Francis Walsingham The Murder of Christopher Marlowe" (1992), which was used as a source by Anthony Burgess for his novel "A Dead Man in Deptford" (1993). The 1998 film "Elizabeth" gives considerable, although sometimes historically inaccurate, prominence to Walsingham (portrayed by Geoffrey Rush). It fictionalizes him as irreligious and sexually ambiguous, merges chronologically distant events, and inaccurately suggests that he murdered Mary of Guise. Rush reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, "". Both Stephen Murray in the 1970 BBC series "Elizabeth R" and Patrick Malahide in the 2005 Channel Four miniseries "Elizabeth I" play him as a dour official. Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham sound out a potential peace deal and gather military intelligence. Charles IX died in 1574 and the Duke of Anjou inherited the French throne as Henry III. Between 1578 and 1581 the Queen resurrected attempts to negotiate a marriage with Henry III's youngest brother, the Duke of Alençon, who had put himself forward as a protector of the Huguenots and a potential leader of the Dutch. Walsingham was sent to France in mid-1581 to discuss an Anglo-French alliance, but the French wanted the marriage agreed first and Walsingham was under instruction to obtain a treaty before committing to the marriage.