Anne of Denmark's letter to George Villiers, dated somewhere from August 1616 to January 1617

Source:

Handwriting of the Kings and Queens of England, W. J. Hardy, 1893

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.21209/page/n127/mode/2up

Above: Anne of Denmark, attributed to Michael Gheeraerts the Younger.

Anne of Denmark (born December 12, 1574, died March 2, 1619) was Queen consort of Scotland, England and Ireland by marriage to King James VI and I.

The second daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at age fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future King Charles I. Anne had an independent streak and willingness to use factional Scottish politics in her conflicts with James over the custody of Prince Henry and his treatment of her friend Beatrix Ruthven. Anne appears to have loved James at first, but the couple gradually drifted apart and then eventually were living apart, though they maintained mutual respect and a certain extent of affection.

In England, Anne shifted her energies from factional politics to patronage of the arts and constructed her own magnificent court, hosting one of the richest cultural salons in Europe. After 1612, she suffered sustained bouts of ill health and gradually withdrew from the center of court life. Although she was reported to have been a Protestant at the time of her death, evidence suggests that she may have converted to Catholicism at some point in her life.

It is widely speculated that James was gay or at least bisexual, as he had several male favourites whom he was very affectionate towards, chief among them being George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. In James's surviving letters to Villiers, he uses many affectionate nicknames for him, as did Anne, who accepted the relationship and was on good terms with Villiers; and it is known that the two men shared a bed, although the existence or extent of their sexual relationship is unknown.

The letter:

My kind dog, I have receaved your letter, which is verye wellcom to me: yow doe verie well in lugging the sowes eare, and I thank yow for it, and would have you doe so still, upon condition that yow continue a watchfull dog to him and be alwaies true to him. So wishing you all happines
ANNA R.