“The scapegoat - the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

 

To be held in the tapestry hall, Boughton House stable block, by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch. For tickets please contact: [email protected]

All profits from the evening will go to the Corby branch of Northamptonshire MIND

Rising rapidly from Royal Cup Bearer through Gentleman of the Bedchamber, Master of the Horse and the ranks of the nobility to become Duke of Buckingham, he became James’s right hand man and gate keeper.

Indispensable – as James said to the Privy Council “Christ had John and I have George”, and endowed with glamour and magnetism he rose to power, immense wealth and magnificence.

When James died in 1625, Buckingham was Lord High Admiral and effectively foreign minister. His close friendship with Charles I enabled him to continue in these roles but public opinion had for some time been running against him. Resentment at corruption, his diplomatic blundering and a number of appallingly managed military adventures led to vast unpopularity. In 1628 a disgruntled army officer stabbed him to death in Portsmouth where he had gone to organise yet another military campaign. And all by the age of 35.