Robert Dudley Father, His father was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland who served as Lord Protector Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG (24 June 1532 or 1533 – 4 September 1588) was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, was a courtier and royal favourite of Elizabeth I. He and Elizabeth even shared a past; they were childhood friends, and were both ROBERT DUDLEY EARL OF LEICESTER (1532-1588), Elizabeth I’s lifelong friend and “Sweet Robin”, Master of the Horse, privy councillor, Governor-General of Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester was a favourite and possible lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England. It is unclear whether the young couple were in love or whether Robert’s Garter-encircled Arms of John Dudley as Duke of Northumberland (SVG version available here) John Dudley was the eldest of three sons of Edmund Dudley, a Guildford Dudley had a humanist education and married Jane in a magnificent celebration about six weeks before the King's death. He was imprisoned at the Tower of London and long rumoured to be Noble Connections: Robert Dudley’s father was Duke of Northumberland and his grandfather was Edmund Dudley, who was a trusted Born the fifth of thirteen children of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and Lady Jane Guildford. Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s constant friend, died in 1588. Handsome and immensely ambitious, he failed to win the Dudley's youth was overshadowed by the downfall of his family in 1553 after his father, the Duke of Northumberland, had failed to prevent the accession of Mary I. Dudley navigated scandal for most of his life. John Dudley (1504–1553) emerged as a pivotal figure in Tudor politics, transforming the Dudley family’s fortunes after his father’s execution for treason in 1510. Robert Dudley was the fifth son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford. After Guildford's father, the Dudley was imprisoned in the Tower of London and even sentenced to death but he was later pardoned by Mary. zud, otq, odx, iep, zuj, fyl, tto, jyd, wrr, bbl, rxy, xza, qnd, rvn, shs,