Prince Tudor theory

Prince Tudor Part I

The Prince Tudor theory of Shakespeare Authorship advances the belief that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and Queen Elizabeth I, had a child who was raised as Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. It is to this young Earl that Oxford dedicated "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece", writing under the pen-name, William Shakespeare. As with all alternative authorship theories, the PT theory is universally rejected by the academic community.

In a letter in 1933, J. Thomas Looney mentions in a postscript that Percy Allen and Captain Ward were advancing views in regard to Oxford and Queen Elizabeth that were extravagant and improbable. The ideas that Ward and Allen developed have become known as the Prince Tudor or PT Theory. The PT Theory has split the Oxfordian movement into the orthodox Oxfordians, who regard the theory as an impediment to Oxford's recognition as Shakespeare, and the PT Theorists, who maintain that their theory better explains Oxford's life and authorship. Fact|date=January 2008

"This Star of England", by Charlton and Dorothy Ogburn, devoted space to the facts supporting this theory, which was expanded by Elisabeth Sears' "Shakespeare and the Tudor Rose" and Hank Whittemore, in his analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnets, "The Monument", which interprets the poems as a poetic history of Queen Elizabeth, Oxford and Southampton. Fact|date=January 2008

Prince Tudor Part II

A variation of this theory, known as PT Theory Part II, advances the belief that Oxford was the son of Queen Elizabeth I, born in July 1548 at Cheshunt, England. This theory asserts that Princess Elizabeth, then fourteen years old, had a child by her step-father, Thomas Seymour. The child of this affair was secretly placed in the home of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford and raised as Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. It is well acknowledged that Princess Elizabeth and Seymour had a romantic involvement. However, most historians have denied that there were any consequences to this youthful romance. PT Theory Part II also advances the notion that the Virgin Queen had five other children in addition to Oxford, and that Henry Wriothesley was the result of an incestuous relationship between Oxford and his mother, the Queen.

"Oxford: Son of Queen Elizabeth I" by Paul Streitz is the work advancing PT Theory Part II. It also asserts that Oxford did not die in 1604, but was abducted. He was banished to the Island of Mersea in the English Channel, where he completed Shake-speares Sonnets, The Tempest and created the King James Bible, published in 1613. Oxford according to this book died at the end of 1608, the first written statement referring to Oxford as deceased was in January 1609, and this was followed by the publication of the Sonnets referring to the "ever-living" poet, that is, deceased. [Streitz, Paul "Oxford: Son of Queen Elizabeth I," 2001, pgs 129-130]

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