William Levett (courtier)

William Levett, Esq.
Born	William Levett Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England
Residence	Levett's Farm, Savernake, and Swindon, Wiltshire
Other names	William Levet
Occupation	courtier; land agent; magistrate
Employer	King Charles I of England, King Charles II of England
Known for	courtier who accompanied King Charles I on his flight from Cromwell forces to imprisonment on Isle of Wight and to the scaffold for his execution
Title	Groom of the Bedchamber, Page of the Backstairs
Children	Catherine Levett Dering; Dr. Henry Levett
Parent(s)	James Levett

William Levett, Esq., (sometimes spelled William Levet) was a long serving courtier to King Charles I of England. Levett accompanied the King during his flight from Parliamentary forces, including his escape from Hampton Court palace, and eventually to his imprisonment in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, and finally to the scaffold on which he was executed. Following the King's death, Levett wrote a letter claiming that he had witnessed the King writing the so-called Eikon Basilike during his imprisonment, an allegation that produced a flurry of new claims about the disputed manuscript and flamed a growing movement to rehabilitate the image of the executed monarch.

The brother of Rev. Richard Levett of Ashwell, Rutland, William Levett was likely born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, the son of James Levett, descendant of a knightly Sussex family of Anglo-Norman descent. Levett entered the Royal service as a Page of the Backstairs, eventually rising to Groom of the Bedchamber. As a courtier, Levett likely benefitted from favors dispensed by the monarchy.

Levett's appointment as courtier seems to date from the beginning of King Charles' reign. By the time the King had been captured and sent to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, it was clear that Levett had made himself indispensable: the King requested that Levett be one of the few courtiers allowed to accompany him there. During the King's escape from Hampton Court, Levett had apparently proven his mettle, accompanying the King in his flight southward away from Parliamentary forces.

Towards the end of his life, writing from his home in Wiltshire, where he owned Levett's Farm within Savernake Forest, had long leased the Goddard mansion in Swindon, and owned property at Manton as well, Levett sent a letter claiming that he had seen King Charles writing the Eikon Basilike. The letter, signed by Levet on 29 April 1691, and incorporated into later editions of the work alleged to have been authored by the monarch, was celebrated by those who wished to see the dead King as saint for having given his life for the cause of the nation.

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