Expert: Mark Smith - 3/11/2009

Question
1. What got you interested in this topic?
2.Did her clothing have a meaning if so what did they mean 3. Why wasn't she married?
4. Did she ever become close to any of her stepmothers?
5. What made queen Elizabeth so self reliant?

Answer
Hello Bianca.
1. History in general you mean ? I don't know, I just find it fascinating.
2. She dressed to impress as they say today. By looking magnificent it impressed those around her with her power and grandeur.
3. She never married because marriage would probably mean becoming subservient to a man, which was not something she could do as she was the Queen. Also it would mean her husband having a share in government which again she was not willing to consider. Some say it's also because of the problems she saw that marriage brought to her family which put her off the idea.
4. She got on well with her stepmothers, especially Katherine Parr who brought her up after her father had died.
5. She had to be. Family circumstances had left her with no close family from an early age. A woman had to be tough to survive and prosper in a man's world.
Mark