Quotes

[from trailer]

Sir Walter Raleigh: We mortals have many weaknesses; we feel too much, hurt too much or too soon we die, but we do have the chance of love.

Queen Elizabeth I: Go back to your rathole! Tell Philip I fear neither him, nor his priests, nor his armies. Tell him if he wants to shake his little fist at us, we're ready to give him such a bite he'll wish he'd kept his hands in his pockets!

Don Guerau De Spes: You see a leaf fall, and you think you know which way the wind blows. Well, there is a wind coming, Madame, that will sweep away your pride.

[turns to leave with his ministers]

Queen Elizabeth I: I, too, can command the wind, sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!

[from trailer]

Queen Elizabeth I: By God, England will not fall while I am Queen.

Queen Elizabeth I: How many Catholics are there in England, sir?

Cabinet Minister #1: [snorting] Immense numbers, Majesty.

Cabinet Minister #2: Half the nation cling to the old superstitions.

Queen Elizabeth I: What would you have me do? Hang half the people in England, or just imprison them?

Cabinet Minister #2: We must act, Majesty! Our inaction is perceived as weakness!

Queen Elizabeth I: If my people break the law, they shall be punished. Until that day, they shall be protected.

Cabinet Minister #1: Majesty, we have proven reason to fear every Catholic in the...

Queen Elizabeth I: [cutting in] Fear creates fear. I am not ignorant of the dangers, sir. But I will not punish my people for their beliefs. Only for their deeds. I am assured that the people of England love their Queen. My constant endeavor is to earn that love.

William Walsingham: We will all be judged in the end.

Queen Elizabeth I: [during a briefing with Walsingham and Bess] We shall have to look out a husband for you soon, Bess.

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Not too soon, my lady.

Sir Francis Walsingham: There are husbands to be had.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Bess] Don't you want to be married?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: I'll want the marriage if I want the man.

Queen Elizabeth I: We all know that if I fall you all come tumbling down with me.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to her army, lined up in front of her at Tilbury] My loving people. We see the sails of the enemy approaching. We hear the Spanish guns over the water. Soon now, we will meet them face-to-face. I am resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all. While we stand together no invader shall pass. Let them come with the armies of Hell; they will not pass! And when this day of battle is ended, we meet again in heaven or on the field of victory.

Sir Amyas Paulet: And you, ma'am, are to be tried. For treason.

Mary Stuart: Me? What is any of this to do with me?

Annette: Soon, England's true believers will rise up against that bastard usurper, Elizabeth, and slit her throat!

Mary Stuart: [in reprimand] That's enough!

[small pause]

Mary Stuart: [calmly] Slit her throat? Please.

Sir Walter Raleigh: I have never known a woman like you.

Queen Elizabeth I: There's something you could do for me - something I have not known for a very long time. But it's not to be spoken of afterwards. It must be forgotten. But just for now, a kiss?

[Raleigh kisses Elizabeth]

Queen Elizabeth I: I die.

Sir Walter Raleigh: [Raleigh's horse runs ahead] Forgive me, Majesty, my horse doesn't seem to know his place yet.

Queen Elizabeth I: Have you ever known your place, Mr. Raleigh?

Sir Walter Raleigh: I think it must be hard for so great a Queen to know the simple pleasure of being liked for herself.

Queen Elizabeth I: Now you grow dull.

Sir Walter Raleigh: [throws his coat in the road] A puddle in the way, Majesty.

Queen Elizabeth I: A puddle.

[keeps walking]

Queen Elizabeth I: Puddle.

[laughs]

Sir Christopher Hatton: [the Archduke Charles of Austria's portrait is presented as a possible suitor] An Austrian alliance would keep France quiet.

Sir Francis Walsingham: And put Philip on a leash.

Queen Elizabeth I: I've become almost enthusiastic. Send for him.

Archduke Charles: The beauty of your Majesty is dazzling to my eyes. I am overwhelmed. I am conquered. I die. Only your love, my stattlich Elizabeth, can restore me into life.

Queen Elizabeth I: I have a secret, my dear. I pretend there's a pane of glass between me and them. They can see me, but they cannot touch me. You should try it.

Sir Walter Raleigh: It is something, after all, to take a blank on the map and build there a shining city.

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Which you will, no doubt, name after yourself.

Sir Walter Raleigh: No doubt.

Queen Elizabeth I: I suspect him of being a professional charmer. Am I right?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: He is certainly charming, my lady.

Queen Elizabeth I: Well, there are duller professions. You like him, don't you?

Elizabeth Throckmorton: He's a man that lives in a world far beyond the court. It's refreshing.

Queen Elizabeth I: Well, we shall let him come again.

Mary Stuart: [Mary sits before her accusers in black, her face stern] You know neither who you are, nor what you do. But I know who I am, and if I die, it shall be as I have lived: as a Queen, trusting in the mercy of God, my Holy Father.

Queen Elizabeth I: [speaking about Walter Raleigh] He interests me, talk to him.

Elizabeth Throckmorton: Him, Your Majesty?

Queen Elizabeth I: [smiling] Him.

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Raleigh] I like your immensities. Your ocean is an image of Eternity, I think. Such great spaces make us small. Do we discover the New World, Mr. Raleigh, or does it discover us?

Don Guerau De Spes: Excuse me, Your Majesty. The air has become stale. I am sensitive to the smell of an open sewer.

[He stares at Raleigh and leaves]

Queen Elizabeth I: [to Raleigh] I cannot accept the fruits of piracy, Mr. Raleigh.

Sir Walter Raleigh: Philip of Spain is no friend of England, Majesty. The more gold I take from him, the safer you will be.

Queen Elizabeth I: Male desire confers no distinction.

Queen Elizabeth I: [Pointing at Sir Walter] This man has seduced a ward of the Queen

[Pointing at Bess]

Queen Elizabeth I: and she has married without Royal Consent these offences are punishable by law. Arrest him! GO!

[Walsingham bows at the Queen looks at Raleigh and starts to leave with him]