So I was always in control of my men unlike my poor Mary of Scotland, and consequently I had come to the end and could say with gratified resignation Nunc Dimittis, and pass on.

It has amused me to hear some say that I was, in fact, a man. Yes, that makes me laugh. I have been a good queen, a wise queen; I have brought my country into a far happier and more prosperous state than it was in at my accession. I have tried to be tolerant. I have failed in this on one or two occasions, but that was only because I feared it would be dangerous to be lenient. Therefore men say: “No woman could attain so much, so she must have been a man! Only a man could be so great and wise.” So in spite of what I believe to be my excessive femininity they say: “She was secretly a man.”

They hint that there was something strange about me, that I was malformed, that I could not have children and that was why I remained a virgin.

They are wrong, all of them… except Mary of Scotland's Ambassador Melville all those years ago. I shall never forget his words.

“I know your stately stomach. Ye think gin ye were married ye would be but Queen of England and now ye are King and Queen baith…ye may not suffer a commander.”

He had the truth there. And I kept my determination to remain the commander of them all… and not even Robert could tempt me to share my crown with anyone.

My crown and my virginity…I was determined to keep them both, and I did.

I can feel the end coming nearer. I was born on the eve of the day which is celebrated as the nativity of the Virgin Mary. I wonder if I shall die on the festival of the annunciation. It would be appropriate for the Virgin Queen.

Now I lay down my pen, for the end is coming very near.

Aubrey, William Hickman Smith The National and Domestic History of England

Beesley, E. S. Queen Elizabeth

Bevan, Bryan The Great English Seamen of Elizabeth I

Bigland, Eileen Henry VIII

Black, J. S. The Reign of Elizabeth

Chamberlin, Frederick The Private Character of Henry VIII

Fraser, Antonia Mary Queen of Scots

Froude, J. A. History of England

Gorman, Herbert The Scottish Queen

Guizot, M. Robert Black The History of France

Hackett, Francis Henry the Eighth

Harrison, G. B. Life and Death of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex

Hume, David The History of England

Hume, Martin Two English Queens and Philip

Hume, Martin The Wives of Henry VIII

Hume, Martin The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth

Jenkins, Elizabeth Elizabeth the Great

Jenkins, Elizabeth Elizabeth and Leicester

Johnson, Paul Elizabeth I

Luke, Mary M. A Crown for Elizabeth

Mattingley, Garrett The Defeat of the Spanish Armada

Mumby, F. A. The Girlhood of Queen Elizabeth

Neale, J. E. Queen Elizabeth

Prescott, William H. History of the Reign of Philip the Second

Rea, Lorna The Spanish Armada

Salzman, L. F. England in Tudor Times

Stephen, Sir Leslie and Lee, Sir Sydney Dictionary of National Biography

Strachey, Lytton Elizabeth and Essex

Strickland, Agnes Lives of the Queens of England

Wade, John British History

Waldman, Milton Elizabeth and Leicester

Waldman, Milton Queen Elizabeth, Brief Lives

Waldman, Milton King, Queen, Jack

Williams, Neville Elizabeth, Queen of England

Wright, Thomas Elizabeth and Her Times

JEAN PLAIDY is the pen name of the late English author E. A. Hibbert, who also wrote under the names Philippa Carr and Victoria Holt. Born in London in 1906, Hibbert began writing in 1947 and eventually published over two hundred novels under her three pseudonyms. The Jean Plaidy books—ninety in all—are works of historical fiction about the famous and infamous women of English and European history, from medieval times to the Victorian era. Hibbert died in 1993.

¦ One of Elizabeth's earliest memories is of being used as a bargaining chip. She is three years old, and her mother—the doomed Anne Boleyn—waves her little hand at her father, who looks down from a palace window. The action is Anne's last-ditch attempt to placate Henry's wrath and appeal to his sense of family. It fails, and Anne is executed. What lesson does Elizabeth learn—or think she learns—from this macabre memory?

¦ Elizabeth's stepmothers Katharine Howard and Katharine Parr fare very differently in the delicate position of wife to Henry VIII. What does Katharine Howard's demise teach Elizabeth about the male-female dynamic? What subtle gift distinguishes Katharine Parr, and eventually saves her life? Does Elizabeth share this gift?

¦ Of her servants Kat and Parry, Elizabeth notes: “They were a pair of scandalmongers and I was often exasperated with them both. But they so obviously loved me, and I believe I was more important to them than anyone else; and for that reason I could never be annoyed with them for long.” This leniency with anyone who adores her informs Elizabeth's later reign as Queen—especially in regard to handsome men. When, if ever, does this soft-heartedness spell disaster for Elizabeth? Does this character trait change as she ages?

¦ As her brother Edward lies dying in Greenwich, young Elizabeth stays in Hatfield to await the outcome of the succession. “It is necessary to remain at a safe distance from great events, until one has decided what is the best way to act,” she muses. This becomes her motto in many situations she faces as Queen, from signing death warrants to joining international wars. Does it serve her well?

¦ When Elizabeth arrives at the Traitor's Gate in the Tower of London by orders of Queen Mary, her entrance is so dramatic, well-rehearsed, and sympathy-inducing that some of the guards burst into tears. Where else do you see Elizabeth shining in the limelight? Is she sincere, or is she a consummate actress? Does this dramatic flair ever undermine her ability to rule effectively?

¦ At Mary's funeral, Dr White, Bishop of Winchester, refers to Mary as a “dead lion,” and to Elizabeth as a “live dog,” prompting Elizabeth's first public display of fury. She promptly sends White to the Tower. What pithy argument does Cecil make against executing White? What larger issue does Cecil gently reference with this argument?

¦ “The sexual act was a symbol of domination on the part of the male, I had always thought, and I had no intention of being dominated for one moment even by the most attractive man I had ever known,” insists Elizabeth. Or, as she more succinctly puts it: “When the fortress is stormed and brought to surrender, the battle is lost.” Do you read Elizabeth's obsession with her own virginity as powerful or fearful? What spin does Plaidy put on this matter? Do you think Elizabeth's legacy would have been significantly different had she succumbed to her desire for Robert?

¦ Elizabeth is haunted by her father's personal and political legacy. Where do you see her consciously avoiding his tactics? Where do you see her imitating them? Which of Henry's successful tricks of the trade does Elizabeth elevate to an art form?