Elizabeth, is a 1998 film about the early life of me, Queen Elizabeth I, of England who is arguably one of the greatest monarchs to ever sit on this throne. Cate Blanchett is the title role and I believe she did alright although I think I am much better looking. I think that this movie broke the usual "period piece" mold of English biographical movies because it was directed by an Indian, Shekhar Kapur. This movie seemed to took a much more dramatic style of storytelling, which I thought was good because there was quite the drama in my Kingdom at that time. The movie also did not shy away from some historical truths of the era, such as dirt, poverty, and torture. In the movie however, there are some mistakes and factual errors that I noticed that were not accurate to what I really went through, or what happened with certain characters in real life. The movie had many errors and said things that I did not do. In the beginning , Firstly, my appearance was not accurate. I did not start wearing wigs and heavy makeup until later in my reign, and it had nothing to do with the Virgin Mary. I very much wanted to keep the image of an eternally youthful Queen, for my own sake because I did not want to feel I was sadly aging, or possibly growing ill. I started wearing red wigs when my hair started greying at a young age. (The Life of Elizabeth) Queen Mother Mary of Guise did send troops to Scotland, but Elizabeth sent a fleet, not an army of troops. And this fleet was not an invasion force, but was sent to back up the Protestant landlords in their battle against the Catholic Mary. I was kind of annoyed that the movie portrayed me as being the bad guy here. Another factual error about Mary of Guise was that The movie implies that Mary was murdered by Walsingham in bed. In reality, she died of dropsy, which is the collection of fluid in the body cavities and/or tissues. Mary was actually on the verge of defeat by an allied army of Scottish rebels and English troops. Another factual error that was not accurate to my real life was that I was arrested and sent to the Tower in 1554, but was then placed under house arrest at Hatfield for four years. The truth was I was actually placed under house arrest in Woodstock. Along the same lines, The Pope did not excommunicate me, so this made me fair game for Catholic assassins until 1570. (Elizabeth 1)
Among the events in the movie that were moved in time, In one scene, my character Elizabeth proposes to the bishops of England that they create a "single Church of England." In reality, the Church of England existed since as early as the 7th century. It was Henry the VIII, my father, who pushed Parliament to sever the Church of England from Roman Catholic jurisdiction in successive acts in 1529 and 1536. The Church was restored to Catholic rule under Mary I, but was severed again only with my excommunication and not by an act of British bishops. Also, in the scene where I am being taken to see my sister, Mary, I am in a horse-drawn carriage. These horse drawn carriages, however, were not introduced to England until late into my reign, and even so, at this point in the movie I am not queen yet so why would I be in a horse driven carriage in the first place? Bishop Stephan Gardiner is named as one of the traitors and is mysteriously murdered near the end of the film. In fact, he actually died from natural causes in 1555 during the reign of Mary I. (Queen Elizabeth I) The relationships between me and other characters in the movie were changed as well. For example, I was nearly twenty years older than the Duke of Anjou. He went on to become King Henry III of France, and his younger brother became Duke of Anjou. I finally met the Duke, and we got along very well and even talked about getting married. However, due to unpopular public sentiment towards us as a couple, and my own opposition to marriage in general, the plans were called off. Also Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, was only 22 when I came to the throne. He was far from being the sinister plotter portrayed in the film, he actually seems to have been somewhat weak and easily dominated. He was not executed until 1571. Another age difference was that Sir Francis Walsingham was only a year older than I. Another historical inaccuracy of the film was that Lord Robert Dudley was created Earl of Leicester in 1564 and remained in contact with me for the rest of his life, although I did refuse to marry him. I was aware that Robert Dudley was married. I only distanced myself when his wife died suspiciously and the rumors were that she died so Dudley could marry me emerged.
Though the movie portrays the gist of my character and my reign, I really thought that the film was way off when it came to defining time periods, or placing the events where they really occurred in my life. Another aspect of the film that I thought could be more accurate would be my relationship with other people and how I really acted with some of them. Overall the movies depiction of me was in generally accurate but there are details that could be more precise.

Works Cited
Doran, Susan. Queen Elizabeth I. New York: New York UP, 2003. Print.
"Elizabeth I (r.1558-1603)." The British Monarchy. The Royal Household, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2014
"Queen Elizabeth I." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 08 Oct. 2014.
Sharnette, Heather. "Elizabeth R." Elizabeth I. Self Published. Web. 1 Jan. 2014.
Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Ballantine, 1998. Print.