hope you don't mind the ask, but re: Cecil wanting Dudley appointed as ambassador to France- do we know if/do you think that Cecil genuinley thought Dudley was a good fit for the role, just wanted to get the English Channel between Dudley and the Queen, or a combination of the two...?
Full disclosure, this tidbit of information comes purely from a podcast that Joanne Paul did in 2025 on Not Just the Tudors, so I haven't looked deeply into it myself, but my understanding is that this occurred literally in the very first few days of Elizabeth's reign, possibly even just before Mary died. According to Paul in her book, Cecil drew up a list of men who he thought would be good servants and what positions he thought they'd be most useful in - for Robert, he thought he would make a useful ambassador in France and that isn't for no reason. Robert had been to France before (albeit for war), was well educated, an expert in court manners, and could speak the language so it made sense. At this point in time, Cecil would have only had limited interaction with Robert himself, although he had been in the service of Robert's father. As there's no evidence of any scandalous relationship between Elizabeth and Robert before 1559, Cecil would have had no real reason for wanting them apart. He just figured this would be a sensible position for him.
But Elizabeth had the last word when it came to who she wanted closely serving her and her decision to have Robert be Master of the Horse overruled Cecil's recommendation. This position also made sense for him as his older brother (now dead) held the same position during Edward's reign and Robert had a natural flair for drama, which helped with the work associated with that position. At that point, Robert and Elizabeth had a positive relationship, so its no wonder she wanted him close by.
If anything, the only reason might have felt cautious around Robert is more because he might have been nervous that Robert would want to take revenge for Cecil effectively abandoning Northumberland when the going got tough. He would have had no way of knowing that that would end up being the least of his worries when it came to Robert.
And that's what makes me laugh lol - I do love dramatic irony. And more poignantly, its such a small change, such a seemingly insignificant decision on Elizabeth's part that has such a massive impact on all three of their lives.
