Yeah.. I’m under the impression that her education in many respects was of a typical post WWI child and when she became the Heir Presumptive it was a tad too late for the whole exposure to English/British history needed while HMQ was gioven a more though grounding in world politics.

QEII is actually some-one I’d love to talk to. Her grasp of the intiracies of the modern political landscape which she has initimate knowledge of for the past nearly 70 years makes her an ideal dinner paryt guest.

I agree that the executions back then were barbaric, but back then believe it or not they were considered family entertainment. A beheading was almost as big news as the Superbowl event or the Wimbeldon finals are today, Big business in short..

Market traders would have made a small fortune out of the event, and of course the higher standing in sociaty the victim was the more money could be made.
As for signing the death warrants of people Kings and Queen couldn’t really afford to show any form of sentiment or compassion they had to show that they were ruthless or they could be seen as weak and indesisive, and that could (and probably would) be exploited by other power hungry people. That didn’t mean that they didn’t have a conscious over those they had sentenced to death. I’m pretty sure that Face ache was tormented for the rest of his days after he had signed Anne’s death warrant, and Elizabeth too was tormented for the rest of her life after Mary QoS execution. But that was the price they paid for it.

Public executions were also served as a good deterent against crime, in the sence a parent could say to the child, misbehave and you’ll end up on the end of a rope, or be burnt at the stake, like this man or woman.
Death like life back then was viewed very differently back then too. If a child died in a family it’s was Gods will and there were others to replace the lost one. woman dying in childbirth again was seen as God’s will and as cruel as this sounds, the men probably viewed the whole thing as “Oh well plenty more fish in the sea” and went out and caught one.

If you could give Face ache and Elizabeth another shot at life or let explain why they acted like they did, you would probably be surprized by their reasons. Both Face ache and Elizabeth IMO only did what they felt was best for their people at the time, although in Face ache’s case it was what he wanted too, even if it meant killing his closest freinds. So minus a few million brownie points again for Face ache. Elizabeth’s reign was quite peaceful compared with that of her sister’s and the latter half of her father’s reign. Her only black spot was really the execution of Mary QoS, but again she didn’t make the decision lightly to execute her. 20 years is a long time to procastinate over a execution warrant, and in the end she sifgned more or less under protest, although she signed it she had’t given her officers the permission to carry out Mary’s execution, but they went and did it anyway.
Mary Tulip (sorry Jasmine :() on the other hand in my opinion seemed to get drunk on her own power being monarch and executed people with impunity but I believe she felt that she was saving their souls or some such flap doodle skullduggery.
Edward was not really able to influence much authority over the lives of his subjects, much of what went on, was down to the regency council, but I believe if he had lived to be master of his own realm his mind set would have likely to have been like Elizabeth’s at peace with the known world, steering the mid line, and really only getting involved if something threatened him and the realm, just as the Armada crisis had with Elizabeth.

Time machine wise apart from going back to tudor times and kicking a few bells of shit out of creatures features fat arse. I’d like to see what really happened in the tudor courts. Our history is based on written reports and hearsay etc so to actually se what truly happened would answer a lot of questions. One of the many mysteries I like an answer to is what happened to Anne’s B necklace? I also would like to see how she truly looked again we have many portraits reported to be her, but artists tend to see something very different in the person they are painting. Holbien’s portrait of Anne which to be honest is not my favourite portrait, my favorite portrait is the John Hoskins portrait. Certainly I would like to see what K.H looked like again as with Anne B there are many portraits of K.H but which one is a true likeness?
Again the accepted portrait of K.H is not my favourite I believe it was Anyanka or Sharon, who posted a believed portrait of K.H and that is what I perceive as the real K.H. A beautiful young girl, who was thrown as a sacrifical lamb into the lions den, and ultimetely got devoured.
As for the picture of Creature features, after I had rearranged his features for him Holbien wold have to get his paintbox and pencils out again and paint another picture of him. Oh and I’d belt the Duke of Norfolk once or twice with a mace too, just for being an odious jumped up cretinous poppingjay.

Sharon, Elizabeth agonised over Mary QoS death, she knew that Mary was to die if there was to be peace in the realm, but at the same time she was afraid of what would happen if she did kill Mary. In the end she sighed the death warrant mainly because her councillors had begged and begged her to, so she sighed to shut them up.. However she gave no permission for the warrant to be dispatched, I rather think it was Cecil who took it upon himself to do that, before she could change her mind. In fact I’ve read somewhere that she was actually in the process of of writing an order to burn the execution warrant, when news of Mary’s death was brought her, by a man called Davidison I think his name was. Elizabeth was so shocked that she had Davidson thrown in the Tower for allowing the execution to take place without royal authority.I think this was a ruse really as she berated davidson etc in front of whole court which of course would have had the ambassadors from all the Catholic courts in Europe present.
So by going Ape Shit upon hearing of Mary’s death it would appear she knew nothing about it.

It’s rumoured that Mary’s death warrant was lay with a load of other paperwork which she was to sign and when she had signed it she said something like this to Cecil. “It appears there is more to this paperwork then meets the eye.” I think it means that she was aware of what she was sighing, but because it was buried in amongst other paperwork she could sort of say she knew nothing about it.
Mary’s death did vex her for the rest of her life, but she knew that she had no choice sooner or later it was going to be her death or Mary’s.

As for Essex, I feel that it was a little more than just sorrow, Essex to her was the last link to Sweet Robin, and her youth, when Essex betrayed her, he killed not just her trust for him but also destroyed the happy memories of her youth and of her sweet Robin. I don’t think she ever truly got over R.D death, I think Essex became R.D in her heart and mind, that way she didn’t have to deal with his death, because in her heart and mind he was still alive. When Essex was executed she know that was the end of her life really, she hung on for a couple more years, but it wasn’t a life it was more of an existence, and she started dying the moment the axe fell on Essex’s neck, in my opinion she died a slow and agonising death she lost the will to live really but her body in this instance proved stronger than her will and refused to give in. Elizabeth’s reign was the Golden age, as it is so called, her death however in my opinion is perhaps the saddest of all the kings and Queens because she had no one from her youth with her when she died, there was no one to even call her Bess in her final years, she died alone surrounded by people whose only thought was for the riches and titles they could get off Jimbo.

I think she did know that Mary’s death warrant was amongst the paperwork she signed it. It’s funny how the paperwork in the Tudor courts went walkies isn’t it.? Much the same thing happened when face ache signed the warrant for K.P’s arrest, that somehow mysteriously ended in K.P’s to do tray on her desk..Guess like Mary’s death warrant it decided to take the scenic route too.
I think the council decided to get the warrant away to Fotheringay and depatch Mary before Elizabeth had time to change her mind. To them she had been procrastinating long enough.
I do feel her greif for Mary was genuine. Simon Schuma said that Mary and Elizabeth’s problems could have been solved if they had been able to marry each other. And in a way they had, Mary the woman had given birth to a child, Elizabeth (although a woman) had the courage and zeal of a man, and between them they had a child. It was only a little thing with a big name Magna Britannia (Great Britain)