Echoing the story and character of Hamlet, scandal and tragedy plagued the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Courtier, swordsman, adventurer, playwright and poet, he was also hailed as the best of the secret court writers. But his work stopped appearing under his own name after the invention of… ‘William Shake-speare’. So was de Vere the inspiration for Hamlet..or was he really the author?