The Life Of Lady Arbella Stuart
Lady Arbella Stuart had a life full of secrets, ambition, and rebellion. The once-likely successor to Queen Elizabeth I, her rare pedigree was a curse, not a blessing—and led her right into scandal and an infamously tragic end.
1. She Was Born With Royal Blood
Arbella Stuart was born in 1575 into a web of royal connections. Indeed, she was fourth in line to the English throne. Her impressive lineage included being the cousin of James VI of Scotland and the niece of Mary, Queen of Scots. But her family tree also had twisted knots.
2. Her Birth Was Controversial
From the very beginning, Arbella was steeped in scandal. Her parents Charles, Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish, were both well-pedigreed in their own right. So when they married in secret, Queen Elizabeth I was furious.
Exactly because they were so well-connected, their child would have strong claim to Elizabeth's throne, a dangerous thing in a Tudor England only just recovering from Protestant and Catholic clashes. Elizabeth lashed out in a terrifying way.
3. She Was Born Into A Power Struggle
As punishment for the marriage, Elizabeth got a vicious revenge. She imprisoned both of Arbella's grandmothers for permitting the union, even though Arbella's maternal grandma Bess of Hardwick was one of the Queen's closest confidants.
It wasn't a good start for Arbella, and she wasn't even born. When she was, her baptism didn't go much better.
4. Spies Staked Out Her Baptism
Arbella’s baptism at Edensor was a grand affair reflecting her semi-royal status.The ceremony included lavish gifts of gold and silver, but it also included hints about just how dangerous the Crown considered her: Queen Elizabeth's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, ordered some of his men to attend the baptism and report back.
But even they couldn't predict what happened next.
5. She Lost Her Father
All the struggles of Arbella's parents led to nothing. In 1576, her father passed from tuberculosis, and year-old Arbella would be the couple's only child. Then came the backlash.
As soon as he heard the news, King James VI of Scotland seized her father's lands in Scotland in an attempt to diminish the young girl's political power before it even bloomed. Still, not everyone stood by silent while this happened.
6. Her Grandmother Fought For Her
Arbella’s paternal grandmother, Margaret Douglas, fought to support her baby granddaughter's legacy—through a brilliant PR move. Douglas had a lavish portrait painted of the infant, propped up and wearing a queen's ransom of jewels on her throat and head, complete with a coronet.
The message was clear: Little Arbella deserved her gold, jewels, and status. Only, then it went from bad to worse.
7. Queen Elizabeth Seized Her Lands
Margaret Douglas had been infant Arbella's fiercest ally, but in 1578 the 62-year-old passed as well, and many of her good works crumbled with her. With this death, Queen Elizabeth was monarch who pounced, confiscating the Lennox estates in England.
Arbella wasn't out of diapers yet, and her world—and inheritance—had fallen apart. The cruel twists of fate weren't over.
8. She Became An Orphan
On January 16, 1582, when Arbella was only seven years old, her mother Elizabeth passed at the tragic age of 26, having never remarried. Arbella was now a vulnerable orphan with a huge target on her back, and she had just one person left to turn to.
9. Her Grandmother Was A Battle Axe
With nowhere else for her to turn, Arbella's maternal grandmother, Bess of Hardwick, took the girl in. Bess may have gotten into trouble over Arbella's parents, but she was still vastly influential in the Tudor court. Wealthy, learned, and sharp as a tack, Bess had survived and thrived so far on her wiles and moneyed marriages.
So when young, wide-eyed Arbella came into her care, she was in for something of an education.
10. She Was Highly Educated
Under Bess of Hardwick’s tutelage, Arbella received an exceptional education in classical literature, history, and multiple languages, plus a full complement of instruments. One of her tutors may have even been the famous poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe.
But Bess of Hardwick wasn't doing all this to give her granddaughter mere courtly accomplishments. She had a bigger goal in mind.
11. Her Grandmother Was Ambitious
Under a different upbringing, it's possible Arbella would have snuck through the Tudor era, laying low despite her incendiary pedigree. That didn't happen. For one, Bess never let her granddaughter forget that she might one day be Queen of England after Elizabeth.
Unfortunately, this led to some troubling household habits.
12. She Was Spoiled
Bess spared no expense and saved no modesty for her granddaughter, even instructing the household staff to address Arbella as "Your Highness" and treat her as royalty. Not only was it liable to spoil Arbella, but these lofty expectations would also later clash with the political realities Arbella faced.
Still, Bess made sure she got some practical experience.
13. She Visited The Queen
As a young girl, Arbella was usually kept holed up in her grandmother's house, possibly for her own protection. Occasionally, however, she visited Queen Elizabeth’s court. Though these visits were infrequent, they introduced her to the expectations of the court and the comportment of queens. Then again, Bess may have had ulterior motives.
14. She Was A Pawn
Despite her various plots, Bess of Hardwick was still close to the Queen, and was parading Arbella around court in part to try to find out who the aging Elizabeth would name as her successor and put her own candidate in front of the Queen's face. There was just one problem. Elizabeth wasn't revealing her thoughts on the matter.
So Bess pushed a little harder.
15. She Was Engaged To A Toddler
Bess of Hardwick always had her eye on a good match, and when Arbella was eight years old, she felt the time was right to make her granddaughter a suitable marriage. In 1583, she arranged Arbella's engagement to Lord Denbigh, a two-year-old boy and the son of the Earl of Leicester.
This match was meant to secure Arbella’s claim to the throne, but it backfired hugely.
16. The Queen Did Not Approve
If Arbella's grandmother intended to get the Queen's attention, she did. But it unfolded in all the wrong ways. Elizabeth was, yet again, furious at the marital machinations, and promptly ordered the Earl of Leicester, Lord Denbigh’s father, away from court.
More than that, it was another blow to Bess's relationship with the queen—and it was all for naught anyway.
17. Her Engagement Came To A Tragic End
After all that, Arbella’s engagement to the young Lord Denbigh came to an end in October 1584, when he tragically passed. Just like her own parents, it was all that turmoil for nothing but a whimper.
This early disappointment marked the first of many struggles Arbella faced in her pursuit of marriage. Worse was to come.
18. She Was Embroiled In A Court Scandal
Arbella's unclear but certainly dangerous rank had always made her position at court awkward. Soon, that position became scandalous. When she was 13, critics accused Arbella of being “excessively familiar” with the Earl of Essex, a powerful courtier. The rumor gave Queen Elizabeth an excuse to go into overdrive.
19. The Queen Banished Her
It's hardly believable that young Arbella was the one being inappropriate with the Earl of Essex, even if there is evidence that she had a crush on him. Nonetheless, Queen Elizabeth took the opportunity to banish Arbella from her court, though this was only temporary. Really, what Elizabeth wanted was a permanent solution.
20. Elizabeth Wanted To Control Her
Two things were now becoming clear to Queen Elizabeth: First, Arbella needed to be married off. Second, her husband needed to be carefully chosen in order to neutralize her power and keep her from threatening Elizabeth's throne. But all this proved even more difficult than it seemed.
21. She Was A Failed Bride
Arbella had a laundry list of potential suitors, but all of them fell through for one reason or another. Some at court wanted the Protestant Arbella to marry a Catholic man, to help potentially create a future government tolerant to Catholics. Some hated this idea. Others wanted her to marry men with eminently royal lineages, while still yet others discouraged this idea.
For years, no one man seemed to hit the exacting (and conflicting) criteria people thought Arbella needed in a husband. It was a frustrating position for any young girl, but Arbella was about to get more bad news.
22. She Was Caught In A Power Struggle
Even with the difficulties of her uncertain rank, Arbella had always been considered a natural successor to her cousin Queen Elizabeth. In 1592, that all changed. Elizabeth's political advisors began to push the Queen to drop Arbella and instead name James VI of Scotland as her heir.
It was the beginning of a new phase of Arbella’s life, and it was not a happy one.
23. She Was A Recluse
Queen Elizabeth I was now older—and she wasn't just aging, she was also ailing. Without the strength to deal with Arbella's troublesome presence, Elizabeth all but confined her to the stately Hardwick Hall, where her grandmother Bess lived, feeling her realm was safer with Arbella out of the picture.
Poor Arbella stayed there for nearly a decade, whiling away her early 20s far from the excitements of court. Eventually, it was too much for her to take.
24. She Wanted To Be Free
Ironically, Arbella had never shown any desire to either usurp or follow Elizabeth as Queen. As the years wore on, she developed a different dream. Sick of her confinement and constant surveillance, she began begging for independence from her grandmother.
Usually, women of the time did this by marrying. But with no husband materializing, Arbella needed another way out of Hardwick Hall—except when relief came, it was very short-lived.
25. She Was Trapped
In 1601, Arbella's guardians agreed at last to let the 25-year-old have her own household and some modicum of independence. There was a brutal catch, though: She would still be on her grandmother Bess of Hardwick's lands, and so still trapped in the gilded cage she'd grown up in.
Incensed, Arbella chose scandal.
26. She Went Her Own Way
In Arbella's mind, she had just been playing nice before. Now it was time to bring out the real protest: After years of failed negotiations, she would find herself her own husband. This was scandalous enough, since the Queen was supposed to approve her groom. But who Arbella chose was the biggest shocker of all.
27. She Proposed Marriage
In 1602, Arbella put her plot into action. She sent a servant with a secret message over to Edward Seymour, asking him to marry her. The son of the prominent Seymour clan, Edward was—by Arbella's design or not—one of the worst choices she could have made.
The Seymours were hostile to Queen Elizabeth and disgraced at court. Which is exactly why Arbella's plans fell apart so dramatically.
28. She Got A Servant Arrested
Because the court had constant eyes on the burdensome Seymours, lest they foment any rebellion, the Crown quickly caught and arrested Arbella's servant, who then confessed to the whole thing. To Arbella's alarm, the interrogation then reached right to her own doorstep.
29. The Queen Had Her Interrogated
After hearing about Arbella’s secret plan to marry Edward Seymour, Queen Elizabeth sent one of her trusted men, Sir Henry Bronker, to interrogate the girl at Hardwick House. It was no courtesy call. He forced Arbella to write a confession, and when he didn't like what she'd written, rewrote it himself and had her sign it. But that wasn’t all.
30. Her Grandmother Tried To Punish Her
After this, Arbella's grandmother Bess of Hardwick finally reached her limit on the frustrated, rebellious girl. She even suggested to Queen Elizabeth that she move Arbella elsewhere or finally marry her off to someone to curb this kind of behavior.
The Queen, however, refused, insisting Arbella remain under strict supervision at Bess’s home. Bess would live to regret it.
31. She Was “Unstable”
An enraged Arbella responded to this renewed house arrest with every tool she had: She refused to eat. She wrote incoherent letters asking family members for help escaping. She staged outbursts, prompting violent confrontations with her grandmother.
Soon, whispers even arose that she was mentally unstable, rather than just a repressed girl wanting freedom—but Arbella wasn't down for the count.
32. She Attempted To Escape Again
Soon after Arbella’s re-confinement, court allies Henry Cavendish and Henry Stapleton attempted to help her escape. They planned to signal her from Ault Hucknall church tower during her daily outdoor exercise—but Arbella's bad luck held firm. The pair failed when they couldn't secure the key to the church tower.
Even so, at least one of Arbella’s headaches was coming to an end.
33. She Watched The Queen Decline
At the turn of the century, it became clear that Queen Elizabeth was very near her end and that King James in Scotland was about to become the monarch of England, too. For a time, the royal Privy Council had their hands full managing the transfer of power, and spent little time watching Arbella.
But Arbella just went right on causing drama.
34. She Didn’t Attend Queen Elizabeth’s Funeral
In 1603, Elizabeth I finally passed at the age of 69. Arbella saw her chance for revenge. She openly refused to attend the funeral on the grounds that the Queen had mistreated her, not shown her the proper respect, and had meddled in her affairs.
Yet with James becoming James I of England, this could have all been a fresh start for Arbella. Unfortunately, there was no clean slate to be had.
35. She Had A Complex Relationship With The King
Arbella and James were cousins, but James distrusted her as much as Queen Elizabeth had, seeing her once more as a potential threat to the throne because of her lineage. Likewise, James also sought to control Arbella’s marriage prospects, just as Queen Elizabeth had.
Arbella was right back in the same position she always was. Then when there was a new development, it was disastrous.
36. She Got An Indecent Proposal
Shortly after James took the throne, Arbella received a ruinous message. Conspirators in the so-called "Main Plot" wanted depose James and place Arbella on the the throne, and were extending her their invitation to the plot. That's when Arbella surprised everyone.
37. She Confessed Everything
Arbella may have had her issues with King James and his predecessor, but her rebellious streak apparently stopped at treason. When she discovered the plot to put her on the throne, she actually brought the conspiracy to King James.The fallout was nothing short of brutal.
38. Her Supporters Faced Trial
By the summer of 1603, the accused conspirators in the Main Plot were rounded up and arrested. They included one very famous face: Sir Walter Raleigh, an old favorite of Queen Elizabeth. Raleigh would be imprisoned in the Tower for more than a decade for his alleged deeds, and was later executed.
Arbella, meanwhile, made sure to milk her newfound loyalty for all it was worth.
39. She Got On The King's Good Side
By 1604, Arbella was as close to the Crown as she had ever been. When the royal family ceremonially entered London that March, announcing James's reign, Arbella followed the carriage of the Queen Consort, Anne of Denmark, along with Anne's maids of honor.
It was a clear admission of Arbella's royal lineage, and a nod that she was back in the royal fold. By then, she had even gotten out of Bess of Hardwick's estate. But the more things change, the more they stay the same...
40. She Had To Turn Away Another Suitor
The passing of Queen Elizabeth did not mean the death of Arbella’s many proposal woes. Her most dazzling proposal came in 1604 when Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland, sent an ambassador to request her hand in marriage.
Despite the grandeur of such a union and the chance for Arbella to be queen of some country, the Crown quickly rejected the offer. Then again, Arbella might have already had her eye on someone else.
41. She Met Someone
Around 1610, Arbella's eye landed on a new man, William Seymour. Only, this was her most ill-advised choice yet. Seymour had his own ties to the throne, and was actually sixth in line thanks to being the grandson of Lady Katherine Grey, sister of Lady Jane Grey, and to his shared lineage with Henry VIII’s sister Mary Tudor.
But there was something even juicier about their relationship.
42. She Liked A Younger Man
Arbella was a full 13 years older than William, which was spicy enough. But even more incredibly—and bizarrely—William was actually the son of Edward Seymour, the man Arbella had asked to marry her years earlier. Given all this, perhaps it's no surprise that this plan was more doomed than before.
43. She Kept It Secret
Once more, Arbella's new suitor was simply far too powerful for the Crown to give her permission to wed. So, as usual, Arbella conducted her courtship with William in secret, and when people got wind that something was going on with Arbella and William, the pair staunchly denied that they had any understanding.
Then Arbella went and crossed a line she had never crossed before.
44. Her Marriage Shook The Throne
Arbella had enough of playing by other people's rules, and she secretly married William Seymour in 1610 in Greenwich. The repercussions were immediate. King James found out about the secret union and seriously began wondering, given their combined lineage, if they were starting a plot to usurp his throne.
This time, Arbella didn't get off easy.
45. The King Imprisoned Her
James saw no other choice than to punish Arbella to the utmost degree, and he first separated the couple—so they couldn't beget rival heirs—and then imprisoned them. Arbella went under house arrest in Lambeth under Sir Thomas Perry, while William went into the dreaded Tower of London. But Arbella wasn’t about to give up yet.
46. She Wasn't Sorry
In the ensuing inquest into the scandalous marriage, Arbella was defiant about her actions. She repeatedly wrote to King James and insisted that she had gone against no royal decree, and asked him to release and restore her in court. Unfortunately, these weren't the only letters she was sending.
47. She Wrote Secret Letters
Arbella used the small liberties she had in Lambeth to secret out intimate, and forbidden, messages to her new husband. Once more, her rebellion ended badly. The King discovered the communications...and also may have discovered much more than that.
48. She Thought She Was Pregnant
There is some evidence that Arbella and William were doing more than sending letters to each other at this time—they may have even been finding ways to secretly meet, an especially risky prospect given that King James was terrified of them having children. At one point, Arbella even erroneously believed she might be pregnant.
Fed up, King James ordered Arbella's transfer into the custody of a different man, William James, Bishop of Durham. But this provided Arbella with a more scandalous opportunity.
49. She Planned An Escape
Just before she was to be transferred over to Durham, Arbella managed to delay the move by begging off sick. Whether real or not, she and William Seymour took advantage of the extra time to put an escape plan into action. There was, however, one crucial thing she needed.
50. She Sold Heirlooms For Freedom
Great escapes are expensive work, but luckily Arbella had some wealth to draw on. To fund her attempt, Arbella sold valuable embroideries made by Mary, Queen of Scots for £850 with the help of a sympathetic aunt. Then it was time to put her plan into action.
51. She Disguised Herself
To avoid being noticed as she left her house, Arbella disguised herself as a man, complete with French-style hose, a doublet, a wig, and even a rapier at her side. She finally got a bit of luck on her side, and the ruse worked—though she couldn't help spilling to a servant or two that she was escaping to meet her husband.
Then came the hard part.
52. She Made It Out
As Arbella was slinking out of her manor in disguise, so too was her husband William from the Tower, and they now each took separate journeys to meet. Arbella managed to snag a boat going to Kent, then sailed over toward France before her husband, who would catch the next ship to Belgium. That’s when it all went so wrong.
53. She Was Captured Near Calais
If Arbella made it to French soil and away from English lands, she would immediately gain some measure of safety. Tragically, she never did. Just as her ship neared the French port of Calais, King James’s men overtook it. Her enemies foiled her plan, and her capture ended her bid for freedom.
Indeed, it ended more than just that.
54. She Was Imprisoned Again
Arbella Stuart had weathered the whims of queens, kings, and suitors a plenty, but she had never been caught in a rebellion this serious. After her capture, King James had her thrown for the first time in the Tower of London rather than a polite house arrest, a sure sign of his displeasure.
Yet her tale gets more tragic.
55. She Never Saw Her Husband Again
While Arbella never made it out of captivity, her husband William Seymour did, landing eventually in Ostend, Belgium. But from there, he was powerless to help his wife, and Arbella would never see William again. Not that she had fully realized that yet.
56. She Tried To Reinstate Herself
While in the Tower, Arbella seems to have been unable to accept the direness of her circumstances. In the summer of 1610, she embroidered gloves for Anne of Denmark, indicating she hoped to regain favor through the Queen Consort and "kiss her hands again". Nothing came of it—and it got more pitiful.
57. She Was Delusional
As late as February 1613, three years later, Arbella still assumed it would all blow over. When King James's daughter Elizabeth was getting married, Arbella so firmly assumed she would be invited to the wedding that she bought jewelry and a gown to wear. Months later, she had to pawn them for funds.
But all Arbella's misplaced optimism could only last for so long.
58. She Had A Mental Breakdown
Arbella was used to confinement, frustration, and broken hopes. Yet even she reached a breaking point. In 1614, after four long years in the Tower, she made an escape attempt. Then, after it failed, her spirit could take no more, and she fell into total despondency.
It was perhaps not her first escape attempt, but it would be her last.
59. She Rebelled One More Time
The years in the Tower had taken a toll on Arbella's body and mind. By 1615, she was a shadow of her former self, and there is evidence that she may have even suffered a mental breakdown. That September, a hopeless Arbella resorted to the tactic she had used to rebel against her grandmother Bess: She stopped eating.
60. She Met A Tragic End
Arbella's body was in no shape to take another hunger strike, and she succumbed to illness brought on by starvation on September 25, 1615. She was only around 39 years old. In the end, James did try to pay Arbella respect in death, despite their difficulties in life, burying her in Westminster Abbey.
Today, Arbella's story stands as one of tragic love and royal rivalry, but also of a woman struggling for independence in a world that kept on confining her.