Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years.
Portrait in Waddesdon Manor, c. 1564. In the background are the devices of the Order of Saint Michael and the Order of the Garter; Robert Dudley was a knight of both.
Elizabeth's coronation procession: Robert Dudley is on horseback on the far left, leading the palfrey of honour.
Elizabeth I coronation miniature
Lord Robert Dudley c. 1560
A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. It was especially a phenomenon of the 16th and 17th centuries, when government had become too complex for many hereditary rulers with no great interest in or talent for it, and political institutions were still evolving. From 1600 to 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, particularly in Spain, England, France and Sweden.
Equestrian portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares by Diego Velázquez.
The Duke of Buckingham by the workshop of Rubens
Cardinal Richelieu, one of the most successful from the golden age of the favourite
Prince Grigory Potemkin