ELIZABETH I

11 September 1558

Dear diary,

today i will tell you a little about my family …

My parents are Anna Bolena and Henry VIII. When I was three my mother had beheaded my father and their marriage was declared illegitimate, so I couldn’t take the throne. My two brothers, Edward VI and Mary sat on the throne after our father died, but due to health problems Edward died very young, and only my sister Mary remained on the throne.

your Elizabeth.

13 September 1558

Dear diary,

today I will tell you a little about me, about some of my secrets ..

My life hides some really interesting gossip.
From my secret love to my fashion tastes.
Since I was just a child, I had a very close friend, Robert Dudley.
Growing up I began to slowly fall in love with him,
and my feelings were reciprocated but despite everything,
we couldn’t get married, because we were both destined for someone else.
Robert got married to another woman, but our special friendship never ended. I was not seen as a really beautiful woman,
but I still had a lot of contenders.
My love, however, already belongs to my beloved England.

                    your Elizabeth

15 September 1558

Dear diary,

today I intend to continue the speech I started the last time
I wrote to you ..

I am a woman, and I love self-care and feshion, my favorite type of makeup was created from a really pale foundation, because royalty don’t like the sun on their skin, And never anything more, I like to be as natural as possible. My clothes must represent my majesty and strength, I wear large and colorful hand embroidered dresses and I have almost 1200 dresses. However, in my day hygiene and cosmetics were really dangerous for my body, and as I get older I will find myself without teeth and with a blank face.

                    your Elizabeth.

14 February 1559

Dear Diary,

it’s been a while since I last wrote to you, several things have happened and now I’ll tell you about them.

My stepsister Mary died, so..

on January 15, 1559, I was crowned by the Bishop of Carlisle.

When I arrived in London, there was my coronation, considered a masterpiece of political courtship.

An observer said some nice words about me “If ever anyone”, “had the gift or style to win people’s hearts, it was this queen” I really appreciated.

One day at a show a girl gave me a Bible in English translation – I knew it was forbidden under the reign of Mary – so I kissed the book, lifted it up with reverence and placed it on my chest; As a sign of the rebirth of the new regime.

Shocking I know, but as soon as I have time I’ll tell you about what I did in this first period of reign.

your Elizabeth.

20 February 1559

Dear diary,

i had to tell you what I have accomplished in this short period.

The first week I reigned, I wasn’t just dedicated to symbolic gestures and public ceremonies.

I have assembled a core of experienced and trusted consultants, including William Ceciul, Nicholas Bacon, Francis Walsingham and Nicholas Throckmort.

I paid great attention to religion, and i will continue to do so for the next few years.

I then decided to abolish papal control over the Church of England. And finally in the early days of my reign, I decided to restructure the great royal house.

your Elizabeth.

3 March 1559

Dear diary,

today I will talk to you about how I managed to assert myself on the thought of men, who have always felt superior to us women.

I write you my philosophy here:”I will have here but one mistress and no master”.

In this era there is this widespread belief, reinforced both by customs and by the wrong teaching that according to our society men are naturally endowed with authority, and we women instead, according to them, are intellectually and morally unfit to govern. Men consider themselves more rational than us and see us as susceptible creatures,
dominated by impulse and passions. according to our misogynistic society, we women must be silent and take care of the embroidery but I want to do the difference.

your Elizabeth.

15 March 1559

Dear diary,

today i intend to continue the discourse of the last time I wrote to you, but going a little more into detail.

for example the Scottish Calvinist preacher John Knox wrote in his “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women” that “God hath revealed to some in this our age that it is more than a monster in nature that a woman should reign and bear empire above man. ”

I made my decision. I want to stay single so that no man can compromise my power.

I managed to transform the thinking of my people who were previously male chauvinistic and misogenic by making myself valid and respecting myself.

your Elizabeth.

4 April 1559

Dear diary,

today I will talk to you a little bit, about marriage from my point of view …

my marriage was fundamental not only for my succession but also for the complicated network of international diplomacy.
My dear England, militarily weak, desperately needed the great alliances that an advantageous marriage could forge. Important suitors came forward with enthusiasm: Philip II of Spain; Archduke Charles of Austria and others. But I’m thinking that I would never marry any of my lovers, yet I can skillfully make each other play against each other and keep our marriage negotiations going for months, even years.

your Elizabeth.