by Anne Penny

Created on: February 06, 2009

"I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king and of a king of England, too."

These were the emotional words of Queen Elizabeth, in 1588, when England was threatened with Spain's Armada. She was gifted with the ability to sway those around her, intuitive always to their mood and wishes. She was a new kind of queen for England, under whose rule nationalism would flourish and whose subjects loved and trusted her.

Elizabeth, born in 1533, was the daughter of Henry the eighth and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. The newborn was a bitter disappointment to the king who was desperate for a son and Elizabeth didn't have an easy childhood. Her father had her mother beheaded when the little princess was two years old and she was cared for by governesses; tutors ensured that her academic education was thorough and the art of public speaking was not neglected. She was to put this art to good use throughout her life.

Mary was Elizabeth's older half-sister and she succeeded to the throne of England on the death of their half-brother, Edward, in 1553. Henry VIII had, for his own ends, rejected the Catholic Church and made England a Protestant country; Mary tried to return England to Catholicism and her unfortunate epithet became, "Bloody Mary." By the time of Mary's death, leaving no heir, in 1558, England was happy to welcome a new, young, Protestant queen.

She set about wooing her people and began with her popular coronation in Westminster Abbey, two months after gaining the crown. Elizabeth always loved to wear spectacular clothes and jewellery and her court was one of the most dazzling in Europe. She liked to have beautiful people around her and was herself vain and extravagant.

Though enjoying luxury and beauty, Queen Elizabeth was also highly intelligent and calculating, characteristics that she used formidably when the question of her marriage arose. Various profitable alliances were suggested, marriage being seen as politically desirable for security in Europe. Elizabeth enjoyed flirting with eligible prospects from France and Spain but always resisted the commitment of marriage, using vacillation as a weapon, saying: "I am already bound unto a husband, which is the kingdom of England" Nonetheless, the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, seemed to win Elizabeth's affection and though the pair were undoubtedly close, it is unclear whether or not they were ever lovers.

Throughout Elizabeth's reign, plots abounded for her overthrow, but none as serious as the one posed by Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Her support came from the Catholics and with the real threat of an uprising it became imperative to remove Mary from the scene. She was captured and executed in 1587 and England remained firmly Protestant, though retaining some Catholic rituals.

In her final years, until her death in 1603, aged 70, Elizabeth remained in control though her health was failing. The years of stability had brought prosperity, new worlds had been discovered and Protestantism was entrenched as the religion of England. There were still political problems, but the English were loyal to their queen, Elizabeth, and their mourning of her death was heartfelt and sincere. In the Golden Speech of 1601, she proclaimed: "This I account the glory of my crown, that I have reigned with your loves."

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