semper-exdem:

Modern AU – Elizabeth Tudor 

Marleen Lohse as young Elizabeth 
Gillian Anderson as mature Elizabeth

Elizabeth Tudor was born on September 7, 1975. A bright and precocious child she developed a love of learning early on in life thanks to the private tutors her father hired for her. She showed a particular aptitude for languages, history and critical thinking. In school, she was always top of the class and yet still made time for extra-curricular activities: dance classes were her favourite. 

She attended King’s College London for university and studied Classics though later on she obtained a Master’s of Political Science at the London School of Economics. It was during this time that she decided to pursue a career in politics. Running for MP in London she won people over with her sparkling charisma, sharp sense of humour and her deep understanding of what her country needed. At age 25, she was elected as MP, one of the youngest women in Parliament. 

Throughout the years, Elizabeth dedicated her life to her career, forgoing marriage and children in lieu of achieving her ultimate ambition: to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was a long journey, filled with pitfalls, set backs and endless debating and campaigning. At age 45 her hard work had paid off and she was elected Prime Minister in 2020.

She soon realized that the battle had only just began. Officially out of the European Union, Elizabeth now had to navigate the murky waters of Post-Brexit Britain, an outcome she was personally displeased with. Still, her primary concern was for Britain’s welfare and she made it her first priority to raise Britain’s status in the world again now that it seemed to lay on shaky ground. Despised by some, revered by others, it would be her greatest challenge yet. 

“If your heart’s not in it, don’t even bother.” 

Opinions on Kathryn Howard?

I like her; I really do not like when people are dismissive of her and say she was ‘foolish’ or term her a ‘fool’. It’s true she made some foolish decisions; but arguably Wolsey and Cromwell made some of their own, and yet I don’t read them referred to by such terms nearly as often. 

She was a good Queen, publicly followed protocol with grace and graciously; and used her influence as much as she was able. I’m tired of seeing her reduced to the relationships she had with men, I would love to read more about the relationships she had with other women.

Had that letter never been left in the chapel for Henry, I think it’s likely she would have been his last wife. It was a bit of a powder-keg of a situation, but it was Dereham that was probably more foolhardy and foolish than Katherine herself.

And yet, somehow, all the focus is on her and how she “knew what happened to Anne, so how could she ever have been so foolish as to write a letter like that to Culpeper”? It wasn’t a wise decision, to be sure, but Dereham was likely her senior and made, arguably, decisions that were even more reckless. 

That being said, I think the more important/relevant question to ask is how he could have been so foolish as to brag of his probable (what, today, would certainly legally be so) past abuse of Katherine when he likely knew five of Anne Boleyn’s alleged lovers had been executed on little more than rumors alone; one flirtatious comment from Smeaton and one angry one from Anne to Norris + the manipulation of a court faction, after all, had led to the swiftest and severest fall the Tudor court had ever seen, and it ruined men (and one woman) that were far more powerful than Dereham had ever been. 

Even if Dereham didn’t care about Katherine (which…by his actions, it seems he did not), one would at least think he would’ve kept his mouth shut out of self-preservation.