Book description
From her childhood, overshadowed by the marital upheavals of her father
Henry VIII, and the tragic first encounter with courtship, to the
fantastical flirtations of her old age, Elizabeth refused to commit
herself to any man. During the marriage negotiations, which spanned half
a century, romance blended with diplomacy as one illustrious suitor
after another endeavoured to ally himself to her in the most intimate of
treaties. Sought after by some of the most powerful men in Europe, she
knew her marriageable status to be one of her greatest assets. She
played one suitor against another, exploiting her situation to the full
both for England's profit and her pleasure. By turns she encouraged and
eluded her pursuers, keeping alive hopes which she would never fulfil.
Yet one man did come close to winning her. Ambitious, devious Robert
Dudley, Earl of Leicester, suspected by many of having murdered his
wife, was the most persistent of the suitors to the Queen, and though he
never attained the prize he longed for, he was dearly loved by Elizabeth
all her life. This is a fascinating look at the many suitors of
Elizabeth I. Josephine Ross was educated at Wycombe Abbey School and
London University, where she read English. On graduating, she worked for
Vogue magazine. Her first book was Suitors to the Queen (now called The
Men Who Would be King). Since then, she has written television drama
scripts and a number of histories and biographies, including The Winter
Queen and The Tudors, as well as compiling and editing several
illustrated books for Vogue. Her most recent publication is Jane Austen:
A Companion. She is married to the historian James Chambers, and lives
in London.
