ABSTRACT
The high hopes of summer 1577 were to be consistently confounded for the Sidneys during the next decade. It would take another forty years, until the creation in July 1618 of Philip's younger brother Robert as Earl of Leicester, for the family to attain what they regarded as their rightful eminence at the royal court. Their central dilemma during the late 1570s was twofold. For almost three decades the fortunes of the Sidneys had been inextricably bound up with those of the Dudleys. But now they found themselves heavily dependent upon the Earl of Leicester, whose own influence over the queen was increasingly unpredictable. Secondly, it was apparent when Philip returned from the continent in summer 1575 that Elizabeth would never be persuaded to regard Sir Henry Sidney as one of her most trusted and intimate advisers. Certainly, she remained willing to utilize his proven administrative and military abilities in both Wales and Ireland but, at the same time, she seemed to harbour persistent doubts over his absolute loyalty. Elizabeth's personal relationship with the Sidneys was almost as complex and fraught as her intimacy with Robert Dudley. To Sir Henry, especially in his dealings with her over Ireland, the queen could be, in rapid succession, gracious, exploitative, supportive or suspicious. It became impossible for Sir Henry to second-guess the tone of either her personal missives to him or the official instructions dispatched on her behalf by the Privy Council. In sharp contrast, following the family's great trauma in losing Ambrosia in February 1575, Elizabeth had chosen to cast herself as a quasi-maternal figure for her eldest surviving sister, Mary. Following the invitation for her to join her ladies-in-waiting at court she granted (not readily given) approval for Mary's propitious marriage to the Earl of Pembroke in April 1577. Even Elizabeth herself was probably never sure of her own views of the Sidneys, especially when their names were mentioned alongside those of the Dudleys.
