George Villers, Duke of Buckingham and the "husband" of King James I of England.

Kinda hot here...

But in this portrait he looks like a transman.

James was NOT hot. He had buggy eyes which persist in the gene pool to this day, looking at you Beatrice of York.

I thought he had a fairly successful marriage though. Maybe the wife was tolerant. Or too terrified to say anything. Those were the days of burning and beheading for treason.

It's Vill[bold]i[/bold]ers. He was so disliked by the people that when he was assassinated, his killer, John Felton, was hailed a hero.

A passage from Villiers love letter to King James: "I naturally so love your person, and adore all your other parts, which are more than ever one man had."

Of course, R4, some historians still try to explain that away with "...normal for male friendships of the time..." bullshit.

Today it is impossible to say were they hot or not. We can’t trust paintings. Also letters were very different from today’s ways of writing. But I would say they might have loved each other. Imagine how difficult it was back then even if you were a king.

I remember my suprise on seeing Orlando Bloom’s Duke of Buckingham in that dreadful Musketeers film from several years ago. Bloom’s portrayal didn’t come across as gay as expected, or as it ought.

Oddly, in the press tour for the film, Orlando went out of his way to mention the Duke’s bisexuality to every interviewer and seemed quite giddy about this facet of the role. This was false advertising, though, as the film itself never once mentions or shows the Duke’s interest in men at all.

It’s a pity. On paper, this version of Buckingham could have been delightful.