(daughter of his younger sister Mary) and her descendants behind his own children. Due to the ambiguity surrounding her, Arbella became a key chess piece to the various groups who wanted to use her for their own ends.

However, between the end of 1592 and the spring of 1593, the influential Cecils - Elizabeth's Lord Treasurer, Lord Burghley, and his son, Secretary of State Sir Robert Cecil - turned their attention away from Arbella towards her cousin James VI of Scotland,