Elizabeth resisted Mary's public execution because it would provoke European outrage, provide Spain justification for the Armada, and set a dangerous precedent that Parliament could authorize the killing of an anointed monarch.
Elizabeth's refusal stemmed from both practical concerns about war with Spain and a deeper anxiety that executing an anointed queen would undermine the divine sanctity of monarchy and empower Parliament to commit regicide. ✦ AI generated
Tom Holland · The Rest Is History · 2026-08-13 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 9:40
“The big problem is that Elizabeth does not want to put Mary to death. I mean, partly because she knows it would inflame opinion across Europe, but also there is a sort of personal issue, isn't there? That Elizabeth doesn't want to set a precedent of killing a queen.”
She sees it as a threat to her own authority because Mary, like Elizabeth, is an anointed queen. And Elizabeth doesn't want to license anything that might impair the sense her subjects have of the divinity that hedges a king, as Shakespeare would put it. And obviously, if you're anxious to maintain the sense of dignity that surrounds an anointed monarch, then chopping off her head is not the way to maintain it... But also, there is the fact that Mary has been convicted under this act that had been brought in the year before, the Act for the Queen's Safety. So, if Mary is now executed, then Elizabeth's worry is that it will seem that Parliament has licensed it. And that therefore Parliament has the right to commit regicide.
verbatim transcript · starts at 9:40
9:30book on the Spanish Armada that he wrote back in um the 1940s, but it's it's it's still great. He said of Elizabeth, "Her foreign policy was to have no foreign policy not alterable by the lightest touch on the helm." And obviously, if Elizabeth is locked into war with Spain, then you know, that that that's that's no longer a course that she can follow. But as he implied, Elizabeth's
9:50opposition to having Mary executed goes beyond mere foreign policy concerns. She sees it as a threat to her own authority because Mary, like Elizabeth, is an anointed queen. And Elizabeth doesn't want to license anything that might impair the sense her subjects have of the divinity that hedges a king, as Shakespeare would put it. And obviously, if you're anxious to maintain the sense of dignity that uh surrounds an anointed monarch, then
10:22chopping off her head is not the way to maintain it. And for Burleigh and Walsingham, as you said, this is a complete nightmare. >> Can I just ask a quick question? You've said a couple of times she doesn't want to have her publicly executed. Is this not a flaw in Elizabeth the First's armory? Why does she not consider killing her privately? I mean, why not, you know, have poisoned her?
10:42>> She does consider it um and we will be coming to that later in this episode. >> Yeah, I mean, I'd have killed her already, frankly. I don't understand why she's been dithering. >> I absolutely know that you would um and it's just a shame that you weren't at the beck and call of the Virgin Queen, as we will see in due course. But for now, I mean, conversely, for Burleigh
11:01and Walsingham, having her publicly executed ticks all kinds of boxes. You know, it very publicly removes her. It brands her as um as a traitor. It locks them into the war with Spain that they probably feel is coming, and it serves to establish a kind of solidarity among the Protestants of England and and beyond. So, they want that. They also want Mary gone because throughout [snorts] this period, Elizabeth has no