a young girl who has taken advantage of by an older man. Seymour's behavior really was inappropriate, though it was said he entered her chambers very early in the morning too, and we're going to quote this from several sources. Wake her up. When the allegations were later investigated, Seymour was found guilty.

He was sentenced and executed for conspiring to marry the princess in an effort to gain power. So we're going to take a break here for a word from our sponsor, and when we're back we will talk about when Elizabeth became queen. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about why historians call Queen Elizabeth the first reign to be the

Golden Age in English history. So Elizabeth, as we talked a little bit about earlier, was third in line to the British throne, between her younger half brother Edward and her older half sister Mary. Because most of Europe at the time was primarily Catholic, Elizabeth was still considered by many to have been born out of wedlock and all of this, that's the fact that she was a woman, made a lot of people feel that she was not fit to rule. After Edward's death, his older sister Mary

ascended to the throne before Elizabeth did. But in fifteen fifty four, a man named Thomas Wyatt organized a rebellion against Queen Mary the First. It was in an effort to make Elizabeth the queen and to restore Protestantism as the official religion of England. When his plot was discovered, Mary ordered Elizabeth to be imprisoned in the Tower of London. Believing that her sister supported multiple plots to remove her from power. One might consider the tower punishment as retaliation.

She went to the tower in March of fifteen fifty four and was released in May of fifteen fifty four. When Mary died in November of fifty eight, twenty five year old Elizabeth was crowned as Queen Elizabeth the First. As we keep touching on, a lot of the public continued to believe that she should not be able to inherit the throne. Furthermore, Catholics, both in and out of the country, regarded Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scott's, who

was a Catholic, as the rightful queen. When Elizabeth became queen, she quickly realized she had inherited a country that was vulnerable from attack and from poverty. In the midt late sixteenth century, there was a deep divide and growing hostility between the Catholics and Protestants in England. Elizabeth herself was Protestant, but feigned to be Catholic when duty called for it. Queen Mary the First had been Catholic, and under her reign it said that she ruled with an iron fist. Literally,

she earned the nickname Bloody Mary. Catholic or Protestant, whatever religion you practiced was a divisive topic. Elizabeth and her half brother Edward were raised Protestant, but as Queen Elizabeth's views on religion angered both the Protestants and the Catholics were not happy that she restored the country to Protestantism, and some Protestants just felt that she didn't go far enough.

And then Elizabeth was excommunicated by Pope Pious the Fifth for her religious policies and practices in fifteen seventy Ten years later, Pope Gregory the announced that killing Elizabeth was not a sin. There was a plot to assassinate her, and maybe more than one plot. I just keep marveling and it's like, it's cool if you want to kill that lady. We don't like her, that's not that's good

you could. God'll forgive you. It's Elizabeth Eliza. This interest, though, was more about power and consolidating the power of the Protestant Church under her than it was about the Catholics or the Protestants. She took a moderate approach to the religious conflict in England. Quote there is one Jesus Christ, she would say. The rest is a dispute over trifles. A lot can happen when you rule a country for

more than forty four years. Queen Elizabeth the First was and still is remembered for a great many achievements, including the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the end of England's war with France. Despite all of her victories, her legacy remains that she was we quote the virgin. Queen

Elizabeth was also known for her red hair. As an adult, Elizabeth had what was described as a quote dazzling figure and that when she was quote submerged in the jewels, brocade and ornaments of her dress, she was more like a living icon than a human being. In addition to that striking red hair, you have probably heard that she also applied a thick white makeup on her face. But while the red hair was real. Modern analysis of her portraits suggests that the paint that was used to create

those works has actually faded over time. Her pale complexion in them was likely much rosier when the portraits were made, and this breaks with the long standing belief among the public that she might have been concealing something under that makeup choice. The reality seems to be that Elizabeth only wore makeup during her later years, and it was quite pale. Yeah. I have seen claims that at some points it was

as thick as an inch, which seems terrifying. It said that Elizabeth did have relationships, and that she definitely did have many marriage proposals, including one from the Infamous even the Terrible. No one knows for certain if she actually was or was not a virgin queen, but there are two things that we know today. We know that she did fall in love with a man that she had

previously known in childhood. And we know that she considered marriage as an undertaking that could and would jeopardize her authority and power as queen. She would often explain, quote, I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the Kingdom of England. Elizabeth's reputation among other royals was that she was shrewd. It dearly didn't matter because she was popular among the people of England. In fifteen eighty seven, adventurer and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh traveled North

America from North Carolina to present day Florida. He named the region that is now Virginia in honor of his virgin queen has a historical asside. This is actually the same year that he sent the ill fated second group of Colonists to Roanoke. Yes, Sir Walter Raleigh's life was

a whole other parcel to unpack. Shortly thereafter, in August of eight, military forces were assembled at Tilbury in Essex in preparation for an expected invasion by the Spanish Armada, and it was here that Queen Elizabeth the First delivered the inspirational and famous speech known as the Speech to the troops at Tilbury, and we quote from it probably her most famous line. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King

of England too, she proclaimed. It has said that the troops shouted Glorianna in response. Which means glory. Not too far later, in fifteen ninety, the poet Edmund Spencer made Glorianna the heroine of his poem The Fairy Queen. Under Elizabeth's reign, the arts really flourished. William Shakespeare's comedy Loves Labour's Lost was performed at the Royal Court on Christmas

in Paintings to demonstrate devotion to the queen were commissioned. Actually, many paintings were commissioned, and many of those long galleries in Alisa Bethan country homes acted as a gallery just for her portraits. We're going to take a quick break here for a word from a sponsor, and when we're back we will finally talk about a rumor and conspiracy and possible impostor related to Elizabeth. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about the rumor that Queen Elizabeth the First

was actually a man. Finally, let's get to the story for real real. We're gonna talk about look alike. So lookalikes or decoys are sometimes chosen because they have an

uncanny resemblance to the person that they impersonate. This would be a sanctioned so in this case, this is someone who has to conceal their identity and be good at deception on behalf of the person that they have been asked to impersonate, and they learn how to speak and act like the person that they're pretending to be, including all of those small mannerisms that all of us have.

Sometimes they're used as a way of confusing an enemy about one's movements, but there are actually many types of decoys. Some decoys might be, say like a stunt man or a stand in for say Owen Wilson's but which, by the way, I read that he used this information that people need. I think so it's fact. Decoys are also

popular among politicians. Joe are, Reader and Under Secretary for the U. S. Army from to nine, has gone on record that a number of political figures around the world have used decoys, including Fidel Castro, George W. Bush, and Osama Bin lauden Ellis Slack, for instance, spent thirty years being a stand in during rehearsals for televised royal engagements

on behalf of Queen Elizabeth the Second. When it comes to say, a crazy tale of impostors, though this political decoy was it, this was a child and this was a boy, and there was a rumor turned myth during Elizabeth's reign that tempted many people to believe that their queen was actually a man. This particular tale begins with young Elizabeth, who was a princess at the moment that

we're now discussing, staying in the village of Bisley. At this point, the bubonic plague was raging in London, and the idea was to move Elizabeth to a safer place, a place away from the city and that rampaging plague. But during her time in Bisley, Elizabeth did it was believed contract an illness. Perhaps it was plague, but maybe not, and the rumor was that she died at age ten from that illness. There's a strange yet interesting twist to

this strange yet interesting story. Afraid of how Elizabeth's father, the King, would react, her governess, Lady kat Ashley, and her guardian, Sir Thomas Perry, decided to fix the problem by doing, of course, what anyone would do. They planned to swap a local child for the deceased princess, and no one they expected would ever notice their deception. I like how one of the greatest historical rumors ever known.

Is very similar to parents swapping the girl fit, except obviously much a grander scale because it's someone's child, so it's preposterous. I didn't see anything in our research about what the parents thought about this, and I don't know what happened. However, the pair ran into a bit of snag about that decoy's appearance. Elizabeth we know had flame red hair. We talked about it earlier, and there were no girls in Busiley with red hair or a similar

body type as Elizabeth. But there was one person who did fit her description, at least mostly. But that person was a boy named Neville. Aside, no from the fact that the child was a boy named Neville, there was another problem. Neville didn't have red hair. Lady Ashley and Sir Harry fixed that problem with, of course, a wig. They cleaned him up and dressed him in Elizabeth's clothing, and,

as the rumor continues, amazingly their ruse worked. Not only it was said, did Neville fool Elizabeth's father, the king he fooled Neville was the one who also inherited the throne as Elizabeth. Men of the time, royal or not, had wondered if a woman in power was an actual problem or a bluff. Elizabeth was a princess then and not yet crowned, but in general, a woman in a position of authority just did not sit right with a lot of people in the country. But for most people,

this deception was not really about politics. This decoy story explained a few things the public had always wondered about. Why didn't there Queen Marian have children, for instance, And to those myth believers, because she always wore a wig, she actually was never seen without one. Clearly that wig was used to turn Elizabeth's decoy into a redhead, and she expressly forbid that an autopsy be performed on her body.

If you put all this to other the public, we're really taken in that the queen must be a man in disguise. Lady Ashley and Sir Perry were in on the whole thing, the legend goes. In reality, though Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, retained a very close relationship with both throughout her life. Yes, some people have suggested that that was evidence that Neville had to keep them close because

because they were keeping the secret. Right, they'll tell the real story, The tale of the impostor really got a lot of attention of more than just the gossiping men in London, and in a much more recent instance, so author Bram Stoker in nineteen ten wrote what he said was a nonfiction book called Famous Impostors, and his book included real pretenders, the some that we've talked about on the show, like Perkin, Warbeck and Princess, all of who

we will be talking about this season. And also included in Stoker's book was the story of what's colloquially come to be known as the Busley Boy. Although it first appears in modern print in this book, it was probably a story that had been told three years earlier and had clearly persisted enough that Bram Stoker was able to find evidence for it to put into his work. But it's inclusion really ignited the power of this myth. Was this story a work of fiction or was it real?

Stoker had enticed people into thinking it had to be real, because this was, after all a nonfiction book. And yes, this is the same Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula. He was known to we've real life details into his fiction. It was part of what made the Dracula story so popular in its time, and it captured the imagination of readers as something that might be real, like actually real. Yeah. He was very good at doing a lot of research and then subbing out subtle things, adding in some extra

so people be like, I know that ship. I remember hearing about that hip. That was real. Well it was, but not in the way that it played out here, and it was I could talk a lot about bram Stoker Today, historians have discredited this Busley Boys story as a myth and confirmed that Elizabeth was never impersonated by anyone named Neville from Busley or otherwise when she died

on March three. Elizabeth's death ended the tutor period. Throughout her reign, she had been known as the Virgin Queen, Good Queen Best Best, in case you did not know, is sometimes a nickname for Elizabeth, and Glorianna, a nickname we talked about earlier. But she spoke of herself as quote,

a queen in a man's world without an heir. She chose James the sixth of Scotland, who was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, not to be confused with Mary the First, who was Elizabeth's half sister, to inherit the throne and so James became the first king of the Stewart dynasty. As King James the First, the starting a whole other history chunk. If you think of it like an organizational job, there' sony different branches on this. Hey, we can talk about this for a week. And that's so.

Elizabeth the First cocktail excuse me, mocktail and cocktail? What season are we in? Oh? It's time for cocktail. Um. So this one got me thinking a lot, because I do love me some history, and Elizabeth the First is very fascinating to me. I started thinking a lot about the term mask of youth, which is often used in relation to Elizabeth. It's used to describe Elizabeth's constant portrayal as young and very healthy and vibrant in art throughout

her life. In idealized portrait rule was instituted, and it actually became illegal to depict the queen in any way that might give offense, including depicting her as aging. This has sometimes pointed to as proved that she was vain, but that could have been part of it. But really, and more importantly, it was about representing her and as

a consequence, the country as young and strong. It was like about her as a leader and being like, no, I am I am a young single woman who is married only to my work, and that is protecting and caring for this country. And so it was really more of a form of portrait propaganda, even the famed rainbow portrait, which is my favorite portrait of her, in part because there's some bananas wonderful imagery on there. That's the one For anybody who doesn't recall it offhand, but you've probably

seen it. She's holding a rainbow, which is why it's called that. But moreover, her gown is this amber color and it just eyeballs and ears detroitered all over it. It's really beautiful. I love it. But that portrait was painted just a few years before she died at age sixty nine. But she looks very young and vibranty in that painting. For sure, I was reading during research she was very good at public relations and propaganda. So this

all makes sense. Yeah, that's another one of the things that people have sometimes held up as proof of this myth. This me like, oh, she was so careful about managing her image because she didn't want people to realize like she had a more masculine jawline or whatever, and it said she was there's a whole other thing going on here, people.

She literally just wants everyone to thinks she's strong. Forever thinking about all of this and this mask of youth and the fact that we mentioned earlier in the show about the portraits of her, really we've learned had more of a blush to them. I wanted to come up with a blushy looking drink that's called the Mask of Youth. This also I wanted to give a little nod to libations of the time. So it actually starts with honey, which is often mixed into wines and whatnot as a

starter for meat. And so it starts with a table spoon of honey, and then to that you're going to add a half ounce of lemon juice. And you want to mix this together pretty carefully because honey is a little bit tricky to dissolve, so just stir it for a bit so let the lemon juice break it down a little bit. At this point, you don't want to put any ice in the mix at all, because that will slow that breakdown of sugar, make it more like a slow molasses have become very frustrating we know what.

So once you have the honey and lemon juice mixed together, you're gonna add an ounce of Marishi no cherry juice. You know I love the marsh no cherry, right, and you're gonna keep stirring that together again. I I don't incorporate ice at all at any of this until they pour over because of that honey in there. Then you will pour that into your glass, which is good to

have pretty chilled. You can even have a bit of ice in there, and then you're going to top it with ginger ale and garnish it with a Maraschino cherry if you wish. But it's this very peachy pink color. The blush on a very pale cheek would be like Elizabeth.

It is very refreshing and delicious. I like to put it in kind of a round or a squared off version of a Nick and Nora glass, which people sometimes mistake for like a mini wine glass, but really it's an alternative to a Martini glass, and it looks a little like a goblet, so that's another nod to the time period. So delicious. I made three of them while I was getting ready to record, because they're so yummy. If you want to do an alcoholic version, this is

also very yummy. You're not going to use that Maraschino cherry juice. You're gonna use cherry liqueur instead, and then you're gonna add a half ounce of vodka. And if you want to do a vanilla or a whipped vodka there it's very yummy. It tastes like whipped cream or like marshmallowy. I love a little whipped vodka. This version.

Because the cherry liqueur usually is a little bit more towards a brown color than that bright red of a Maraschino, You're going to get more of an amber color, which to me seemed appropriate because it mirrors the color of the rainbow portrait gown when she was very adult, whether she was admitting it or not, so that is called the mask of youth. That is also not obviously quite as sweet. Even if you use a sweet vodka, it's not Maraschino cherry juice. It's just not quite as sugarcoated.

Even with the honey and bumb both very yummy. I hope people try them and enjoy them, because I sure did. I sure will. The tail version is very much like the kind of thing that would be a great punch for a party. The bubbles make it super fun, and the color is really pretty. It's just a nice, bright, soft flavor. I also used a sugar free ginger ale in mind, which made it not heavy at all, which was very nice. Anyway, it's like a mock up of Champagne. I feel like that that is the mask of youth.

I'm gonna go make another after we finished. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. We will be right back here next week, and we hope you join us for another imposter and more libations. Criminalia is a production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.