LGBTQA+ Royal history

Britain’s LGBTQA+ history is often hidden from view and because of societal norms at the  time, many of history’s notable individuals never made their identities clear, leaving historians to guess whether they are members of the LGBTQA+ community or not.

Historians have noted that some members of the British monarchy expressed love and affection for members of the same sex.

For instance, Edward II and James I/VI were both noted to have had certain favourite male courtiers that were rumoured to be their lovers. On the opposite side, Henry VIII wrote some of the first anti-LGBTQA+ laws into being.

Edward II

As you’ll know from our exploration of the British monarchy, Edward II had a very short reign, with political crisis, a civil war and military weakness to deal with during that time. He was also accused of having a relationship with two of his favourite courtiers, Hugh Despenser and Piers Gaveston.

Edward II was the first of Britain’s monarchs to hold the title of the Prince of Wales and was actually born in Wales rather than England. He was married to Queen Isabella and the pair were patrons of the arts, even watching a cohort of naked dancers once – something that was recorded at the time.

In the year 1300, when Edward was 15, the first mentions of his interactions with Piers Gaveston appeared. Gaveston was the son of one of Edward’s father’s knights and so was often at the royal court. The pair reportedly became close friends, so close in fact that his father banished Gaveston to France to punish the prince. Just before he left, Edward lavished his favourite with gifts, including clothing, horses, swans and herons and even accompanied him to Dover to see him off. In a dramatisation of Edward’s life, Christopher Marlowe wrote the pair as being lovers and chroniclers at the time did describe the pair as being as close as man and wife.

One of Edward’s first acts as king was to end Gaveston’s banishment and return him to England. He gave him the title of the Earl of Cornwall, something that upset the other earls and nobles, leading to animosity between King and subjects. In 1312, Gaveston, along with Edward and Isabella, who at that point was pregnant, had to flee after the nobles in the north revolted. The nobles isolated Gaveston, using him as leverage against the king. He was taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick and executed, leaving the king humiliated.

After Gaveston’s death, Edward promoted another of his favourites, Hugh Despenser the Younger, making him Royal Chamberlain. Hugh was Edward’s nephew and he was showered with honours and titles, which again angered the nobles. Despenser was particularly offensive to Queen Isabella and even removed her children from her. Isabella quickly took up with Roger Mortimer, one of England’s most powerful barons who instigated an uprising. Hugh was captured and executed, while Edward was forced to abdicate and was later murdered.

William II

William the Conqueror's favourite son, who was known as William Rufus became king in 1087 and is widely assumed to have been gay. He never married or sired children and didn't appear to have any mistresses or an interest in the women of his court. He did however, lack religious piety, which led many to condemn him, which could account for rumours about his personal life, something that would have been ilegal and frowned upon at the time. He was murdered while out hunting with his brother, who possibly orchestrated the whole thing. 

James I/VI

King James was married to Anne of Denmark and adopted a severe stance against sodomy in English law but was known to have relationships with several male courtiers. One such courtier was the Duke of Lennox, his much older relative. The Duke of Lennox, who was in his late thirties when he met a 13 year old James, received several promotions before the king was forced to banish him by the nobles. James was said to have been devastated by the loss of the Duke and when Lennox died, he left James his embalmed heart.

It wasn’t long after Lennox’s death that James married Anne of Denmark, with whom he had several children. However, James was known to be unfaithful with several mistresses and courtiers including Anne Murray, who he wrote poetry about.  Another courtier named by historians was the Earl of Somerset, Robert Carr who was just 17 when he entered into a relationship with the King. The pair would later fall out over a public scandal when it emerged that Carr’s wife had poisoned his best friend. Both were initially sentenced to death but ended up being imprisoned under house arrest.

The last of James’ known male lovers was George Villiers, the 1^st Earl of Buckingham. They met in 1614, around the time that James fell out with Carr. James knighted him and less than a decade later, he was the first commoner to be granted a dukedom. The King seemed unashamed of being openly affectionate with Villiers, with the pair even having adjoining bed chambers. The king was said to have compared their relationship with that of Jesus and his disciple, John.

In letters, James referred to Villiers as his wife and when hearing of the king’s death, Villiers, who was on a diplomatic mission in France, was brought to tears.

Richard I

King Richard I (aka, Richard the Lionheart) was rumoured to have had a tumultuous affair with his French counterpart King Philip II. Richard had no children and spent very little time with his wife. According to his royal secretary, the the King of France and the King of England slept in the same bed. Though at the time, this wasn’t a big deal, it was a way to stay warm after all, it wasn’t something a king was expected to do.

The pair were known to have been very close and there has been much debate about the nature of their relationship. Eventually though they had a falling out, with the last five years of Richard’s life spent in bitter rivalry with Philip, partially spurred on by the fact that Richard, who was engaged to Philip’s sister, denounced her, married someone else and then spread rumours disparaging her character.

Philip got his own back by teaming up with Richard’s brother and paying their enemies to keep him captive.

Queen Anne

Anne cuts a rather tragic figure, she was married to one of her cousins, the Prince of Denmark and throughout her life, was pregnant seventeen times, though none of her children survived. Unsurprisingly, she fell into a deep depression for long periods of time. Despite her many pregnancies and devotion to her husband, historians question the nature of her relationship with several women at court from this time. The most complex relationship was noted with Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough - the pair were very close and would often fall out, especially when Sarah became jealous of Anne's closeness with her cousin, Abigail Marsham. It was widely rumoured at the time that the three were embroiled in a love triangle, something that is explored in the film, The Favourite. 

Henry VIII

It wasn’t until the reign of Henry VIII that male homosexuality was targeted for persecution. Henry VIII completely outlawed sodomy throughout the whole British Empire, with convictions carrying a death sentence.

The death penalty was lifted in 1861, with a 10 year prison sentence instead. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, made any homosexual act illegal, whether or not a witness was present, which included private acts for the first time. This was how Oscar Wilde fell fowl of the law.

Unlike male homosexuality, female homosexuality was never explicitly targeted by any legislation. It was discussed for the first time in 1921, but the bill in question was rejected in case it introduced women to the idea of homosexuality.