Queen Elizabeth I was believed to have had an affair with her companion, Robert Dudley.
What made their alleged relationship so scandalous is that Dudley was married at the time to a woman named Amy Robsart. The queen and Dudley could not marry one another with Robsart in the picture. So when Robsart died a mysterious death, Elizabeth and her alleged lover could not escape rumors that they had arranged it.
Those rumors only intensified because the circumstances surrounding Robsart’s death did not add up. She was found at the foot of a staircase with a broken neck by her servants, leading many to believe that she either committed suicide or had an accidental fall. However, a coroner’s report later revealed that she had deep puncture wounds on her head, suggesting that she was hit before the fall.
