Royal Favourites: Hatton, Elizabeth I's Favourite
Not Just the Tudors
History Hit
4.8 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 May 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How did Sir Christopher Hatton became one of Elizabeth I’s favourites? How true were the rumours that they were lovers?
After catching the Queen's eye in 1561, Hatton was quickly promoted to the Privy Council, making a significant impact on Elizabeth's complex religious policy. Yet he has often been overshadowed by her other favourites like Dudley, Cecil and Walsingham.
In the final episode of our series on Royal Favourites, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about Hatton’s rise from minor gentry to Elizabeth I's closest aide from Dr. Neil Younger.
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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Want to walk the halls of Anne Boleyn's childhood home or explore the castles that made up Henry |
| 0:06.8 | the 8th's English stronghold? With a subscription to history hit, you can dive into our Tudor |
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| 0:21.8 | every single week. Covering everything from the ancient world to World War II, just visit |
| 0:28.1 | historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. |
| 0:34.9 | Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit, |
| 0:40.8 | the podcasts in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs, |
| 0:45.2 | from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise, |
| 0:49.8 | relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft. |
| 0:54.0 | Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors. |
| 1:03.0 | Over the past few weeks, I've been taking a closer look at some of English history's royal favourites. |
| 1:13.6 | I started with Robert Dudley, Elizabeth I first, forbidden love. |
| 1:17.6 | We then jumped into the Stuart Age, with George Villiers' Duke of Buckingham, |
| 1:22.4 | the intimate favourite of King James I and 6th, and then Sarah Churchill, Queen Anne's closest confidante. |
| 1:29.5 | I think you'll find those episodes fascinating if you haven't listened already. |
| 1:33.4 | But to round things off, let's return to Queen Elizabeth I first, |
| 1:38.1 | whose favourites, as I mentioned at the outset of this series, |
| 1:41.4 | were not merely bureaucrats, but emotional companions, symbols of royal |
| 1:46.1 | grace and lightning rods for factional fury. Another of Elizabeth's favourites was Sir Christopher Hatton. |
| 1:53.7 | He was also a man of talent who, over his lifetime, held positions as gentleman pensioner, |
| 1:59.6 | captain of the Queen's Guard, gentleman of the privy |
... |
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