Informant
On his return to England in 1584, Parry disclosed some of his dealings to the Queen, claiming to have acted only to cover Protestant plots. She pardoned him; Parry started to demand rewards. The Queen pensioned him, and rewarded him with a seat in Parliament for Queenborough. Parry was at this point playing a double game. He tried the effect of a protest in parliament against the treatment of Catholics.
However, Parry was still unable to pay off his debts, and attempted to manufacture another plot to be "discovered". He approached Sir Edmund Neville and suggested to him that they should ride up and shoot the Queen in her coach, or kill her during a private audience. According to some accounts, Parry did attempt to carry out the assassination, but lost his courage before he could do the deed. However, it is unclear whether he genuinely intended to kill the Queen, or to raise his own standing by "exposing" Neville.
Parliament met on 23 November, and one of its first acts was to pass a bill against Jesuits and seminary priests. On its third reading (17 December), Parry denounced it; he was committed to the sergeant-at-arms, placed on his knees at the bar, and required to explain his words. He was carried off in custody and examined by the privy council. The next day he was released by an order from the Queen.
Six weeks later Neville informed against his fellow-conspirator, stating that he had plotted to murder the queen while she was driving in the park. Parry was arrested on a charge of high treason, and placed in the Tower of London. He wrote a full confession to the Queen, and sent letters to Burghley and Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester.
Read more about this topic: William Parry (doctor)