Elizabeth I Quotes
There will never Queen sit in my seat with more zeal to my country, care to my subjects and that will sooner with willingness venture her life for your good and safety than myself. …. And though you have had, and may have, many princes more mighty and wise sitting in this seat, yet you never had nor shall have, any that will be more careful and loving.
This speech is often referred to as her “Golden” or “Farewell” speech. It was her last Parliament.
Elizabeth I, 1533-1603, Queen of England, Address to Parliament, November 30, 1601
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In 1932 FDR was elected president by a desperate nation in the midst of the great depression. A month before the presidential inauguration an assassin attempted to murder the President-elect, but instead fatally shot the Mayor of Chicago who was talking with Roosevelt:
Centuries later leaders have studied this speech and the actions taken by Elizabeth as the epitome of model leadership and morale building at a time of crisis. What made the event more dramatic were two monarchial norms of the time understood by all the citizens. Monarchs did not open themselves to the risk of very close proximity to their armies with only a handful of retainers. A dissident military commander could kill or capture the monarch as most soldiers had little loyalty to anyone but the commander who paid them. Second, monarchs usually abandoned battlefields where the outcome was uncertain and if not present certainly stayed away. Elizabeth in breaking both these norms was taking obvious risks with her own life (as a women for whom it was even more unexpected) and welfare to share the immediate fate of her subjects. It explains why an absolute monarch was extremely popular with her subjects—great leadership.
She was unhurt when an assassin’s bullets did not hit her. There was an outpouring of affection, love, and thanks immediately after the assassination attempt.
Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.
