Elizabeth quotes from Elizabeth (1998)

Elizabeth

I do not like wars. They have uncertain outcomes.

Elizabeth

I have no desire to make windows into men's souls.

Elizabeth

Aye, but marry who, your grace? Would you give me some suggestion? For some say France and others Spain, and some cannot abide foreigners at all. So I am not sure how best to please you unless I married one of each.

Elizabeth

I do not think you should lecture me on that my lord, since you yourself have been twice divorced. And are now upon your third wife!. [Opposing ministers laugh uproariously]

Elizabeth

Each of you must vote according to your conscience. But remember this. In your hands, upon this moment, lies the future happiness of my people, and the peace of this realm. Let that be upon your conscience also.

Elizabeth

This is the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes.

Elizabeth

There will be no more talk of marriage.

Elizabeth

A man will confess to anything...under torture.

Elizabeth

Kat...I have become a virgin.

Elizabeth

Observe, Lord Burghley, I am married...to England.

Elizabeth

We all believe in God, my Lords.

No, Madam, there is only one true belief; the other, heresy.

Madam, you are cold.

Elizabeth

I do not need your pity.

Accept it, then, for my sake.

Elizabeth

Thank you. I shall not forget this kindness.

When I look at you I see nothing of the King. Only that whore, your mother. My father never did anything so well as to cut off her head.

Elizabeth

Your Majesty forgets he was also my father.

Why will you not confess your crimes against me?

Elizabeth

Because, Your Majesty, I have committed none.

You speak with such sincerity! I see you are still a consummate actress. My husband is gone. They have poisoned my child. They say it is a tumour.

Elizabeth

Madam, you are not well.

They say this cancer will make you Queen, but they are wrong! Look there! It is your death warrant. All I need do is sign it.

Elizabeth

Mary, if you sign that paper, you will be murdering your own sister.

You will promise me something? When I am gone, you will do everything in your power to uphold the Catholic faith. Do not take away from the people the consolations of the Blessed Virgin.

Elizabeth

When I am Queen...I promise...to act as my conscience dictates.

Well, do not think to be Queen at all, then. You may return to your own house at Hatfield, but you will remain there under arrest until I am recovered.

Elizabeth

He then said that this King would marry me but would not expect to share my bed more than two or three times a year.

Dudley

As much as that?

Elizabeth

Well, he...he is enraptured.

Dudley

Naturally.

Elizabeth

But... his affairs would otherwise keep him in Spain.

Dudley

Then the King is a fool. What could ever be important enough to keep him from your bed?

Elizabeth

Robert, you should not say such things.

Dudley

Then I shall only think them.

Dudley

When you are Queen...

Elizabeth

I am not... I am not Queen yet.

Dudley

You will be. Elizabeth, Queen of England. A court to worship you. A country to obey you. Poems written celebrating your beauty. Music composed in your honour, and they will be nothing to you. I will mean nothing to you.

Elizabeth

How could you ever be nothing to me? Robert, you know you are everything to me.

Dudley

All that I am it is you.

Cecil

Your Majesty has inherited a most parlous and degenerate state. It's threatened from abroad by France and Spain and is weaker in men, monies and riches than I have ever known it.

Elizabeth

What are you saying?

Cecil

Madam, your treasury is empty. The Navy is run-down, there is no standing army, and no munitions. There is not a fortress that could withstand a single shot.

Elizabeth

I have no desire for war, sir.

Cecil

But that is not the end of it. Apart from abroad, here at home there are those who wish Your Majesty ill. Mary of Scots has already laid claim to your throne, and Norfolk...Norfolk covets it relentlessly. Madam, until you marry and produce an heir, you will find no security.
...

Elizabeth

I do not see why a woman need marry at all.

Walsingham

I regret to inform Your Majesty of our miserable defeat in Scotland. The Bishops still demand Your Majesty's removal. They find support in every quarter. Alas, Madam, we are come already to catastrophe.

Elizabeth

How dare you come into my presence! Why do you follow me here?

Walsingham

It is my business to protect Your Majesty, against all things.

Elizabeth

I do not need protection. I need to be left alone!

Walsingham

Majesty...

Elizabeth

They should never have been sent to Scotland. My father would not have made such a mistake. I have been proved unfit to rule. That is what you all think, is it not, Walsingham?

Walsingham

It is not for me to judge you.

Elizabeth

Why did they send children? Why did they not send proper reinforcements?

Walsingham

The Bishops would not let them. They spoke against it in the pulpits.

Elizabeth

Then...they are speaking against their Queen.

Walsingham

Madam, the Bishops are against you and have no fear of you. They do not expect you to survive.

Yes, I am Anjou, yes! I am Anjou. My God! She loves it! And I can't wait... [In French] Je le rêve du moment quand nous sommes nus ensemble au lit où je peux caresser votre cuisse et peut-être même votre quinny? Aimeriez-vous cela? [English Translation] I dream of the moment when we are naked together in bed where I can stroke your thigh and perhaps even your quinny? Hm? Would you like that?

Elizabeth

Remove your hand. Perhaps, Your Grace, we shall think on it, but I am deeply religious.

But I am very religious, too. Very religious, yes!

Elizabeth

Such piercing eyes! And very indiscreet!

Dudley

My true love has my heart and I have hers. My heart in me keeps her and me in one. My heart in her, her thoughts and senses guide. She loves my heart for once it was her own. I cherish hers because in me it bides. My true love has my heart and I have hers. Marry me.

Elizabeth

On a night such as this, could any woman say "no"?

Dudley

On a night such as this could a Queen say "no"?

Elizabeth

Does not a Queen sit under the same stars as any other woman?

Elizabeth

I narrowly escaped with my life, sir. I cannot now discuss marriage.

Cecil

Forgive me...the one cannot be separated from the other.

Dudley

For God's sake, you are still my Elizabeth.

Elizabeth

I am not your Elizabeth! I am no man's Elizabeth. And if you think to rule here, you are mistaken. I will have one mistress here... and no master!

Dudley

You are in the greatest danger. You must believe me. But you have a friend. Someone who can guarantee your safety and your throne.

Elizabeth

A friend?

Dudley

The King of Spain.

Elizabeth

Leave us. [to Dudley] How would he guarantee it?

Dudley

He would marry you.

Elizabeth

Only to make an alliance. Nothing more. He would not expect to...

Dudley

He would live in Spain.

Elizabeth

Why do you do this, Robert?

Dudley

Because I love you. And though you will not see me, I am the only one who would care for you.

Elizabeth

You love me so much you would have me be your whore?

Dudley

For God's sake, I do this for us. I ask you to save some part of us!

Elizabeth

Lord Robert, you may make whores of my Ladies but you shall not make one of me.

Cecil

Your Majesty must publicly dissociate herself from this most bloody act.

Elizabeth

I never ordered it.

Cecil

Of course, Madam, of course. You must also make conciliatory gestures towards the Spanish. Your dependence upon their goodwill is greater than ever.

Elizabeth

I must... The word "must" is not used to princes. I have followed your advice in all the affairs of my kingdom, but your policies would make England nothing but part of France or Spain. From this moment I am going to follow my own opinion.

Cecil

Forgive me, Madam, but you are only a woman.

Elizabeth

I may be a woman, Sir William, but if I choose I have the heart of a man! I am my father's daughter. I am not afraid of anything.

Cecil

I... I deeply regret, Madam, if I have caused you such offence, though God knows all my advice has only ever been to secure Your Majesty's throne.

Elizabeth

And I am grateful for it. I have decided to create you Lord Burghley, so you may enjoy your retirement in greater ease.

Dudley

Your Majesty...

Elizabeth

They are all gone to the Tower. Your friends. Tell me, how should I serve thee, Robert?

Dudley

My course is run.

Elizabeth

Just tell me why.

Dudley

Why? Madam, is it not plain enough to you? It is no easy thing to be loved by the Queen. It would corrupt the soul of any man. Now, for God's sake, kill me.

Elizabeth

No...I think rather to let you live.

Walsingham

Madam, that is not wise. Lord Robert has committed treason. He must be made example of.

Elizabeth

And I will make an example of him. He shall be kept alive to always remind me of how close I came to danger.

Elizabeth

I have rid England of her enemies. What do I do now? Am I to be made of stone? Must I be touched by nothing?

Walsingham

Aye, Madam, to reign supreme. All men need something greater than themselves to look up to and worship. They must be able to touch the divine here on earth.