Around 400 years have
passed since this lady was left dying within the Tower of London.
She was once thought of as a potential queen, and was considered
one of the natural candidates to succeed Elizabeth the first.
But if James of Scotland didn't take the throne, the Union of the Crowns
would never have happened and history would be very different.
We now look at the tormented life of Lady Arbella Stuart.
Arbella was born in 1575;
the actual date is unknown.
She was the daughter of Charles Stuart,
1st Earl of Lennox and her mother, Elizabeth Cavendish.
Her grandparents were Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox
and Lady Margaret Douglas.
Due to other family connections, Arbella was the great-great-granddaughter of King
Henry VII of England.
This lineage would give her a succession line.
Arbella would grow up never knowing her
father as he would die in 1576 of consumption.
She would be in the hands of her mother until 1582.
When sadly Elizabeth would also pass away.
Now an orphan at the tender age of 7, Arbella would now live
with her grandmother Bess of Hardwick and her new husband
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, whom she had married in 1568.
For much of her childhood, Arbella would reside at Hardwick
Hall in Derbyshire, yet she would be taken on
regular trips to the court in London, especially throughout the summer months.
Around 1589, one chap came into the life of Arbella.
He was named Morley,
but many believe today his name has been mistaken over the years.
It was actually Marlowe, Christopher Marlowe, an English
playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era.
Modern scholars count Marlowe among the most famous
of the Elizabethan playwrights, with some believing
he had significant influence over William Shakespeare.
Marlowe would read to Arbella, yet his pocket was quite empty.
Apparently, he had given up a role at the university to attend Hardwick,
and in this move, he had hoped for a payment of 40
pounds per year, around 12,000 in today's money.
But money or not, it looks like he was well cared for
and would remain in the service of Arbella for over three years.
By 1592 Arbella had been considered a potential claimant to the throne.
Her candidacy was relatively strong,
with Elizabeth I being her first cousin, twice removed.
Although becoming Queen was never really on Arbella's radar.
Things would change over the coming months; Elizabeth's Lord
Treasurer, Lord Burghley,
and his son, Secretary of State Sir Robert Cecil, started to look elsewhere.
This meant for the time being, the focus was taken off Arbella
and would now point to her cousin James VI of Scotland, who was highly regarded
and installed as the favourite for the potential role.
Away from the succession race, Arbella would continue to learn,
and she started to focus her mind on education, which seemed far more important
to her than the daily gossip about where and when the next heir would appear.
She was now in her twenties and became fluent
in several languages and adept at music.
These were all excellent traits for a young lady to possess.
Arbella needn't worry too much about the throne of England.
By 1603, James had taken it and was now crowned James
I of England and James the VI of Scotland, uniting the crowns of both countries.
Alongside his wife and new Queen Anne of Denmark, who he had married in 1589.
Robert Cecil was now able to talk with Arbella and ease any worries
she may have had about the succession.
Although Cecil never pushed her in this direction.
Over time Cecil would introduce James to Arbella
after she arrived in court in August of that year.
James agreed to an audience.
In 1603, Terror struck London when an outbreak of the deadly plague surfaced.
Within a week, more than 3,000 Londoners had died,
for King James and his court, he had to get out of the city.
They travelled to numerous estates before
finally arriving at Winchester in October.
It was around now that Arbella wrote letters to the Earl of Shrewsbury.
Her tone was not happy but reflected her views of a masque she had attended.
A masque was a very common way to entertain throughout the 16th
and 17th centuries, and it involved music, dancing and acting.
This particular one had been created by the Queen,
Anne of Denmark, with a storyline centred on her son Prince Henry.
Anne was delighted both her children would be
joining herself and James at Winchester.
Henry and his sister Princess Elizabeth lived at Nonsuch Palace before the call,
and Winchester was thought to be a much healthier place to be.
Yet, a minor scandal was about to break.
Arbella called the event childish and ridiculous.
But Lady Anne Clifford, who was also in attendance, said it
damaged the reputation of Anne of Denmark and the women of her court.
In defence of Anne, she classed this event as domestic in nature,
other than one given to higher standing officials and diplomats.
So maybe just a lot of fuss over nothing,
quite possibly just a grand party for her son and daughter.
By July 1603, the sense of fun would turn into a sense of danger.
The 'main plot' was an alleged conspiracy to overthrow King James
and replace him with Lady Arbella Stuart, his cousin.
It was led by Lord Cobham, who had received support from
the Spanish government.
Although Arbella was asked to write to Philip II
of Spain to accept, if she did, Cobham would gain
a lucrative amount of money to help put the plan together.
Sir Walter Raleigh, who was the governor of England,
would then speak with Cobham about how to use the funds
in gaining their ultimate aim to remove James from the throne.
But Arbella was wise to these moves and reported all she knew at the time
to James. Raleigh and Cobham would be thrown in the Tower of London.
Raleigh would spend the next 13 years there before facing
execution in 1618; Cobham was released but died just months later.
In 1604 the royal family would return
to London. However, this was now a new time and what hopefully would be a fresh start.
Arbella was shown publically, she had risen in importance,
and this was a message to the public of her royal status.
Due to Arbella's start in life and especially because she was once
thought of as a possible heir
to the throne, she received little in the way of marriage contracts.
However, this was about to change.
James, in 1588 had proposed Arbella should marry Ludovic Stuart,
2nd Duke of Lennox,
but this seems to have been a non-starter with little interest shown.
But others were patiently waiting in line.
The sons of Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, had a distant claim
to the throne via one of his descendants, John of Gaunt.
Again, nothing ever came of this request, possibly because one of the sons
was already married, and the other was a cardinal,
but if you don't ask, you don't get!
It's also entirely possible that Arbella wouldn't even have been aware
of the interest, as most wedding chats would have been a closely guarded secret.
Arbella did eventually
find love by herself, but this would bring nothing but trouble.
It was reported that she had intended to marry Edward Seymour;
he was a very high ranking member of the Seymour family.
But as with all marriages in those days,
permission had to be granted from the reigning monarch, and Elizabeth
I was not the sort of lady you would want to test on such matters.
The groom's grandfather was said to have made his views clear to Elizabeth
that this was not an intentional wedding to go behind her back without permission.
Arbella knowing of the complications for her, also went on to deny any marriage.
Yet, Arbella's time to finally marry was coming.
If only she could stay out of trouble!
The plot would thicken in 1610.
Although the year began brightly for Arbella, she would perform
in another masque in June of that year.
This was a triumphant time for the court as this particular event
would be celebrating Prince Henry's investiture as the Prince of Wales.
The masque was called 'Tethys' Festival' the show was performed by courtiers
at Whitehall Palace.
Samuel Daniel had written the script at the Queen's
request, in which Anne herself would also take part
and appeared in the role of Tethys, a goddess of the sea.
Arbella had climbed up the rankings of succession
and now found herself at the heady heights of fourth.
But that was about as far as it would go.
This year would now take a bit of a nosedive, and Arbella found herself
once again in trouble.
Unknown to anyone, she had somehow started to plan a marriage to William Seymour.
He was known at the time as Lord Beauchamp, his ancestry line
also moved him into the top ten of potential heirs, and this would
have been a powerful statement to make if, of course, it happened.
Beauchamp was the grandson of Lady Katherine Grey.
She, in turn, was a younger sister of Lady Jane Grey
and a granddaughter of Mary Tudor, younger sister of King Henry VIII
and one of Arbella's ancestors, Margaret Tudor.
It was quite a lineup, and as expected, tongues started wagging.
King James thought long and hard about this union and became concerned
when it was believed that the couple might be intending to seize the crown.
Arbella and William strenuously denied the allegations
and said it was nonsense to think of such ideas.
Yet behind the scenes, the couple decided
they would marry in secret, a big no-no at the time.
They came together at Greenwich Palace on 22 June 1610.
I guess you know what's coming next?
James would have them both taken into custody for marrying
without his permission on finding out about the illicit wedding.
Arbella found herself under house arrest with Sir Thomas Perry
for company in Lambeth.
As for William, he went to the Tower.
Although the couple were apart,
they would still achieved some contact by way of letters.
But this was not to James's liking, and once he found out,
he ordered Arbella to be transferred, this time as far away as he could get her,
in fact, to Durham where she would now be under the supervision of William James,
who was the Bishop there.
Arbella didn't like the tone coming from James
and feigned illness in her attempt to slow down the process.
She was now plotting, not against James, but an escape.
A daring plan was hatched.
Arbella would dress as a man, and she would wear not only the clothes
of the time, including doublet and hose, but a wig to cover her hair,
and a hat to cover the wig and finish herself off nicely with a black cloak,
oh and not forgetting a little protection in the way of a sword by her side.
Beauchamp also went down the fancy dress route of disguise,
and he told his servants of the plan to meet up with Arbella.
But the word was out, and James was hot on their heels!
Although Arbella made it to the coast and set off on a boat
to France, Beauchamp caught the next one to Flanders.
Arbella was captured by James's men, who had seen the vessel
just before it was due to dock in Calais.
This time there was no escape for Arbella;
she was brought back to England and confined in the Tower of London.
William managed to continue unchecked
and eventually reached safety at Ostend, but he would never see Arbella again.
Although she had gone against King James and brought quite a bit of misery
to her own life, she was feeling secure
in the knowledge that the imprisonment wouldn't last forever.
In February 1613, Princess Elizabeth was due to be married.
Arbella, in excitement, thought this was her moment; she would be released
and forgiven and allowed to be a part of the wedding celebrations.
In haste, she would spend fifteen hundred pounds on four new gowns.
She then sat back and waited patiently for her pardon.
Although Prince Henry had just about cast Arbella
to one side after her adventures, Elizabeth was different.
She still had feelings for her.
Although she knew she could not ask her father outright to allow Arbella freedom,
she did ask her groom to assist.
But James mind was made up, and he said, " If Judas were alive again, and condemned
for betraying Christ, some courtier would be found to beg his pardon."
When news reached Arbella, she was utterly distraught and fell into hysterics.
Which some say bordered on madness.
She attempted to appease James while in confinement,
but her last letter is sorrowful; only a portion of it remains.
Her final words had been struck out with the paper torn across.
"In all humility — in most humble wise — the most wretched and unfortunate creature
that ever lived, prostrates itself at the feet of the most merciful King
that ever was, desiring nothing but mercy and favour, not being more afflicted
for anything than for the loss of that which hath been this long time
the only comfort it had in the world, and which if it were to do again,
I would not adventure the loss of for any other worldly comfort.
Mercy it is I desire, and that for God's sake." Arbella was now silent.
and her condition within the Tower was now slowly getting worse;
she had refused help from doctors and refused to take any medicine.
Arbella grew weaker by the day;
she had lost so much weight and now suffered great pain.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise when Arbella passed away on 25 September 1615.
Her body was quickly placed in a coffin and taken to Westminster Abbey.
She was literally thrown in the same tomb as Mary Stuart and Henry,
Prince of Wales.
It's said her coffin was broken by the way it was manhandled
into the tomb, uncovering her head and parts of her body.
Yet there was no ceremony, and brief mutterings were all
that could be heard carried out under the light of flickering torches.
There was no commemorative stone to show where she lay,
and this remained like that
for many years, until eventually a simple inscription was placed
upon the paving saying Arbella Stuart born in 1575, died in 1615.
Arbella may not have cared for the way she was treated after death.
At last, on that cold September morning, the guards had opened
the doors of her prison, and at last, she was free.