29 thoughts on “MCM: Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

  1. “He’s cute, I suppose, but what the frock is he wearing?”

    *Puts on glasses*

    Well, his mother’s drapes, obviously. And there’s a couple of sofas somewhere who want their trim back.

    PS: When was the shaving razor invented again?

    1. Is it just my age showing or is anyone else thinking of the old Carol Burnett sketch “Went with the Breeze.”?

  2. If you didn’t have enough reason to adore Robert Hardy, in real life he is an expert in the British longbow!

    1. I also read, I believe, that he’s also an expert on falconry. But I believe he wrote a book on the English longbow.

  3. Stop it. You make me want to go have an Epic Elizabeth Marathon.

    I really need to watch Glenda Jackson’s Elizabeth again. It’s been too long.

    Where IS Robert Dudley in Reign? Not that I hang on every word, but he disappeared at some point and now she’s surrounded by … fictional dudes, I guess? I can’t even remember what happened to him, their explanation for it, nada.

    Do you watch it? I have to laugh uproariously every week. This go around, it was Elizabeth playing drinking games with some explorer dude (who looks like Fabio in a blonde wig) while a turkey ate pumpkin seeds on the table. Also, last week she had a blueberry pie made, and offered her guest drinks out of cut crystal decanters, while wearing vaguely Elizabethan clothing (if you squint real hard) and standing in a Regency room, full of Victorian furniture.

    Oh, Reign. You jest with me far too much, forsooth!

    1. I’ve only been watching intermittently in the latest season, so I think I’ve seen that Dudley once, at most. I was more entertained by the Reign Darnley, bec. he’s such an OTT jerk, which seems accurate, yet he’s jerky in new & unusual ways than the real Darnley. It’s just *so* Reign, hah.

      1. Yes, Darnley is cracking me up. I have a friend who knows nothing about Mary QoS so she has no idea what’s coming for Darnley… that is, if they are even REMOTELY historically correct. I shall sit back, watch, and laugh. ;)

  4. I thought Robert Hardy was a bit too old for the younger Dudley in the early episodes of “Elizabeth R”. But he was fine as the older Dudley.

    I enjoyed both Joseph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons’ performances as Dudley.

    1. I’ve always thot Glenda Jackson was a smidge off as young Elizabeth in the first episode, so that seems fair. But they both hit their stride post-coronation!

  5. Thanks for posting this, if for nothing else for Elizabeth I from 2005. I don’t know how it flew under my radar. I absolutely adore Helen Mirren and I’ve always liked Jeremy Irons a lot, too. I’m super excited to watch this now.

  6. If you liked the opening of the Glenn Close Dangerous Liaisons, you’ll love the Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth.

  7. Dumb question: Are Tom Hardy and Robert Hardy related or is it just a coincidence?

  8. Is he known for wearing one earring? Even my local RenFaire Dudley wears a single earring.

  9. Sad to see that the tremendous Robert Hardy has passed away. A wonderful Dudley, a unforgettable Siegfried and a lovable buffoon as Sir John.

    1. He also was a consummate Prince Albert in “Edward the King”, thereby playing two of England’s most famously handsome men (Look at pictures of young Albert, & then read how enraptured Victoria was over his beauty)

  10. I did not like Hardy…could not see why Elizabeth would be head ofer heels with him at all. Jeremy Irons my fav by far.

  11. I found Tom Hardy’s ugly haircut and historically inaccurate clean-shaven face very distracting in The Virgin Queen. The same series also had a strange choice of hairstyle for the earl of Essex – dark, straight and greasy-looking.

    1. I suspect they did it so they could age him up later, but it didn’t work for me either. They did have him grow the right mustache and beard later and look much more like Dudley should, but it’s super hard to find any stills from those scenes.

Comments are closed.