13. People were suspicious of his relationship with the Duke of Buckingham, his father’s favorite.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628), was James I’s closest advisor, and widely hated. Buckingham was a royal favourite, upon whom James lavished fine clothes, residences, and titles, and naturally there were rumours of a homosexual relationship, which James didn’t help by telling Parliament, ‘you may be sure that I love the Earl of Buckingham more than anyone else’. Beyond the morality of the relationship, Parliament saw Buckingham as a bad influence, criticising his poor diplomatic performance and the wisdom of the advice he gave James. He was also (correctly) suspected of corruption and illegal business practices.
Buckingham had been Charles’s tutor, and the new king ignored all advice by not only keeping him as an advisor but promoting him to Lord Admiral when James died. Buckingham led a number of disastrous military campaigns and vociferously supported the king’s demands for yet more money. Parliament had finally had enough of Buckingham, but when they twice tried to impeach him, the divinely-legitimised Charles responded both times by dissolving Parliament. This contributed to the Petition of Right (see below) being drawn up. Buckingham was stabbed to death at a pub in Portsmouth in 1628 by a disgruntled soldier.
