the early years of her reign.During the first few weeks of her reign, Elizabeth reduced the size of her council in order to get rid of several Catholic members, and appointed several new ones. The most skillful of her new advisors was William Cecil, who was later made Lord Burghley. In the movie, Richard Attenborough, an elderly man, plays Sir William. The real Sir William was only thirty years of age when Elizabeth was crowned, and he served under her for forty years. She never forced him to retire, as the movie later shows. At the very start of her reign, Elizabeth faced pressures from both her advisors and Parliament to marry and produce an heir. Her suitors included Philip II of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, Eric XIV of Sweden, the Duke d’ Anjou, the Duke of Alencon, and many others. However, she was reluctant to marry from the beginning, and told Parliament that “in the end this shall be sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a Queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin”(Ridley). She was, in fact, probably in love with Robert Dudley, known also as the Earl of Leicester. The movie manipulates several facts about Elizabeth and Dudley’s relationship. It shows Elizabeth and Dudley engaging in sexual activity, which historians are very skeptical about. Jagger states, “It is unlikely that Robert Dudley and the Queen had a sexual relationship, for various reasons, and their love affair had not begun at the time of her coronation. In all probability, the Queen was the virgin she claimed to be.” Dudley and Elizabeth are constantly shown together, which holds some historical accuracy. The two had a very close and affectionate relationship, and Elizabeth frequently turned to Dudley for political advice. Rumors of a romantic involvement between the two spread around Europe, and damaged her reputation to some extent. However, unlike the movie shows, Elizabeth...
