queens-named-elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:09:51 +0100

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II in 2007
Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the other Commonwealth realms
Reign	6 February 1952 – present (&0000000000000057.00000057 years, &0000000000000212.000000212 days)
Coronation	2 June 1953
Predecessor	George VI
Heir apparent	Charles, Prince of Wales

Consort	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Detail Issue
Charles, Prince of Wales Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Full name
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
House	House of Windsor
Father	George VI
Mother	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Born	21 April 1926 (1926-04-21) (age 83) Mayfair, London
Signature
Religion	Church of England & Church of Scotland

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, and carries out duties for each state of which she is sovereign, as well as acting as Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann, and Paramount Chief of Fiji. In theory her powers are vast; however, in practice, and in accordance with convention, she rarely intervenes in political matters.

Elizabeth became Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952. She is one of the longest-reigning British monarchs. Her reign of 57 years has seen sweeping changes, including the dissolution of the British Empire (a process that began before her accession) and the consequent evolution of the modern Commonwealth of Nations. As other British colonies gained independence from the United Kingdom, she became queen of several newly independent countries. She has been the sovereign of 32 individual nations, but half of them later became republics.

Elizabeth married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. The couple have four children and eight grandchildren.

Early life

Princess Elizabeth in 1929.

Princess Elizabeth aged seven, in 1933.

Elizabeth was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife Elizabeth. She was born by Caesarean section at 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair, London,^[1] and on 29 May 1926, was baptised in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of York, Cosmo Lang. Her godparents were her paternal grandparents King George V and Queen Mary; her aunts, Princess Mary and Lady Elphinstone; her great-great-uncle, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; and her maternal grandmother, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Elizabeth was named after her mother, great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, and grandmother Queen Mary,^[2] and was called "Lilibet" by her close family.^[3] She had a close relationship with her grandfather, and was credited with aiding in his recovery from illness in 1929.^[4]^[5] Her only sibling was Princess Margaret, born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as "Crawfie".^[6]^[7] To the dismay of the royal family,^[8] Crawford later published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility.^[8] Such observations were echoed by others. Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant."^[9] Her cousin, Margaret Rhodes, described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".^[10]

Heiress presumptive

As a granddaughter of the monarch in the male line, Elizabeth held the title of a British princess, with the style Her Royal Highness, her full style being Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. At birth, she was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle, The Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth did generate public interest, there was no reason to believe then that she would ever become queen, as it was widely assumed that the Prince of Wales would marry and have children of his own.^[11] In 1936, when her grandfather, the King, died and her uncle Edward succeeded, she was second in line after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated and her father became king. Elizabeth became heiress presumptive, and was thereafter known as Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth.

Elizabeth studied constitutional history with Sir Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College,^[12] and religion with the Archbishop of Canterbury.^[13] She learned modern languages, and still speaks French fluently.^[14] A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so Elizabeth could socialise with girls her own age. Later she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.^[15]

In 1939, the Canadian government wanted Elizabeth to accompany her parents on their upcoming tour of Canada. However, the King decided against this, stating that his daughter was too young to undertake such a strenuous tour, which ended up being over a month long.^[16] Elizabeth had probably met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1934 and 1937.^[17] After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth, though only 13 years old, fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters.^[18]

World War II

Princess Elizabeth changing a vehicle wheel during World War II.

In September 1939, World War II broke out. Elizabeth and her younger sister, Margaret, stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, from September to Christmas 1939, until they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk. In May 1940, they moved to Windsor Castle, where they stayed for most of the next five years. The suggestion that the two princesses be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Elizabeth's mother; she said, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave."^[19] The children remained at Windsor, where they staged pantomimes at Christmas, to which family and friends were invited, along with the children of Royal Household staff. It was from Windsor that Elizabeth, in 1940, made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities.^[20] She stated:

We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.^[16]

During the war, plans were drawn up to affiliate Elizabeth more closely with Wales, in order to quell the growing influence of Welsh nationalists.^[21] In a report to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison, the constitutional expert Edward Iwi proposed appointing Elizabeth as Constable of Caernarfon Castle (a post then held by David Lloyd George); the idea was rejected by Morrison, on the grounds that it might cause conflict between north and south Wales.^[21] Morrison did, however, take forward a suggestion by civil servant Thomas Jones to make her patron of the Welsh League of Youth, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, and to tour Wales as such.^[21]^[22] The idea was rejected by the King, who refused to subject his young daughter to the pressures of official tours and because two leading members of Urdd Gobaith Cymru were conscientious objectors.^[21]

In 1945, Elizabeth accompanied her parents on visits to Commonwealth service personnel, and began to carry out solo duties, such as reviewing a parade of Canadian airwomen.^[16] She joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, as No. 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor. She trained as a driver and mechanic, drove a military truck, and rose to the rank of Junior Commander.^[23] She is the last surviving "head of state who served in uniform during World War II".^[24]

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and her sister mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of London. She later said in a rare interview, "we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."^[25] Two years later, the Princess made her first official overseas tour, when she accompanied her parents to Southern Africa. On her 21st birthday, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth from South Africa, she pledged: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."^[26]

Marriage

Elizabeth married Philip on 20 November 1947. The couple are second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's family.^[27] Just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style of His Royal Highness.^[28]

The marriage was not without controversy: Philip was Greek Orthodox, had no financial standing, and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links. Elizabeth's mother was reported, in later biographies, to have opposed the union, even dubbing Philip "The Hun".^[29] Still, the Commonwealth had not yet completely rebounded from the devastation of the war; rationing still required that the Princess save up her rationing coupons to buy the material for her gown, designed by Norman Hartnell.^[30] Elizabeth and Philip received wedding gifts from around the world. At the ceremony, Elizabeth's bridesmaids were her sister; her cousin, Princess Alexandra of Kent; Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott; Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester; her second cousin, Lady Mary Cambridge; Lady Elizabeth Mary Lambart (now Longman), daughter of Frederick Lambart, Earl of Cavan; The Honourable Pamela Mountbatten (now Hicks), Philip's cousin; and two maternal cousins, The Honourable Margaret Elphinstone (now Rhodes) and The Honourable Diana Bowes-Lyon (now Somervell).^[31] Her page boys were her young paternal first cousins, Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent.^[31] In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters. Elizabeth's aunt, Princess Mary, Princess Royal, allegedly refused to attend because her brother, the Duke of Windsor (who abdicated in 1936), was not invited due to his marital situation; she gave ill health as the official reason for not attending.^[32]

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on 14 November 1948, several weeks after letters patent were issued by her father allowing her children to enjoy a royal and princely status to which they otherwise would not have been entitled.^[33] Though the Royal House is named Windsor, it was decreed through a British Order-in-Council in 1960, that those male-line descendants of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip who were not princes and princesses of the United Kingdom should have the personal surname Mountbatten-Windsor.^[34] In practice, however, all of their children have used Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname. A second child, Princess Anne, was born in 1950.^[35]

Following their wedding, the couple leased their first home, Windlesham Moor, until 4 July 1949,^[31] when they took up residence at Clarence House. However, at various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Malta (at that time a British Protectorate) as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently, for several months at a time, in the Maltese hamlet of Gwardamangia, at the Villa Gwardamangia, the rented home of Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma. The children remained in Britain.^[36]

Queen

Succession

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June 1953. Prince Philip swears his allegiance to his wife and newly crowned sovereign.

George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. In October of that year, she toured Canada, and visited the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman, in Washington, D.C.; on that trip, the Princess carried with her a draft accession declaration for use if the King died while she was out of the United Kingdom.^[16]^[37] In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand via Kenya. At Sagana Lodge, about 100 miles north of Nairobi, word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father on 6 February. Philip broke the news to the new queen.^[38] Martin Charteris, then her Assistant Private Secretary, asked her what she intended to be called as monarch, to which she replied: "Elizabeth, of course."^[39] Elizabeth was proclaimed queen in the various countries where she had acceded to the throne, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. The new Queen and Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.

In the midst of preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret informed her sister that she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorced commoner sixteen years older than Margaret, with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of Martin Charteris, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought – she hoped – given time, the affair would peter out."^[40] After opposition from the Commonwealth prime ministers, and a British minister's threat of resignation should Margaret and Townsend marry, the Princess decided to abandon her plans.^[40]

Despite the death of the Queen's grandmother Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the Queen's coronation went ahead in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, in accordance with Mary's wishes. The entire ceremony was, save for the anointing and communion, televised throughout the Commonwealth, and watched by an estimated twenty million people in Britain, with twelve million more listening on the radio.^[41] Elizabeth wore a gown commissioned from Norman Hartnell, which consisted of embroidered floral emblems of the countries of the Commonwealth: the Tudor rose of England, the Scots thistle, the Welsh leek, shamrocks for Ireland, the wattle of Australia, the maple leaf of Canada, the New Zealand fern, South Africa's protea, two lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.^[42]

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

Further information: Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth realm > Historical development, and George VI > Empire to Commonwealth

Elizabeth II's personal standard, used in her role as Head of the Commonwealth, and for when she visits Commonwealth countries of which she is not head of state.

Elizabeth witnessed, over her life, the ongoing transformation of the old British empire into the new British Commonwealth, and its modern successor, the Commonwealth of Nations. By the time of Elizabeth's accession in 1952, her role as nominal head of multiple independent states was already established. Spanning 1953–1954, the Queen and her husband embarked on a six-month around-the-world tour. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations.^[43]^[44] During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen the Queen.^[45] Throughout her reign Elizabeth has undertaken state visits to foreign countries, as well as tours of each Commonwealth country, including attending all Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM). Elizabeth II is the most widely-travelled head of state in history.^[46]

In 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining in a union with the United Kingdom; among the ideas put forward was one in which Elizabeth was to be the French head of state. Mollet "had not thought there need be difficulty over France accepting the headship of Her Majesty".^[47] The proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome.^[47] In November that year, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez canal. Earl Mountbatten of Burma claimed the Queen was opposed to the invasion, though Prime Minister Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.^[48]

The absence of a formal mechanism within the Conservative Party for choosing a leader meant that, following Eden's resignation, it fell to the Queen to decide whom to commission to form a government. Eden recommended that Elizabeth consult Lord Salisbury (the Lord President of the Council). Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir (the Lord Chancellor) consulted the Cabinet, Winston Churchill and the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, as a result of which the Queen appointed their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan. Six years later, Macmillan himself resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as Prime Minister, advice which she followed. In both 1957 and 1963, the Queen came under criticism for appointing the Prime Minister on the advice of a small number of ministers, or a single minister. In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for choosing a leader, thus relieving her of the duty.^[48]

The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led in 1957 to the first real personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited,^[49] Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch".^[50] Altrincham was denounced by public figures and physically attacked by members of the public appalled at his comments.^[51] She made a state visit to the United States that year, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly.^[52] On the same tour she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first Canadian monarch to open a parliamentary session. Two years later, she revisited Canada and the United States. In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Iran.^[53] During a trip to Ghana, she refused to keep her distance from President Kwame Nkrumah, despite him being a target for assassins. Harold Macmillan wrote at the time: "the Queen has been absolutely determined all through. She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as... a film star... She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man'... She loves her duty and means to be a queen."^[54]

The Queen (left) with First Lady Pat Nixon during President and Mrs. Nixon's trip to the United Kingdom, 1970.

Elizabeth's pregnancies with both Andrew and Edward, in 1959 and 1963, marked the only times Elizabeth did not perform the State Opening of the British Parliament during her reign. She delegated the task to the Lord Chancellor instead. Elizabeth inaugurated the first Canadian trans-Atlantic telephone cable (part of one devised to link all the Commonwealth countries) in 1961, by calling Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, from Buckingham Palace with the words "are you there Mr. Prime Minister?"^[55] In 1965, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith declared unilateral independence from Britain. Although the Queen dismissed Smith in a formal declaration and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, Smith's regime survived for another eleven years.^[56]

In 1969, Elizabeth sent a congratulatory message to the Apollo 11 crew on the first manned lunar landing; the micro-filmed message was left in a metal container on the moon's surface. She later met the crew at Buckingham Palace.^[14]

In February 1974, an inconclusive United Kingdom general election result meant that, in theory, the outgoing Prime Minister, Edward Heath, whose party had won

Famous Queens - Elizabeth

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:06:07 +0100

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I , "Darnley Portrait", c. 1575
Queen of England and Ireland (more...)
Reign	17 November 1558 – 24 March 1603
Coronation	15 January 1559
Predecessor	Mary I
Successor	James I

House	House of Tudor
Father	Henry VIII
Mother	Anne Boleyn
Born	7 September 1533 Greenwich, England
Died	24 March 1603 (aged 69) Richmond, England
Burial	Westminster Abbey
Signature

Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born a princess, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed three years after her birth, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. Her brother, Edward VI, cut her out of the succession. His will was set aside, and in 1558 Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.

Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel,^[1] and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was to support the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement held firm throughout her reign and later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry, but despite several petitions from parliament, she never did. The reasons for this choice are unknown, and they have been much debated. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day.

In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and siblings.^[2] One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing").^[3] This strategy, viewed with impatience by her counsellors, often saved her from political and marital misalliances. Though Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs and only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France and Ireland, the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588 associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Within 20 years of her death, she was being celebrated as the ruler of a golden age, an image that retains its hold on the English people. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Francis Drake.

Historians tend to be more cautious in their assessment. They often depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered,^[4] sometimes indecisive ruler,^[5] who enjoyed more than her share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity to the point where many of her subjects were relieved at her death. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer and a dogged survivor, in an age when government was ramshackle and limited and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. Such was the case with Elizabeth's rival, Mary I, Queen of Scots, whom she imprisoned in 1568 and eventually had executed in 1587. After the short reigns of Elizabeth's brother and sister, her 44 years on the throne provided valuable stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.^[2]

Early life

Elizabeth's parents, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth was born in Greenwich Palace in the Chamber of Virgins on 7 September 1533 between three and four o'clock in the afternoon^[6] and named after both her paternal and maternal grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard.^[7] She was the second child of Henry VIII of England to survive infancy; her mother was Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. At birth, Elizabeth was the heiress presumptive to the throne of England. Her older half-sister, Mary, had lost her position as legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne.^[8]^[9] King Henry VIII had desperately wanted a legitimate son, to ensure the Tudor succession. Anne had been crowned with St. Edward's crown, unlike any other queen consort, while carrying Elizabeth. Historian Alice Hunt has suggested that this was done because Anne's pregnancy was visible at the moment of coronation and she was carrying an heir who was presumed to be male.^[10] After Elizabeth's birth, Queen Anne failed to provide a male heir. She suffered at least two miscarriages, one in 1534 and another at the beginning of 1536. On 2 May 1536, she was arrested and imprisoned. Hastily convicted on trumped-up charges, she was beheaded on 19 May 1536.^[11]^[12]

Elizabeth, who was 2 years 8 months old at the time, was declared illegitimate and deprived of the title of princess.^[13] Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's death, Henry married Jane Seymour,^[14] who died 12 days after the birth of their son, Prince Edward. Elizabeth was placed in Edward's household and carried the chrisom, or baptismal cloth, at his christening.^[15]

Elizabeth Tudor, c. 1546, by an unknown artist. The simplicity of this portrait contrasts with the ornate icons that came later.^[16]

Elizabeth's first Lady Mistress, Lady Margaret Bryan, wrote that she was “as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever I knew any in my life”.^[17] By the autumn of 1537, Elizabeth was in the care of Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy who remained her Lady Mistress until her retirement in late 1545 or early 1546.^[18] Catherine Champernowne, better known by her later, married name of Catherine “Kat” Ashley, was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537, and she remained Elizabeth’s friend until her death in 1565, when Blanche Parry succeeded her as Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber^[19]. She clearly made a good job of Elizabeth’s early education: by the time William Grindal became her tutor in 1544, Elizabeth could write English, Latin, and Italian. Under Grindal, a talented and skillful tutor, she also progressed in French and Greek.^[20] After Grindal died in 1548, Elizabeth received her education under Roger Ascham, a sympathetic teacher who believed that learning should be fun.^[21] By the time her formal education ended in 1550, she was the best educated woman of her generation.^[22]

Thomas Seymour

The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul, a manuscript translation from the French, by Elizabeth, aged 11, presented to Catherine Parr in 1544. The embroidered binding with the monogram KP for "Katherin Parr" is believed to have been worked by Elizabeth.^[23]

Henry VIII died in 1547, when Elizabeth was 13 years old, and was succeeded by her half brother, Edward VI. Catherine Parr, Henry's last wife, soon married Thomas Seymour of Sudeley, Edward VI's uncle and the brother of the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea. There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for the rest of her life.^[24] Seymour, approaching age 40 but having charm and "a powerful sex appeal",^[24] engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth. These included entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her and slapping her on the buttocks. After Catherine Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs.^[25]^[26] In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away.^[27]

Seymour continued scheming to control the royal family.^[28]^[29] When Catherine Parr died of puerperal fever after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on wedding her.^[30] The details of his former behaviour towards Elizabeth emerged during an interrogation of Catherine Ashley and Thomas Parry, Elizabeth’s cofferer.^[31] For his brother and the council, this was the last straw,^[32] and in January 1549, Seymour was arrested on suspicion of plotting to marry Elizabeth and overthrow his brother. Elizabeth, living at Hatfield House, would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who reported, "I do see it in her face that she is guilty".^[32] Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549.

Queen Mary

Edward VI died, probably of tuberculosis, on 6 July 1553, aged 15. ^[33] His will swept aside the Succession to the Crown Act 1543, excluded both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession, and instead declared as his heir Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary, Duchess of Suffolk.^[34] Lady Jane was proclaimed queen by the Privy Council, but her support quickly crumbled, and she was deposed after reigning nine days.^[35] Mary rode triumphantly into London, with Elizabeth at her side.^[36]

The show of solidarity between the sisters did not last long. Mary, the country's first Queen Regnant, ^[37] was determined to crush the Protestant faith in which Elizabeth had been educated, and she ordered that everyone attend Mass. This included Elizabeth, who had to outwardly conform.^[38] Mary's initial popularity ebbed away when it became known that she planned to marry Prince Philip of Spain, the son of Emperor Charles V.^[39] Discontent spread rapidly through the country, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies. In January and February 1554, uprisings broke out (known as Wyatt's rebellion) in several parts of England and Wales, led by Thomas Wyatt.^[40]

Mary I

Upon the collapse of the uprising, Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated. On 18 March, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where Lady Jane Grey had been executed on 12 February to deter the rebels.^[41] The terrified Elizabeth fervently protested her innocence.^[42] Though it is unlikely that she had plotted with the rebels, some of them were known to have approached her. Mary's closest confidant, Charles V's ambassador Simon Renard, argued that her throne would never be safe while Elizabeth lived; and the Chancellor, Stephen Gardiner, worked to have Elizabeth put on trial.^[43] Elizabeth's supporters in the government, including Lord Paget, convinced Mary to spare her sister in the absence of hard evidence against her. Instead, on 22 May, Elizabeth was moved from the Tower to Woodstock, where she was to spend almost a year under house arrest in the charge of Sir Henry Bedingfield. Crowds cheered her all along the way.^[44]^[45]

The remaining wing of the Old Palace, Hatfield House. It was here that Elizabeth was told of her sister's death in November 1558.

On 17 April 1555, Elizabeth was recalled to court to be closely attended during the final stages of Mary's apparent pregnancy. If Mary and her child died, Elizabeth would become queen. If, on the other hand, Mary gave birth to a healthy child, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply.^[44] When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child.^[46] Elizabeth's succession seemed assured.^[47] Even Philip, who became King of Spain in 1556, acknowledged the new political reality. From this time forward, he cultivated Elizabeth, preferring her to the likely alternative, Mary I, Queen of Scots, who was betrothed to the Dauphin of France.^[48] When his wife fell ill in 1558, Philip sent the Count of Feria to consult with Elizabeth.^[49] By October, Elizabeth was making plans for her government. On 6 November, Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir.^[50]^[51] Eleven days later, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne when Mary died at St. James's Palace on 17 November 1558.

Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I in her coronation robes, patterned with Tudor roses and trimmed with ermine. She wears her hair loose, as traditional for the coronation of a queen, perhaps also as a symbol of virginity.^[52] The painting dates to the first decade of the seventeenth century and is based on a lost original.^[53]

Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25. As her triumphal progress wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony, she was welcomed wholeheartedly by the citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators, who were "wonderfully ravished".^[54] The following day, 15 January 1559, Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey and anointed by the Catholic bishop of Carlisle. She was then presented for the people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and bells.^[55]

On 20 November 1558, Elizabeth declared her intentions to her Council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first record of her often-used metaphor of the "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic:

My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission a body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all...to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel.^[56]

Religion

Main article: Elizabethan Religious Settlement

Unfortunately for historians, Elizabeth's personal religious convictions will never be definitely known. Her religious policy favoured pragmatism above all in dealing with three major concerns. The first concern was that of her legitimacy. Although she was technically illegitimate under both Protestant and Catholic law, her retroactively declared illegitimacy under the English church was not a serious bar compared to having never been legitimate as the Catholics claimed she was. Perhaps most importantly, the break with Rome made her legitimate in her own eyes. For this reason, it was never in serious doubt that Elizabeth would embrace at least nominal Protestantism.

Elizabeth and her advisors perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. Elizabeth therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires of English Protestants; she would not tolerate the more radical Puritans though, who were pushing for far-reaching reforms.^[57] As a result, the parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI, with the monarch as its head, but with many superficially Catholic elements, such as priestly vestments.^[58]

The House of Commons backed the proposals strongly, but the bill of supremacy met opposition in the House of Lords, particularly from the bishops. Elizabeth was fortunate that many bishoprics were vacant at the time, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury.^[59]^[60]

This enabled supporters amongst peers to outvote the bishops and conservative peers. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head, which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559. All public officials were to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters practised by Mary. At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer compulsory, though the penalties for recusancy, or failure to attend and conform, were not extreme.^[61]

Marriage question

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 1560s. Elizabeth's friendship with Dudley, her foremost favourite, lasted for over thirty years.

From the start of Elizabeth's reign, the question arose whom she would marry. She never married, and the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships, or that she knew herself to be infertile.^[62]^[63] Until bearing a child became impossible, she considered several suitors. Her last courtship, ending in 1581 when she was aged 48, was with François, Duke of Anjou, 22 years her junior. Elizabeth had no need of a man's help to govern, and marrying risked a loss of control or of foreign interference in her affairs, as had happened to her sister Mary. On the other hand, marriage offered the chance of an heir.^[64]

Lord Robert Dudley

Elizabeth often received offers of marriage, but she only seriously considered three or four suitors for any length of time. Of these, her childhood friend Lord Robert Dudley probably came closest. Early in 1559, Elizabeth's friendship with the married Dudley turned to love. Their intimacy soon was talk in court and country and abroad.^[65] It was also said that Amy Robsart, his wife, was suffering from a "malady in one of her breasts",^[66] and half a year later, that Lord Robert and the Queen had a "secret understanding" to marry after Amy would at last have been "sent into eternity".^[67] Yet this was not a welcome idea: "There is not a man who does not cry out on him and her with indignation...she will marry none but the favoured Robert", the Spanish ambassador described the situation at the beginning of 1560.^[68] Accordingly, when Dudley's wife died in September of the same year from a fall from a flight of stairs, a great scandal arose.^[69] For a time, Elizabeth seriously considered marrying Dudley; but William Cecil, Nicholas Throckmorton, and other politicians were very alarmed and made their disapproval unmistakably clear.^[70] The opposition was so overwhelming, that there were even rumours that the nobility would rise if the marriage took place.^[71]

The "Hampden" portrait, by Steven van der Meulen, ca. 1563. This is the earliest full-length (2 m/7 ft tall) portrait of the young queen, and depicts her in red satin trimmed with pearls and jewels, made before the emergence of symbolic portraits representing the iconography of the "Virgin Queen". In November 2007 it was auctioned by Sotheby's for ₤2.6 million, more than twice the maximum predicted. ^[72]

Despite several other marriage projects, Dudley was regarded as a serious candidate for nearly another decade.^[73] Elizabeth encouraged him in his suit, remaining extremely jealous of his affections, even in case she never meant to marry him herself.^[74] Finally, after Dudley, whom she had created Earl of Leicester in 1564, had remarried in 1578, the queen reacted with repeated scenes of displeasure towards him for having done so.^[75] His wife had to cope with the queen's lifelong hatred.^[76] Nevertheless, Dudley retained a special place in her heart. After Elizabeth's death, a note from him, who had died in 1588 shortly after the Armada, was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting.^[77]

Political aspects

Elizabeth kept the marriage question open but often only as a diplomatic ploy.^[78] Parliament repeatedly petitioned her to marry, but she always answered evasively.^[79] In 1563, she told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married".^[78] In the same year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox, the succession question became a heated issue. Parliament urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death. She refused to do either. In April, she prorogued the Parliament, which did not reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566. The House of Commons threatened to withhold funds until she agreed to provide for the succession. In 1566, Sir Robert Bell boldly pursued the issue despite Elizabeth's command to desist and became the target of her anger, saying, "Mr. Bell with his complices must needs prefer their speeches to the upper house to have you my lords, consent with them, whereby you were seduced, and of simplicity did assent unto it."^[80] In 1566, she confided to the Spanish ambassador that if she could find a way to settle the succession without marrying, she would do so. By 1570, senior figures in the government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the succession problem.^[78] For this stance, as for her failure to marry, she was often accused of irresponsibility.^[81] Elizabeth's silence strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup.^[82]

Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity. In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin or a goddess or both, not as a normal woman.^[83] At first, only Elizabeth made a virtue of her virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin".^[83] Later on, particularly after 1578, poets and writers took up the theme and turned it into an iconography that exalted Elizabeth. In an age of metaphors and conceits, she was portrayed as married to her kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, Elizabeth spoke of "all my husbands, my good people".^[84]

Foreign policy

François, Duke of Anjou, by Nicholas Hilliard. Elizabeth called the duke her "frog", finding him "not so deformed" as she had been led to expect.^[85]

Apart from the Dudley courtship, Elizabeth treated the marriage issue as an aspect of foreign policy.^[86] Though she turned down Philip II's own offer in 1559, she negotiated for several years to marry his cousin Archduke Charles of Austria. Relations with the Habsburgs deteriorated by 1568. Elizabeth then considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henri, Duke of Anjou, and later, from 1572 to 1581, his brother François, Duke of Anjou.^[87] This last proposal was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands.^[88] Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, and wore a frog-shaped earring that Anjou had sent her.^[89]

Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the disastrous occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with the Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth had intended to exchange Le Havre for Calais, retaken by France in January 1558.^[90] She sent troops into Scotland in 1560 to prevent the French using it as a base.^[91] In 1585, she signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the Dutch to block the Spanish threat to England.^[92] Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain, 80% of which was fought at sea.^[93] She knighted Francis Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he won fame for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. An element of pi

queens-named-elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Early life

Heiress presumptive

World War II

Marriage

Queen

Succession

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth

Famous Queens - Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England

Contents

Early life

Thomas Seymour

Queen Mary

Queen Elizabeth

Religion

Marriage question

Lord Robert Dudley

Political aspects

Foreign policy