“I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.” p. 144
To me, this may be Elizabeth’s most intelligent move throughout her entire reign. While she presented herself as a ‘Virgin Queen’ to her people, the idea that there was not a man on the throne plagued her throughout almost her entire reign. With this quote, she attempted to kill two birds with one stone as she brought up the idea of being both a king and a queen simultaneously. This would show her subjects that she is a mother to her people in the aspect of being a woman, also with the concept of the ‘Virgin Mother’, and at the same time show them that she is able to govern and act in the same way a King would. Basically, she was attempting to offer the best of both worlds to solve the problem of gender as a monarch.
I agree that this was perhaps one of the most strategic things she ever said. She was determined to prove throughout her reign that she was just as capable as a king could be, and needed to present herself as something more than just a typical woman, who were looked down on at the time. She could encompass all the best qualities of each gender.
I agree completely- to me this is what makes Elizabeth’s strategy as a ruler particularly interesting and unique. She did not simply attempt to curb or ignore the belief that she was a weaker king due to her gender but instead attempted to minimize it without making it seem radical while simultaneously using it to strengthen her image of a caring ruler. I think that this is also the central point to the book.