Queen Elizabeth I Quotes in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Queen Elizabeth I: Go back to your rathole! Tell Philip I fear neither him, nor his priests, nor his armies. Tell him if he wants to shake his little fist at us, we're ready to give him such a bite he'll wish he'd kept his hands in his pockets!

Don Guerau De Spes: You see a leaf fall, and you think you know which way the wind blows. Well, there is a wind coming, Madame, that will sweep away your pride.

[turns to leave with his ministers]

Queen Elizabeth I: I, too, can command the wind, sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!

Queen Elizabeth I: Please, just give me hope.

Dr. John Dee: The forces that shape our world are greater than all of us, Majesty. How can I promise that they'll conspire in your favor even though you are the Queen? But this much I know. When the storm breaks, each man acts in accordance with his own nature. Some are dumb with terror. Some flee. Some hide. And some spread their wings like eagles and soar on the wind.

Queen Elizabeth I: You are a wise man, Dr. Dee.

Dr. John Dee: And you, Madame, are a very great lady.

[from trailer]

Queen Elizabeth I: By God, England will not fall while I am Queen.

Queen Elizabeth I: How many Catholics are there in England, sir?

Cabinet Minister #1: [snorting] Immense numbers, Majesty.

Cabinet Minister #2: Half the nation cling to the old superstitions.

Queen Elizabeth I: What would you have me do? Hang half the people in England, or just imprison them?

Cabinet Minister #2: We must act, Majesty! Our inaction is perceived as weakness!

Queen Elizabeth I: If my people break the law, they shall be punished. Until that day, they shall be protected.

Cabinet Minister #1: Majesty, we have proven reason to fear every Catholic in the...

Queen Elizabeth I: [cutting in] Fear creates fear. I am not ignorant of the dangers, sir. But I will not punish my people for their beliefs. Only for their deeds. I am assured that the people of England love their Queen. My constant endeavor is to earn that love.

Sir Francis Walsingham: Forgive me, Your Majesty, I have failed you.

Queen Elizabeth I: How have you failed me? What am I to forgive you for?

Sir Francis Walsingham: Phillip of Spain is a God-fearing man who cannot declare war without a just cause. I intercepted every letter Mary Stuart secretly dispatched, but failed to see Spain knew I was reading them. They waited for her to write the words that in my eyes would confirm her treason.

Sir Francis Walsingham: [ashamed] Forgive me. I am trapped in my own web.

Queen Elizabeth I: And I ordered Mary's execution. I murdered God's anointed Queen. And now God's most dutiful son makes Holy War to punish me.

Queen Elizabeth I: May we have wisdom not to fear shadows in the night, and courage when the day of danger truly dawns.

[after an expedition in the New World, Raleigh has founded a colony]

Sir Walter Raleigh: We have named it Virginia, after our Virgin Queen.

Queen Elizabeth I: "Virginia"? And when I am married, will you rename it to "Conjugia"?

Queen Elizabeth I: Do we discover the New World or does the New World discover us?

Sir Walter Raleigh: You speak like a true explorer.

Queen Elizabeth I: My bitches wear my collars!

Queen Elizabeth I: Are you here to tell me I must murder a Queen?

Sir Walter Raleigh: I would never presume to tell my Queen what to do. Only you know where your duty lies.

Queen Elizabeth I: Was it my father's duty to murder my mother? She was a Queen, for a time. Oh, I would be loath to die such so bloody a death.

Sir Walter Raleigh: Since when were you so afraid?

Queen Elizabeth I: I'm always afraid.

Sir Walter Raleigh: Kill a Queen and all Queens are mortal. We mortals have many weaknesses: we feel too much, hurt too much, all too soon we die, but we do have the chance of love.

Queen Elizabeth I: Do we? I have given England my life. Must she also have my soul?

Sir Christopher Hatton: Be warned by the atrocities in France! God-fearing Christians murdered by Papist cut-throats inflamed by hatred of the truth!

Lord Howard: We know the Catholics take their orders from Spain. The Spanish speak openly of Mary Stuart as Queen of England in waiting.

Queen Elizabeth I: [sharply] Mary Stuart is a Queen cast out by her own ungrateful nation.

Sir Christopher Hatton: With respect, Majesty: a Catholic Queen. Your loyal Protestant supporters don't understand why Mary Stuart lives under our protection at our expense. Very considerable expense.

Queen Elizabeth I: Mary Stuart is my cousin. She is our guest. And she is under our control.

Lord Howard: But while she lives, Majesty, she is a beacon that draws our enemies' eyes and hopes.

Queen Elizabeth I: [speculating] While she lives?

Sir Christopher Hatton: She is the poison at the heart of England. The poison must be cut out.

Queen Elizabeth I: You'd have me make a martyr of her. What is her crime?

Queen Elizabeth I: We all know that if I fall you all come tumbling down with me.

Sir Francis Walsingham: Mary Stuart must die!

Queen Elizabeth I: MUST? Mary Stuart must die? Where is written? Who says so? Have I ordered it?

Sir Francis Walsingham: Majesty, this is no time for mercy.

Queen Elizabeth I: [shouting] Don't preach at me, old man!

Queen Elizabeth I: In some other world, in some other time, could you have loved me?

Sir Walter Raleigh: I know only one world and in this world, I have loved you.

Sir Walter Raleigh: [throws his coat in the road] A puddle in the way, Majesty.

Queen Elizabeth I: A puddle.

[keeps walking]

Queen Elizabeth I: Puddle.

[laughs]

Queen Elizabeth I: I have a secret, my dear. I pretend there's a pane of glass between me and them. They can see me, but they cannot touch me. You should try it.

[from trailer]

Queen Elizabeth I: Spain intends to place Mary Stuart on our country's throne, and I am to be assassinated. Does this sound familiar?

Queen Elizabeth I: [during a briefing with Walsingham and Bess] We shall have to look out a husband for you soon, Bess.

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Not too soon, my lady.

Sir Francis Walsingham: There are husbands to be had.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Bess] Don't you want to be married?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: I'll want the marriage if I want the man.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to her army, lined up in front of her at Tilbury] My loving people. We see the sails of the enemy approaching. We hear the Spanish guns over the water. Soon now, we will meet them face-to-face. I am resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all. While we stand together no invader shall pass. Let them come with the armies of Hell; they will not pass! And when this day of battle is ended, we meet again in heaven or on the field of victory.

Queen Elizabeth I: There's something you could do for me - something I have not known for a very long time. But it's not to be spoken of afterwards. It must be forgotten. But just for now, a kiss?

[Raleigh kisses Elizabeth]

Queen Elizabeth I: I die.

Sir Walter Raleigh: [Raleigh's horse runs ahead] Forgive me, Majesty, my horse doesn't seem to know his place yet.

Queen Elizabeth I: Have you ever known your place, Mr. Raleigh?

Sir Walter Raleigh: I think it must be hard for so great a Queen to know the simple pleasure of being liked for herself.

Queen Elizabeth I: Now you grow dull.

Queen Elizabeth I: I will not be a toy of the fates! Have I not faced an assassin's bullet and lived?

Sir Christopher Hatton: [the Archduke Charles of Austria's portrait is presented as a possible suitor] An Austrian alliance would keep France quiet.

Sir Francis Walsingham: And put Philip on a leash.

Queen Elizabeth I: I've become almost enthusiastic. Send for him.

Queen Elizabeth I: How much longer do you think I can play this game, Francis?

Sir Francis Walsingham: Virginity is an asset that holds its value well.

Queen Elizabeth I: [in German] You play the game very well, my young friend. But don't you sometimes feel an overwhelming desire to say what you're really thinking?

Archduke Charles: I daren't even think what I'm really thinking.

Queen Elizabeth I: I suspect him of being a professional charmer. Am I right?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: He is certainly charming, my lady.

Queen Elizabeth I: Well, there are duller professions. You like him, don't you?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: He's a man that lives in a world far beyond the court. It's refreshing.

Queen Elizabeth I: Well, we shall let him come again.

Queen Elizabeth I: More lines on my face. Where do they come from?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Smile lines, my lady.

Queen Elizabeth I: Smile lines? When do I ever smile?

Queen Elizabeth I: [speaking about Walter Raleigh] He interests me, talk to him.

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Him, Your Majesty?

Queen Elizabeth I: [smiling] Him.

Queen Elizabeth I: [smiling] The volta, I require all my ladies to learn it.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Raleigh] I like your immensities. Your ocean is an image of Eternity, I think. Such great spaces make us small. Do we discover the New World, Mr. Raleigh, or does it discover us?

Queen Elizabeth I: I've heard it's customary to have a husband before producing an heir.

Don Guerau De Spes: Excuse me, Your Majesty. The air has become stale. I am sensitive to the smell of an open sewer.

[He stares at Raleigh and leaves]

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Raleigh] I cannot accept the fruits of piracy, Mr. Raleigh.

Sir Walter Raleigh: Philip of Spain is no friend of England, Majesty. The more gold I take from him, the safer you will be.

Queen Elizabeth I: Queen Elizabeth I: Well well - a political pirate.

Sir Walter Raleigh: You like your ladies to jump at your command?

Queen Elizabeth I: Do you think that way? To tell you the truth, I'm very very tired of always being in control.

Sir Walter Raleigh: Nonsense!

Queen Elizabeth I: What?

Sir Walter Raleigh: You eat and drink control.

Queen Elizabeth I: Is that so?

Queen Elizabeth I: Male desire confers no distinction.

Queen Elizabeth I: [Pointing at Sir Walter] This man has seduced a ward of the Queen

[Pointing at Bess]

Queen Elizabeth I: and she has married without royal consent. These offences are punishable by law. Arrest him! GO!

[Walsingham bows at the Queen, looks at Raleigh, and starts to leave with him]

Queen Elizabeth I: I like you, Mr. Raleigh.

Sir Walter Raleigh: [as she walks away] And I like you.

Queen Elizabeth I: [turning back] You know, of course, that when I like a man, I reward him.

Sir Walter Raleigh: I have heard that.

Queen Elizabeth I: And what have you to say about it?

Sir Walter Raleigh: Reward my mission, majesty, not me.

Queen Elizabeth I: Is the mission not the man?

Sir Walter Raleigh: Then you leave me free to like you in return.

Queen Elizabeth I: [conferring the family estate upon Orlando] For you and for your heirs, Orlando: the house.

Orlando: Your Majesty, I am forever...

Queen Elizabeth I: But on one condition. Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old.

Orlando's Father: Now, what would please you? All that is mine is here for your pleasure.

Queen Elizabeth I: All you call yours is mine already.

Queen Elizabeth I: You were born too close to my throne.

Queen Elizabeth I: Rebellion! How I hate that word!

Queen Elizabeth I: And when he takes you in his arms again, thank heaven you are not a queen.

Mistress Margaret Radcliffe: But I thought to be a queen...

Queen Elizabeth I: To be a Queen is to be less than human, to put pride before desire, to search Men's hearts for tenderness, and find only ambition. To cry out in the dark for one unselfish voice, to hear only the dry rustle of papers of state. To turn to one's beloved with stars for eyes and have him see behind me only the shadow of the executioner's block. A queen has no hour for love, time presses, and events crowd upon her, and her shell, an empty glittering husk, she must give up all the a woman holds most dear.

Queen Elizabeth I: ...the necessities of a queen must transcend those of a woman.

Queen Elizabeth I: It is I who makes the policy of this realm, I and I alone!

French Ambassador: May I compliment you, Madame, on this most beautiful palace? There is no other like it in all of Europe.

Queen Elizabeth I: It was my father's. I'll tell him when I see him.

French Ambassador: [not fully understanding her answer] Yes... but King Henry is dead. Madame jests?

Queen Elizabeth I: Madame never jests.

Queen Elizabeth I: There can be no funeral without a corpse.

[the Queen enters as Raleigh is on his knees trying to pick up Beth Throgmorton's broken pearl necklace]

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Beth] Is this your pet swine? You've cast your pearls before him.

Queen Elizabeth I: And what is your next campaign?

Sir Walter Raleigh: I've already launched on it, Ma'am. My next campaign is you.

Queen Elizabeth I: I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and valour of a king, aye, and a King of England too...