White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1930-11-28
HISTORY'S
MYST cries
The Royal Riddle

The Royal Riddle
a BOUT no other ruler have there
"A ever been asked SO many and
such pointed questions as about Eliza.
beth, queen of England. Was she q
man? Was she really the daughter OF
Henry VIII? Was she dark or fair!
Was she murderess? Was she real
ly the Virgin Queen" or was she a
mother?
All these and scores Of other
queries have come up from time to
time, and, owing to the paucity Of au-
thentic information from contempt
rary historians and the veil Of reti-
cence which appears to cloak even the
frank narratives Of the Elizabethan
era, 1t is extremely difficult to answer
any of them authoritively. Even the
/ matter of the parentage Of the queen
is still largely one of conjecture and
her parentage appears to be open to
more than a shadow of doubt. But
when historians begin to comment
upon the relations between the queen
and certain of her courtiers they find
| themselves lost in maze Of contra
dictory statements, a veritable LADY,
rinth of lies.
| 1t has been affirmed with some de-
gree of authenticity that child was
born to the queen by the earl Of Es-
sex at Kenilworth castle and a writer
In the British "Notes and Queries"
during the last century states: Tt Is
tradition in the family with which
am connected that Queen Elizabeth
had son who was sent to Ireland
and placed under the care Of the earl
Of Ormonde, a distant relative Of
Good Queen Bess.' Papers are said
to exist in the family which prove this
statement"
Another story has 1t that the child
was the son Of Robert Dudley, earl OF
Leicester, and that documents in the
state paper office Of the British gov
eminent contain evidence Of con-
elusive nature about this and, on Oc-
tober 9, 1872, Sir Edward Dyer wrote
to Sir Christopher Halter a letter
which has been carefully hidden from
the public but upon which leading
historian comments In the following
words:
1T Is not lightly, nor upon slight
grounds, that the character Of any
woman should be suspected, much less
when that woman was one Of the most
powerful monarchs that ever swayed
the English scepter. Notwithstanding
all the explanations of historians and
the unanthenticated stories so COM
monty promulgated against Elizabeth,
the writer's opinion was entirely
against the justice Of the accusations,
but the letter in question has produced
conviction Of different nature. This
important conclusion, if just, affords
a key to many acts of Elizabeth's life
which have hitherto been irreconcila-
BILE with the magnanimity which she
sometimes displayed"
An entry in the manuscript Of
free school of Shrewsbury tells of a
certain son Of the earl of Leicester
and Queen Elizabeth and there is
tradition that this mysterious son was
brought up secretly at the free school,
but what became of him Is not known
nor is it easy to account for this curl
GUS entry in the parish church book.
1.-THE Tourists Illustrated Hand
Book of Ireland" refers to the same
matter by saying: zone Of the inter-
esting features pointed out in the
burial ground of the parish chapel of
Carrick-on-Suir is the grave Of Thorn
as Butler, the natural son of her
maiden majesty, Queen Elizabeth"
and Burke's Peerage gives an extract
from the "Dictionairre de la No
blesse." published in Paris in It'll, de-
failing the tradition that Thomas But
Ter, the tenth earl Of Ormonde, and
Queen Elizabeth were the parents Of
Piers Fitzthomas Butler, father of Sir
Edward Butler who was created Wis
count Galmoye in 1915.
Bearing on this same phase of the
affair, a writer of the time calls at
tention to the fact that the earl OF
Ormonde was high in the favor of his
royal mistress and that che was a
very comedy and graceful parsonage
and of dark complexion which made
the Irish give him the sobriquet of
Duff and gave occasion to her males
tvs calling him her black husband"
On the other hand, there are quite
as many and apparently as authentic
statements to the effect that Elizabeth
was entitled to be called the "Virgin
Queen"-so that, in all justice, 1t must
be admitted that the question of her
maternity must at least be ranked
among the mysteries which surround
ed so many of the rulers Of her time.
"a by the Wheeler Syndicate.l