Young Elizabeth I: the making of a queen

Summary

HistoryExtra Podcast
Episode: Young Elizabeth I: the Making of a Queen
Host: Rachel Dinning
Guest: Dr. Nicola Tallis
Date: March 8, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode kicks off a four-part HistoryExtra series on the life and reign of Elizabeth I. Host Rachel Dinning is joined by Dr. Nicola Tallis, historian and author, to explore how Elizabeth’s tumultuous early years—marked by political intrigue, family tragedy, and shifting fortunes—shaped the formidable queen she would become. Through deep dives into her childhood, family relationships, and the path to the throne, the episode paints a vivid picture of a young woman navigating uncertainty and adversity to emerge as one of England’s most iconic monarchs.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Unlikely Queen: Elizabeth’s Early Life

[03:17]

• Dr. Tallis highlights that Elizabeth is often seen as an “unexpected queen,” as she was not originally intended to inherit the throne.

“For so much of Elizabeth's early life and her formative years, she had no idea that queenship lay in her future. So in many respects, she's almost like an unexpected queen.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (03:17)

2. Birth and Tumultuous Beginnings

[04:15]

• Elizabeth is born on September 7, 1533, to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, during a period rife with religious and political unrest.
• Henry’s desperation for a male heir leads to disappointment at Elizabeth’s birth.
• Her existence is intertwined with her father’s break from the Catholic Church and the ongoing backlash surrounding Anne Boleyn.

“It's a very turbulent world... a very, very tumultuous and uncertain time in England's history that's really rife with factions.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (04:15)

3. The Fall of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth’s Loss of Status

[05:57]

• At age two, Elizabeth loses her mother, Anne Boleyn, to execution by her father’s orders.
• She is declared illegitimate and removed from the line of succession, diminishing her political value overnight.

“All of Elizabeth's value has vanished at the stroke of the sword that severed her mother's head.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (05:57)

4. Elizabeth’s Relationship with her Mother

[06:40]

• The episode discusses Elizabeth’s subtle ways of honoring her mother’s memory, including surrounding herself with Boleyn relatives and adopting Anne’s falcon badge.
• Most notably, toward the end of her life, Elizabeth wears a ring with secret portraits of herself and, presumably, Anne Boleyn.

“She promoted her mother's relatives... and she also adopted Anne's symbol of the falcon badge.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (06:40)

5. Day-to-Day Life as an Illegitimate Princess

[08:23]

• Despite her illegitimacy, Elizabeth’s household routine remains stable, and she remains present at court.
• She is highly aware of her own changing status from a young age, demonstrated by questioning her downgraded title.

“How haps it yesterday, Lady Princess and today Lady Elizabeth?” — recounted by Dr. Nicola Tallis (08:23)

6. Family Dynamics: Henry VIII and the Step-Mothers

[09:46]

• Elizabeth maintains contact with her father but is acutely vulnerable to his approval.
• Henry VIII is a mostly absent parent, so Elizabeth craves stability, which comes in the form of her stepmother, Catherine Parr.
• Catherine Parr’s intellectual encouragement is transformative for Elizabeth’s development.

“Catherine Parr arrives on the scene, she takes a very, very close maternal interest in Elizabeth, and Elizabeth reciprocates with warmth and love.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (13:40)

7. Education and Emerging Renaissance Ideals

[14:37]

• Elizabeth’s education is rigorous—a reflection of Renaissance ideals that encouraged women’s learning.
• She excels in languages, ultimately speaking up to eight by the end of her life.

8. The Road Back to the Succession

[16:02]

• Henry VIII restores Elizabeth and Mary to the line of succession as a pragmatic safety net due to the unpredictability of Edward VI’s future.

“It isn't a matter of sentiment, unfortunately, it's more a political move.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (16:02)

9. Sibling Bonds: Edward VI

[17:26]

• Elizabeth’s relationship with her brother Edward VI is notably close, marked by affection and shared religious leanings.

“She embroidered shirts for him, she wrote him letters. She was very, very fond of him.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (17:26)

10. The Succession Crisis and Lady Jane Grey

[18:29]

• Edward VI attempts to bypass both Mary and Elizabeth in favor of Lady Jane Grey to ensure a Protestant succession.
• Jane’s reign collapses quickly due to a lack of popular support, allowing Mary to become queen.

11. Mary I and Her Relationship with Elizabeth

[21:29]

• The relationship between Mary and Elizabeth is fraught, rooted in past grievances and divergent religious convictions.
• While initially presenting a united front, suspicion and political insecurity quickly erode any chance of true sisterhood.

“Despite their best efforts, they probably were doomed from the start.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (22:00)

12. Wyatt’s Rebellion and Imprisonment in the Tower

[26:20]

• Elizabeth is implicated—though without evidence—in Wyatt’s Rebellion against Mary’s Spanish marriage.
• Her imprisonment in the Tower evokes the greatest peril and emotional distress, as she occupies the same rooms where her mother was executed.

“I think that's a deliberate strategy on Mary's behalf to try and torment Elizabeth and to weaken her resolve.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (28:13)

13. Near Execution, and Final Years Before Queenship

[30:28]

• Mary’s advisors prevent Elizabeth’s likely execution, though Mary herself would have been willing.
• The sisters are never reconciled, and as Mary’s health fails, she grudgingly acknowledges Elizabeth’s right to succeed her.

14. Elizabeth Receives News of Her Accession

[32:44]

• Upon Mary’s death in November 1558, Elizabeth is informed at Hatfield.
• Privately, she expresses routine sorrow but is almost certainly relieved, both personally and politically.

“She says that the law of nature moveth me to sorrow for my sister... but very interestingly, there are no reports to confirm this.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (32:44)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “In political terms, all of Elizabeth’s value has vanished at the stroke of the sword that severed her mother’s head.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (05:57)
• “I think in this respect, we have to think less about what Elizabeth said and more about what Elizabeth did.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (06:40)
• “Catherine Parr... begins writing to Elizabeth. She recognises that Elizabeth is very academically gifted and she really does her best to nurture this.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (13:40)
• “Had Mary been left to her own devices, we could have seen [Elizabeth executed] because Mary did definitely believe that Elizabeth was guilty.” — Dr. Nicola Tallis (30:28)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:17] Elizabeth I as an ‘unexpected’ queen
• [04:15] The political and religious turmoil at her birth
• [05:57] Anne Boleyn’s execution and Elizabeth’s loss of status
• [06:40] Subtle ways Elizabeth honored her mother's memory
• [08:23] Elizabeth aware of her lost status
• [09:46] Her fragile relationship with Henry VIII
• [13:40] Catherine Parr’s vital role in Elizabeth’s life
• [14:37] The Renaissance and emergence of women’s education
• [16:02] Politically motivated restoration to succession
• [17:26] Sibling bond with Edward VI
• [18:29] Lady Jane Grey, the brief “Nine Days Queen”
• [21:29] Why Mary and Elizabeth’s relationship was strained
• [26:20] Wyatt’s Rebellion and Elizabeth’s imprisonment
• [28:13] Emotional and psychological impact of the Tower
• [30:28] How close Elizabeth came to execution
• [32:44] Elizabeth’s reaction to Mary’s death and her own accession

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Tone and Style

The discussion is accessible yet scholarly, with a focus on personal relationships and emotional undercurrents behind major historical events. Dr. Tallis balances biographical details with psychological insights, while Rachel’s questions keep the narrative tightly focused on Elizabeth’s development as both a person and a potential queen. The conversation is peppered with empathy for the young Elizabeth while staying mindful of the broader political context.

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Conclusion

This introductory episode sets the stage for understanding Elizabeth I’s reign by examining the turbulent, often perilous road she traveled to the throne. Listeners are left with a portrait of a shrewd, resilient, and occasionally vulnerable young woman whose survival depended on wits, adaptability, and strategic self-presentation. The next episode promises to delve into the early years of her reign and the formidable challenges she faced as England’s queen.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Welcome to the History Extra Podcast. Today we're embarking on the latest of our four part Sunday series as historian Nicola Tallis joins Rachel Dinning to explore the life, reign and legacy of Elizabeth I. In this first installment the they'll be exploring how Elizabeth's early life shaped the queen that she would become.

[Rachel Dinning]

Hello and welcome to this four part History Extra podcast series on the life of Elizabeth I. I'm Rachel Dinning and today I'm joined by historian and author Dr. Nicola Tallis, an expert on 16th century history and author of books including Young Elizabeth and Crown of Blood. Today, we're stepping back into Elizabeth I's early life to understand how her formative experiences shaped the queen she would become. Nicola, thanks for joining me today. It's great to have you on the podcast.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

It's great to be here with you, Rachel. Thank you for having me.

[Rachel Dinning]

You're very welcome. So before we delve into Elizabeth's childhood, I want to ask you, what is it that has fascinated you in your career about Elizabeth? Give us a little potted summary.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, I think what's really interesting about Elizabeth is when we think of her now, we, and indeed, we're gonna be talking about her today as Elizabeth I, because we know how Elizabeth's story ended. We know that she went on to become one of England's most iconic queens. But what's fascinating to me is that for so much of Elizabeth's early life and her formative years, she had no idea that queenship lay in her future. So in many respects, she's almost like an unexpected queen. And I think that that is one of the reasons that makes her so iconic.

[Rachel Dinning]

That's right, and we'll get onto some more of that later in this podcast episode. But to start off, to understand the woman who becomes Elizabeth I, we need to go back to her childhood, and we have to understand the context that produced her. So can you tell us a bit about the world that Elizabeth was born into?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

It's a very turbulent world. Elizabeth is born on the 7th of September, 1533. She is a disappointment to her father, Henry VIII, in many respects, because he had pinned all of his hopes on Elizabeth being a boy. And in fact, all of the astrologers that Henry VIII had employed to predict the gender of his child, all except one, actually has said that, yes, this child was going to be a boy. So you can imagine his disappointment when actually Elizabeth is a girl. And this was particularly disappointing for Henry, given that he had moved mountains to marry Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's mother. And in the course of this, he'd separated from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and he had also separated from the Roman Catholic Church and set himself up as the head of the English Church instead. So this is a very, very tumultuous and uncertain time in England's history that's really rife with factions. Anne Boleyn is incredibly unpopular. Catherine of Aragon is still alive and has a lot of support. So there is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of hostility at the time of Elizabeth's birth.

[Rachel Dinning]

And the stakes, as you say, are high. Henry wants his heir he wants a male. But along comes Elizabeth. So, moving to May 1536. Elizabeth's not yet three and her mother, Anne Boleyn, is executed on the orders of Henry. What does this mean for Elizabeth?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, it effectively means that she is no longer the most important royal child in the country. She is declared illegitimate and she is deprived of her. Of her place in the line of succession. So she is still the King's daughter, but she is no longer deemed worthy of succeeding to England's crown. So in political terms, all of Elizabeth's value has vanished at the stroke of the sword that severed her mother's head.

[Rachel Dinning]

And we have, for the rest of Elizabeth's life, we have virtually no record of her talking about her mother. Do we know what she felt about Anne Boleyn? Is there any indication?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah. So I think in this respect, we have to think less about what Elizabeth said and more about what Elizabeth did. And there are some very subtle indications in some respects as to what she felt about her mother. And I think that really she did feel a sort of resonance with her and a warmth for her mother. And we see this in the fact that she promoted her mother's relatives. So when she became queen, she was surrounded by Boleyns, by Careys, who were the relatives of her mother's sister, Mary Boleyn. So she keeps those who were linked with Anne very, very close to her. And she also adopted Anne's symbol of the falcon badge. So we can see this on some of Elizabeth's belongings, for example. And I think, perhaps most touchingly, we know that at the end of her life, Elizabeth, a beautiful ring that contained two hidden portraits. And one of them was the queen herself, Elizabeth, and the other is a woman who was almost certainly Anne. So I think that this was probably a very personal keepsake that reminded Elizabeth of her mother and ensured that she was always close at hand.

[Rachel Dinning]

That's really lovely. It must have been a really interesting time. Well, her growing up in court, not only hearing bad things about her mother all around her. What did life look like for Elizabeth as an illegitimate princess? Obviously, her mother's gone, she's now illegitimate. What did life look like for her

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

in terms of Elizabeth's daily life? Very little would have changed for her. She was raised in a nursery household, largely away from her father's court, under the care of her own household. But we know that Elizabeth was a very, very perceptive child and she recognised the change in her status almost instantly. And we know this from the account of Sir John Shelton, who oversaw Elizabeth's household who reported that Elizabeth had basically gone to him one day and said, how haps it yesterday, Lady Princess and today Lady Elizabeth. Elizabeth was very, very acutely aware of her royal blood and her status. That is something that would have been drummed into her from the moment of her birth, from the moment that she could walk and talk. So, yeah, she is very, very conscious of that. But she does still continue to visit her father at court. She continues to exchange gifts with him. She attends several of his wives, because, of course, she has four stepmothers who come and go in relatively quick succession. So to all intents and purposes, life hasn't changed a great deal for her, except in terms of her title and the way in which she's addressed.

[Rachel Dinning]

She's illegitimate, but she's still very much present at court and in the royal household. You mentioned Henry VIII there. Do we have any understanding of what Elizabeth thought about her father? I mean, this is the man who ordered the execution of her mother.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, and that's a really interesting question. And I think we know that in later years, Elizabeth does come to revere her father greatly. One contemporary says that she prides herself in her father and glories in him. And I think that Elizabeth probably actually disassociated her father from the execution of her mother. I think she probably actually blamed Thomas Cromwell, who was almost certainly the brains behind Anne Boleyn's fall. And we do see that we have one surviving letter from Elizabeth to her father, which was prefaced in a New Year's gift she gave to him in 1546. And in this, Elizabeth refers to him as, you know, the high and mighty King, Henry viii. It's very clear that she's trying to get into his good books. And let's face it, she was in a world where her whole status, her whole survival and being, depended on being in her father's good graces. That was really, really important. And in this letter, she identifies herself as being Henry's daughter no less than six times. So she's very, very keen to remind her father that she is his daughter, that she is here. And this letter, this prefaces a New Year's gift, as I say, that she gave to Henry, of a translation of her stepmother Catherine Parr's works. And this is in three Latin, French and Italian. Elizabeth's 12 years old at this time, so she's also really trying to show off to her dad and to make him aware that she is worthy of his attentions, she's worthy of being his daughter. So I think it really sort of highlights Elizabeth's vulnerability where her father was concerned. It's a very, very fragile relationship, but I think that in many ways, Elizabeth does sort of look up to him.

[Rachel Dinning]

That makes a lot of sense. I mean, she's illegitimate, she's a royal still, and she perhaps felt this need to be like, I am Elizabeth, I am your daughter. I want that approval from you, because I don't have it officially.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Exactly, yeah. And she doesn't have a mother anymore, so Henry is all that she has.

[Rachel Dinning]

What about the other influences in her life? You mentioned her stepmothers, for example. How did they influence young Elizabeth?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, I think their fates come to influence her very greatly, because by the time that Elizabeth is nine years old or eight years old, really, she had gained and lost three stepmothers in relatively quick order. Jane Seymour dies in childbirth, Anne of Cleves is divorced and Catherine Howard is beheaded. So I think that by the time her father married Catherine Parr in the summer of 1543, and Elizabeth was desperately craving stability. She, I don't think, had a particularly close relationship with any of those earlier stepmothers. And I think that that's not necessarily a matter of personalities, it's probably timings, because none of them were there for very long. But it's very clear that when Catherine Parr arrives on the scene, she takes a very, very close maternal interest in Elizabeth, and Elizabeth reciprocates with warmth and love. And I think that this is sort of the attention that Elizabeth has been craving, because Henry VIII is an absent father in many respects. He doesn't really have a great deal to do with overseeing Elizabeth's daily life. So suddenly, Catherine Parr is here. She begins writing to Elizabeth. She recognises that Elizabeth is very academically gifted and she really does her best to nurture this. So it's in 1544, when Elizabeth is just shy of her 11th birthday, that for the first time, she's appointed a male tutor of her own. And this is almost certainly something that is done under Catherine's influence and Elizabeth begins to really, really thrive. And so it's very, very clear that Catherine has a very, very positive impact on Elizabeth's development. And also her confidence, I think.

[Rachel Dinning]

Was that type of education normal for someone of Elizabeth's standing? You mentioned before she was translating three languages and things like that. Was that the norm for a child of Elizabeth's status?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

It was beginning to become the norm. So in the past, women's learning had been very limited, so somewhat frowned upon. But times were beginning to change. The world was Changing a great deal. We see the onset of the Renaissance, which introduces all of these new ideas, and women's education begins to be encouraged. And we see Elizabeth's half sister Mary had received an excellent education. And so if Elizabeth was to make her mark on the world, it was essential that she should also have a similar education. And it is something that she really did thrive on, I think. And as I say, she was very, very gifted, particularly in terms of languages. Apparently she actually spoke eight by the end of her lifetime. So it's something that clearly she had a great talent for.

[Rachel Dinning]

And I imagine that intellectual curiosity helped her when she did become Queen later on. So I want to move on to her path to the throne. Her route to the throne was not simple. She was illegal from the age of three. But towards the end of his life, Henry VIII had this change of heart. And in the third act of succession, both Elizabeth and her older half sister Mary were restored to the line of succession. Why did Henry take this step? What prompted that?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, it isn't a matter of sentiment, unfortunately, it's more a political move. And this time Henry was preparing to invade France, which he does in 1544, and he was basically making preparations for the future. And the idea behind restoring both Mary and Elizabeth was really a safety precaution in case the King's son Edward didn't marry and have children of his own. Henry needed a backup plan, basically, and Mary and Elizabeth were that backup plan.

[Rachel Dinning]

What would have been the alternative if he hadn't put them in place just as a speculative. What was the risk there?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, it's quite interesting actually, because pretty much all of the candidates were female. So if Henry hadn't restored Mary and Elizabeth, then he looked towards the, the line of his younger sister Mary, who had first of all briefly been Queen of France and then married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. And Mary was the grandmother of the Grey sisters, ill fated Gray sisters. So they were the alternatives should Mary or Elizabeth not happen to succeed.

[Rachel Dinning]

So obviously Henry passes and Elizabeth's younger brother succeeds the throne as Edward vi. What do we know about Elizabeth's relationship with her brother Edward?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

That relationship was very, very close and I think it was probably one of the most important relationships of Elizabeth's childhood. There was only four years between these two children and they both had a lot in common because they both lost their mothers at a young age. And we know that Elizabeth and Edward shared a nursery at times during their childhood. And Elizabeth almost took a proud older sister role where Edward's concerned. So we know for Example that she embroidered shirts for him, she wrote him letters. She was very, very fond of him. And, of course, they were bonded by their religious views as well. So, yes, it's a very, very close relationship for Elizabeth.

[Rachel Dinning]

She must have been very sad when he passed away in 1553. Can you explain? Edward died relatively young, I think, of tuberculosis. Can you explain what then happened with the succession?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, absolutely. So, as we've spoken about, Henry VIII had said that, or had declared that if Edward were to die childless, as is indeed the case, then the next in line to the throne would be Elizabeth's half sister, Mary, and then Elizabeth herself. However, Edward was a fervent Protestant. He'd spent the entirety of his reign really revolutionizing the English Church, placing it firmly in the realms of Protestantism. And he was eager that Mary, who was an ardent Catholic, shouldn't be given the opportunity to undo all of his good work in the cause of religious reform. But he recognized that he couldn't exclude one half sister without also excluding the other. So, so determined was Edward to ensure a Protestant succession that he draws up in his own hand this famous document, my device for the succession. And in this, he attempts to overturn the provisions for the succession that have been put in place by Henry viii. Mary and Elizabeth are completely excluded, and instead, Edward names his Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir. Unfortunately for Jane Grey, that doesn't go particularly well. She is an unknown entity in the realm. She's very close in age to Edward. She's probably about 16 or so at this time, and she has been spending most of her life living in Leicestershire. So most people in the realm don't know who she is. She certainly doesn't have the same sort of profile or popularity as Mary and Elizabeth as the King's daughters. And so support for Jane does fade at an alarming rate, with the result that after nine or 13 days, depending on your opinion, she is deposed and Mary becomes queen in her stead.

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[Rachel Dinning]

I want to zoom in on Elizabeth's relationship with Mary. So their bond, a bit like Edward and Mary, has been quite challenging from the very start. I mean, Mary's the daughter firstly of Catherine of Aragon, who Anne Boleyn became the second wife. Catherine of Aragon was the first wife. But then, more significantly, perhaps the religion question. Mary is Catholic, Elizabeth is Protestant. Do you think with all of those considerations, was it ever possible for Mary and Elizabeth to have a close sisterly relationship?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Unfortunately, I think despite their best efforts, they probably were doomed from the start. I think Mary harboured such a deep loathing for Anne Boleyn. Understandably, Anne had treated her very, very badly. But I think that as Elizabeth grew and began to demonstrate more physical characteristics in common with her mother, and we could see more of Anne in terms of her personality as well, I think that this really began to rile Mary and it began to reawaken some of the ghosts of the past. So Mary definitely did try her best where Elizabeth was concerned. She cared for her very greatly when she was a child, there's no doubt about that. But I think that ultimately, Elizabeth's parentage, or her mother in particular, really doomed that relationship to failure from the start.

[Rachel Dinning]

And can you tell our watchers and listeners how Mary came to the throne? We had Lady Jane Grey. How is it that Mary is crowned?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, it's quite interesting because it's a bit of a common misconception, I think, that Lady Jane Grey's reign was doomed to failure from the start. But actually, to begin with, all of the odds were very much stacked in Jane's favour to the extent that Mary's supporters were urging her to flee abroad for her own safety. So it does look as though Mary is going to have to find some other form of some other role for herself. And she, to her credit, isn't prepared to accept this. She doesn't think it's right for her father's provisions for the will to be overturned. And I think it shows a great strength of character where Mary's concerned. She really sort of plays to her strengths because when she had heard that Edward was dying, she fled to East Anglia, where she was a great landholder and very, very popular. And from there she was able to really rally a great network of support. And there were a series of mistakes made on the part of Jane's supporters as well, that Mary was able to really capitalise on. But really, she builds on her popularity. She is a queen of the people. And it is the people that really come through for Mary, with the result that on the 19th of July, 1553, so not long after her brothers died, she is declared Queen of England.

[Rachel Dinning]

How does her relationship with Elizabeth unfold from this point? How do tensions grow between the two?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, it's really interesting because throughout the coup to make Lady Jane Grey Queen Elizabeth, her voice goes completely silent. And probably wisely. Yeah, very wisely. Very in keeping with Elizabeth and what we know of her, actually. And the fact that she is the younger sister really plays to her advantage because all eyes are on Mary, so she doesn't do anything. She watches to see how things play out. But then as soon as Mary becomes Queen, Elizabeth wastes no time in writing to Mary to congratulate her and to ingratiate herself. So she recognized that her safety and her position depended on Mary. Now all of a sudden. And so she was really keen to be seen by Mary's side. And to begin with, the sisters do put on a united front. So when Mary arrives in London to take possession of the capital for the first time, Elizabeth is there by her side. They are sisters, and Mary's very happy to have Elizabeth there, but there are already tensions, partly because of religion, but also there are people who begin whispering in Mary's ear that her younger sister is a threat to her. Because, of course, Elizabeth is now the heir to the throne. She's 20 years old, by contrast to Mary's 37. So she's much younger. She is a figurehead for dissent against Mary's rule, partly on account of the fact that Elizabeth is a Protestant, where Mary is a Catholic. So we can already see that the seeds of discord are beginning.

[Rachel Dinning]

I mean, the hostility became so great that Elizabeth is then accused of treason. Can you tell our listeners about Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554, what happened there?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, so the rebellion is actually orchestrated under the auspices of a gentleman from Kent called Sir Thomas Wyatt, and it is a response to Mary's decision to marry the Spanish Prince Philip. And there is a huge outcry about this in England, partly because Philip's a Catholic, but also because he's a foreigner, and there are great fears about this. And Thomas Wyatt decides to orchestrate this rebellion in order to protest against the Spanish marriage. But there's more to it than that, because in the process of doing so, he and his co conspirators also decide to depose Mary and set Elizabeth up in her stead. And it's one of the million dollar questions as to how much Elizabeth knew about the Wyatt rebellion. It's a really tricky one to answer because she was far too clever to incriminate herself in writing.

[Rachel Dinning]

No evidence.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

No evidence, no, absolutely. She was very shrewd. But she did have relationships with some of the plotters and Wyatt did later confess to having written to Elizabeth. So I think that perhaps she was aware of what was going on, but didn't inform Mary.

[Rachel Dinning]

Maybe turning a slight blind eye.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Exactly.

[Rachel Dinning]

Unaware of the implications.

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, exactly.

[Rachel Dinning]

Within months of Wyatt's rebellion, Elizabeth finds herself in the Tower of London. She's suspected of plotting against her sister. She's found herself quite horribly in the very place where her mother, Anne Boleyn, is executed. What was this time like for Elizabeth?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Well, I think that this is the period of Elizabeth's life, certainly, to begin with, when she first arrives at the Tower, when she is genuinely in fear for her life. I think, to begin with, she does think that there's a possibility that she's going to die. And I have to say that I think the fact that she is imprisoned in the same apartments that her mother was, I think that's very cruel. I think that's a deliberate strategy on Mary's behalf to try and torment Elizabeth and to weaken her resolve. And we know that Elizabeth is. She's very, very anxious at this time. She is heavily reliant on prayer. It's a very, very difficult and torturous time for her. But I think that anxiety does begin to lessen because it becomes relatively quickly that there isn't any evidence against Elizabeth. Wyatt and his fellow plotters fail to incriminate her in any way, shape or form. Elizabeth, I think, is still frightened. She does wonder what on earth her fate might be. And she is in a place where she is surrounded by the ghosts of not only her mother, but also her stepmother, Catherine Howard. People who have lost their lives, arguably for lesser things than that of which she now stood accused. And I think perhaps most poignantly, Lady Jane Grey had only recently been executed at the time that Elizabeth arrived at the Tower. And she had been executed basically because of the fact that her father had been one of the conspirators in the Wyatt Rebellion. Jane herself had had no involvement, but that hadn't prevented Mary from acting against her. So I think that Elizabeth would have been very, very mindful of that at that time. And, I mean, who knows, perhaps Jane's scaffold was even still erected at the Tower at that time. But I think that it must have been a really frightening experience for Elizabeth.

[Rachel Dinning]

And how close do you think she came to execution? Do you think that Mary was capable of that?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

I think in reality she probably wasn't as close as she feared. I think Mary was capable of that most definitely. But I think that Mary's counsellors would have protested. I mean, they already were beginning to protest about Elizabeth's imprisonment in the Tower. So I think that Mary would have made herself very, very unpopular if she had executed Elizabeth. So I think had Mary been left to her own devices, we could have seen that, because Mary did definitely believe that Elizabeth was guilty. However, the reality was that Mary had to act as a queen rather than as a woman. And there were those in place who were eager to ensure that she did the right thing and that justice was allowed to take its course.

[Rachel Dinning]

And ultimately Elizabeth's not found guilty of treason. Mary's reign progresses and over time it becomes clear that she's not going to produce an heir. What happens then, in terms of the succession? Does Mary name Elizabeth as her successor?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Not personally, no. She is never, ever reconciled with Elizabeth. I think the Wyatt rebellion was really the final nail in the coffin in terms of the sisters relationship, because even when Elizabeth is. Mary never welcomes Elizabeth back into her heart. That ship as well and truly sailed, and she becomes quite embittered towards Elizabeth. And so by the time that Mary falls gravely ill in 1558, the sisters are still not reconciled and Mary just can't quite bring herself to say Elizabeth's name. But she does recognise that Elizabeth is the next in line to the throne and that there's nothing that she can do to avoid that. So she does reluctantly acknowledge that the terms of her father's will are legal and that Elizabeth will become Queen after her.

[Rachel Dinning]

So Mary's death, 17th of November 1558. What happens next? How is Elizabeth informed? She's she becomes queen on Mary's death. What is her response to that?

[Dr. Nicola Tallis]

Yeah, so Elizabeth is at Hatfield when she receives word of Mary's death. And she is not at all surprised because she's been expecting this news for some time. And she says that the law of nature moveth me to sorrow for my sister. And she claims later that she shed tears of grief for Mary's death. But very interestingly, there are no reports to confirm this. So I think really she saw Mary's death as a relief. It meant that she was safe to an extent from persecution and from her sister's bitterness. So it's really the beginning of a whole new chapter of Elizabeth's life and one that she hadn't seen coming until perhaps later in Mary's reign.

[Rachel Dinning]

And that brings me to the end of this podcast. So Elizabeth has claimed the crown, but ascending the throne is only the beginning, and in her early years as queen, she will face a kingdom divided by religion. She will have to navigate the pressures of being a woman in power and see her personal life turned into a matter of state. All of which we're going to be exploring in the next episode. If you enjoyed today's episode and want to know more about Elizabeth's life, I've rounded up a selection of wider reading, some by Nicola herself from our archive. You can find all of that in the episode description below. You know what they say. Early bird gets the ultimate vacation home.

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