On 9th August 1588, the fifty-four-year-old Queen Elizabeth I, daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn gave a rousing speech. She gave it to the English troops that had been gathered at Tilbury Fort by her good friend, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in anticipation of the expected invasion by the Spanish Armada. Of course, the Spanish Armada wouldn’t get that far, but nobody knew that at this time.
Elizabeth I had always had a way with words, and words did not fail her at Tilbury. She was the iconic Gloriana.
There are several versions of her speech and you can read my article about them over on the Tudor Society – click here – but here is actress Anne-Marie Duff giving this speech in the BBC’s “The Virgin Queen”:
