Katy's Corner: Amy Dudley
While watching Becoming Elizabeth, I realized that I didn't see a whole lot of Elizabethan-era shows include the wife of Elizabeth's favorite, Robert Dudley. And when they do, it's all about her death and nothing else. So, I found it really refreshing that in that show she had like... a personality!
So, let's discuss the life (and barely the death) of Amy Dudley.
Comments (7)
Great topic! Personally, I think she was murdered. I think she was told to clear the house because someone-maybe William Cecil?-said they wanted to speak to her privately. Her autopsy results show injuries that just doesn’t jive with suicide down a short half-flight of stairs, and she literally ordered a new, expensive dress the week before. Plus, she was found with a massive head wound but her headdress still miraculously perfectly placed on her hair. Suspicious AF! We’ll never know for sure. I agree that I’m not yet sold on Becoming Elizabeth, but I DID love that they portrayed Amy as smart, fiery, and a love match with Robert, all believed to be true at that stage of the marriage.
I agree with you but who knows?! Cecil had the means and the motivation (to keep Robert and QEI from marrying). One reason I am not feeling suicide is that people were *really* invested in religion in that age and Amy would have likely genuinely believed that if she killed herself that she would go to hell. It was a super big deal from a religious point of view (I mean, it obviously still is and from any point of view)! But, that said, depression does awful things to you. If she didn’t care that she died, maybe she didn’t care if she went to hell. Either way, sad for her. She was dealt a shit sandwich of a situation.
If prison was like how it was in the americas during this time (which I assume so because yanno we were kinda run by Britain lol) you actually had to pay for your prison stay and the things you had. If you wanted fresh straw on the floor, food, water, and any amenities they would allow. With Robert being used to things a certain way, I imagine he probably did everything to make it more comfortable for himself. That’s probably why he had so much debt.
I think you are correct. I think you had to pay for anything above and beyond a hard cot and gruel to eat. If you’re paying for comfort but not making money, debt comes a-calling!
i personally think she killed herself. why have all of her staff leave? and try to get her neighbor to leave too? there definitely could’ve been someone who helped her
Oh my gosh this was such a good Katy's Corner! The only time I've read anything about Amy was from a Phillipa Gregory fiction called The Virgin's Lover and she did not seem to write anything about Amy that was accurate, even something as basic as her birthday. She was described as being 5 years older than Robert and a Catholic. I understand, it's a Phillipa Gregory novel and she's aloud to take liberties but I feel like she went out of her way to make Amy pathetic and uninteresting.
Oh wow. Never read that one but yeah that is not the Amy I read about anywhere. Again my main source was wikipedia but everything I read said protestant and same age as Robert. I wonder what the reason was to make Amy older in the PG book? So happy you enjoyed it