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Follow Nicola Tallis on Social Media:<\/p>\n
Nicola’s website: Nicola Tallis<\/a><\/b> Many thanks to Nicola for answering my questions.<\/p>\n Why did you choose this subject for your book?<\/b><\/I><\/p>\n Initially, I didn\u2019t choose this at all. I was originally commissioned to write a full biography of Elizabeth, but I got about nine months into the project before I realised it wasn\u2019t working. For whatever reason something wasn\u2019t clicking, and I knew that the part of Elizabeth\u2019s story that most interested me was her youth \u2013 the path to the throne before the Virgin Queen came into being. To me it felt like there was a really good story to be told that was worthy of its own volume, and the process of reaching that point was completely organic. <\/p>\n What does your book add to previous work about Elizabeth I?<\/b><\/I><\/p>\n Hopefully a fresh and human perspective to Elizabeth\u2019s story. Humanising the people about whom I write is something that\u2019s really important to me, so it\u2019s something I make a conscious effort to try and achieve as far as the sources will allow. I also feel that there are a few other new interesting titbits that readers should definitely look out for! <\/p>\n What surprised you most researching this book?<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n I would say the amount of surviving material we have for this period of Elizabeth\u2019s life. Of course there are frustrating gaps, but there are actually so many of her letters that survive from the pre-queenship period \u2013 and most of them are such a joy to read! I definitely underestimated how many there were, and when you understand the context in which some of them were written \u2013 the Tide Letter, for example, written when Elizabeth was in fear for her life \u2013 they become even more meaningful. <\/p>\n Do you think that Elizabeth had any involvement in the Wyatt Rebellion?\u202f <\/b><\/I><\/p>\n This is a really tricky question to answer, because it depends on what you would interpret as \u201cinvolvement\u201d. Do I think Elizabeth was aware of what the conspirators were planning and failed to tell Mary? Yes, I absolutely do. Do I think she played an active role in engineering Mary\u2019s downfall? No, I don\u2019t. <\/p>\n Well, the point here is that she really believed herself to be in danger of execution. We know that Mary I was extremely reluctant to order Lady Jane Grey\u2019s execution, and it was not a decision she made lightly \u2013 she was under so much pressure. I find it hard to believe that Mary would ever have really countenanced Elizabeth\u2019s execution too, but in 1554 Elizabeth didn\u2019t know that. Her teenage cousin of royal blood had just been executed, and Elizabeth was incarcerated in the same prison in which Jane \u2013 and her own mother Anne Boleyn \u2013 had lost their lives: it\u2019s little wonder that she was fearful. <\/p>\n ‘Young Elizabeth: Princess. Prisoner. Queen’ by Nicola Tallis was published by Michael O’Mara Books on 29th February 2024. Dr Tallis is also the author of ‘Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey’, ‘Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale … Continue reading
\nTwitter: @NicolaTallis<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n
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\nWhile a prisoner in the Tower of London, Elizabeth is recorded as asking \u2018whether the Lady Jane\u2019s scaffold were taken away or no.\u2019\u202f Was Elizabeth really in danger of execution? <\/b><\/I><\/p>\n
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