It probably goes without saying that a lot of the appeal of this rumor is just good, old-fashioned sexism: A woman couldn’t possibly be interested in ruling an entire country, let alone be any good at it. Outside of that and a bit of playing connect-the-dots with random data points, there’s really nothing to this theory.

In the first place, there’s no evidence that Elizabeth I ever was sent to Bisley. And, despite (probably?) remaining a virgin, Elizabeth I did have several romantic partners, at least a couple of whom got close enough to (presumably) notice things like Adam’s apples or five o’clock shadows. One of these suitors, King Philip II of Spain, actually went so far as to ask Elizabeth’s laundress if she menstruated normally to make sure she was fertile before proposing marriage; the laundress confirmed that Aunt Flo did indeed visit regularly (via Historic Mysteries).

So even the circumstantial evidence for the theory really doesn’t hold up very well. Where, then, did such a wild idea come from? According to the BBC, the whole thing started as a rumor spread by a Bisley-area priest as a joke. In the 19th century, a hidden grave holding the skeleton of a child in Tudor-era clothing was discovered, and Thomas Keble, the local rector, thought “Wouldn’t it be wild if this were Queen Elizabeth?” Things just sort of spiraled out of control from there, until a guy who wrote vampire fanfic for a living decided he was an expert in history.