After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

Episode: Dark Side of Elizabeth I

Hosts: Anthony Delaney, Maddy Pelling
Guest: Professor Tracy Borman
Release Date: September 29, 2025

Overview

This episode delves into the shadowy underbelly of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, focusing on the paranoia, plots, and silences surrounding her refusal to name a successor. While the Elizabethan era is usually remembered as a “golden age,” the hosts and guest historian Professor Tracy Borman explore the darker side: the imprisonments, suppressed debates, and near-misses that shaped the twilight of Elizabeth’s rule. With insights from Tracy's new book, Stolen Crown, the episode unpacks high-stakes power plays, the fate of royal contenders like Arbella Stuart, and the myth-making that enfolded Elizabeth’s final moments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Forbidden Question: "Who Succeeds Elizabeth?"

• Setting the Scene ([03:18]):

  • Maddy recounts the story of Peter Wentworth, imprisoned in the Tower of London for broaching the topic of succession—a silence that blanketed Elizabethan England and was itself a form of control.
  • Quote (Maddy):
    “In this golden age of Elizabeth, there is a question that must never be asked… Who will take Elizabeth’s throne?” (04:17)

• Tracy Borman on Suppression & Tyranny ([07:10]):

  • Elizabeth made it not just taboo but illegal to discuss her successor, an act that imprisoned many, including Wentworth.
  • “It’s borderline tyranny, really.” (07:58 – Tracy)

• Elizabeth’s Perspective:

  • Despite being revered, Elizabeth's subjects feared civil war if she died without naming an heir, informed by recent memories of Tudor instability.
  • Tracy notes, “Her subjects didn’t know she’d become the longest reigning Tudor—her previous three predecessors only managed eleven years on the throne between them.” (09:47)

Elizabeth at the End: Majestic or Outstayed?

• Deteriorating Power and Popularity ([10:45]):
  • To some, Elizabeth is still “Gloriana”—majestic, lively, and fit well into her 60s.
  • To others, especially court insiders, she is seen as a weary, possibly declining monarch; misogynistic sentiment resurfaces.
  • Quote (Tracy):
    “There’s very much a sense everyone is looking North to the man who’s hotly tipped… James VI of Scotland.” (11:21)
  • “People are muttering that they are wishing no more queens… whoever is going to be next on the throne, pray God it’s not a woman, because women aren’t supposed to rule.” (12:40)

Succession Chess: Key Contenders and Court Intrigues

The Enigma of Arbella Stuart ([14:08])

• Background:

  • Arbella Stuart, a powerful candidate born in England with royal Tudor blood, raised under the suffocating control of Bess of Hardwick.
  • Arbella’s combination of pedigree, ambition, and vulnerability made her a “pawn in the international marriage game”—manipulated by both her grandmother and Elizabeth herself.
  • Quote (Tracy):
    “She’s the queen that never was, really… very handy to Elizabeth, and she starts to toot her as a potential bride to various people,” (18:35)

• Personal Struggles:

  • Arbella's life was tightly controlled, leading to mental distress and a failed bid for agency in her own marriage prospects.
  • “There are so many suitors proposed for her… she’s very ambitious, wants to marry well… Elizabeth uses Arbella quite shamelessly as a pawn.” (18:35 – Tracy)
  • After a clandestine marriage attempt, Arbella was effectively imprisoned and denied autonomy.

How Close Was She to the Crown? ([25:10])

• For much of the late 1590s, Arbella was nearly neck-and-neck with James VI as a potential heir, with her English birth counting heavily in her favor.
  • Quote (Tracy):
    “In the race for Elizabeth’s throne, she was pretty much neck and neck with James of Scotland… She was a real contender.” (25:10)

Plots, Rebellions, and Espionage

The Essex Rebellion ([27:32])

• Led by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex—once a favorite of Elizabeth—this 1601 coup attempt was a “half-baked” farce that nonetheless shook the Queen.

  • Highlights include the rebels stopping for lunch mid-coup (“This is my type of rebellion, okay?” quips Anthony at 28:36).
  • After Essex’s failure, he was executed, and Elizabeth was left shaken—“there’s an account of how Elizabeth keeps a sword by her bed ever after.” (29:12 – Tracy)

• The turbulence underscores anxieties within the court and among the general populace about the lack of a clear successor, and the potential for disorder.

James VI’s Machinations & Cloak-and-Dagger Alliances ([31:53])

• James cultivated allies on both sides of court rivalry—Essex and Robert Cecil—using espionage, secret correspondence, and code names.
  • Quote (Tracy):
    “It’s all very cloak and dagger, very apt for this podcast… the dark world of Elizabethan espionage… a great deal of trouble is gone to in order to keep this correspondence under wraps.” (30:42)

The Deathbed Myth and Rewriting of History

Camden’s Account, Exposed ([32:23])

• The long-accepted narrative that Elizabeth named James as her heir on her deathbed stems from William Camden’s state-sanctioned history—but new scholarship suggests otherwise.
  • Thanks to new technology, historians discovered that Camden had crossed out and pasted over his notes at the behest of James I, editing the original claim that “Elizabeth died without naming anybody.”
  • Quote (Tracy):
    “We’ve been blinded by that published version of William Camden… it was obvious he had done what can be diplomatically described as a heavy edit of his history.” (34:40)
  • “Camden had to put words in Elizabeth’s mouth.” (35:32)
  • Camden’s guilt is evident in his own apology-laden preface and the timing of the book’s release: “He takes so bloody long over writing it that it doesn’t come out until after James is dead. Camden kind of wins in the end!” (36:40)

Assassination Plots and Scandal: Valentine Thomas Affair ([39:17])

• A Scottish thief claimed James VI had ordered him to assassinate Elizabeth; the Queen dismissed it, but James demanded public absolution, inadvertently drawing more suspicion.
  • Camden subsequently softened this in his “official history,” further underscoring how regime and reputation rewrote the past.

Coda: What Became of the Main Players?

James VI’s Accession and Mixed Reception ([43:21])

• Official accounts spoke of jubilance at James’s succession, but quietly, some English towns rioted or resisted; “James is soon a profound disappointment.”
• His reign introduced unpopular “male favourites,” drunken court entertainments, and renewed persecution of Catholics—culminating in the Gunpowder Plot (45:18).

Arbella Stuart’s Tragic End ([46:00])

• After a brief period of restored favor, Arbella made a fateful secret marriage to William Seymour, hoping for freedom. She was caught as she tried to escape to Europe, imprisoned in the Tower, and died there after a hunger strike in 1615.

  • Quote (Tracy): “She managed to escape… but delays proved fatal… Arbella and her husband were separated and she never left the Tower. People see her as wronged—the woman who could have been queen.” (46:40)

• Arbella’s fate stands out as a symbol of how women, even at the heart of royal privilege, could be sacrificed in the dynastic games for the English crown.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It’s borderline tyranny, really.” — Tracy Borman on Elizabeth's crackdown on succession debates (07:58)
• “There is a question that must never be asked… Who will take Elizabeth’s throne?” — Maddy Pelling (04:19)
• “She was a pawn in the international marriage game.” — Tracy Borman on Arbella Stuart (18:35)
• “You don’t get any more half baked than the Essex Rebellion… they launched this rebellion in London and they stopped for lunch halfway through.” — Tracy Borman (27:32)
• “Camden had to put words in Elizabeth’s mouth.” — Tracy Borman (35:32)
• “People see [Arbella] as wronged—the woman who could have been queen now that they have this unwanted King of Scots.” — Tracy Borman (47:36)

Important Timestamps

• [03:18] – The silencing of the succession question: Peter Wentworth in the Tower of London
• [07:10] – How Elizabeth turned succession talk into an act of treason
• [14:08] – Arbella Stuart: her background and claim to the throne
• [25:10] – How close Arbella came to becoming Elizabeth’s successor
• [27:32] – The Essex Rebellion: causes and failures
• [31:53] – James VI’s cloak-and-dagger court politics
• [32:23] – Deathbed myth: unpicking the “official” Elizabeth-James succession story
• [39:17] – The Valentine Thomas plot and rewriting of assassination allegations
• [43:21] – Reception of James I and Arbella Stuart’s final years

Tone & Takeaways

True to the podcast’s style, the conversation is witty, approachable, and insightful, unafraid to poke fun at historical figures (“This is my type of rebellion… Like lunch, I’m in.” – Anthony, 28:36) while delivering new research and shifting established historical narratives. The tragedy of individuals like Arbella Stuart stands out, reminding listeners that what appears as a golden age may be underpinned by fear, control, misogyny, dynastic sacrifice, and posthumous myth-making.

For further detail, see Professor Tracy Borman’s Stolen Crown (released September 4, 2025, UK; November 4, 2025, US).