Transcript of Interview between Michelle Kenney & Queen Elizabeth I

Interviewer (Michelle Kenney): text shown in bold

Interviewee (Queen Elizabeth I of England): text shown in italics

Introduction:

Michelle Kenney: Today, I am welcoming an honored guest to our show. Please excuse the distortion
of the audio, our guest is speaking to us from hundreds of years in the past! With the help of our
sponsors and listeners our technical team has devised a new, state of the art telecommunications
system that allows us to conduct this interview.

She is considered by many to be the greatest monarch in English history. At just twenty-five years old
she ascended to the throne after a tumultuous upbringing contending with scandal, danger and the
ever-present notion that she was illegitimate. On January 15, 1559 she placed upon her head an
extremely heavy crown that would have bowed anyone else. The nation was bankrupt, fractured by
religious discord and unhappy with the previous two female rulers, her cousin lady Jane Grey and
sister Mary Tudor. Rather than take the expected course of marrying a powerful husband she
declared, “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England.”

She was a devotedly loyal and loving wife in her unorthodox marriage. Ruling alone for nearly half a
century, she restored the economy and ushered England into economic prosperity and stabilized the
country. Her reign is known as the Elizabethan era, a period in which England and its people enjoyed
stability and peace within its borders.

I would like to warmly and graciously welcome a personal idol of mine to the show, Queen Elizabeth I.

Interview:

Queen Elizabeth I: Great to be with you, Michelle. That was quite the introduction.

No less than was necessary. It was DIFFICULT deciding which accomplishments to highlight. There are
so many!

You are very gracious. My reign was challenging and demanding, but I committed myself to ensuring
English peace, stability and prosperity. I genuinely loved my subjects.

Absolutely, your love and devotion to your subjects is renowned. Their adoration of you was
apparent as well, especially in the flattering monikers they referenced you by – Good Queen Bess, The
Faerie Queen, Gloriana and who could forget – The Virgin Queen.

Ah, yes. I quite like The Faerie Queen and Gloriana. Those two derive from epic poems of Edmund
Spencer, a very talented poet. I greatly admire the arts and consider my greatest achievement to be the
renaissance of art, literature and architecture under my patronage - of course. A great love of mine,
besides England, is the theater. There is something intrinsically unifying in viewing a dramatic play. It
draws people of all classes, religions and creeds together. I truly believe that the great works of writers
such as Shakespeare, Wyatt and Campion contributed to the peace and prosperity enjoyed by England at
the time of my rule.
Well, do I have something to share with you. Theater is still alive and well in present day. However, it
is now available in an even more accessible format.

Do tell.

We have an electrical screen that transmits movies or television shows right into our bedroom! I can
sit on my bed and watch a drama.

Electrical? Screen? Movie? Television?

I will show you after our interview. I would love to watch the movie Elizabeth and Elizabeth the
Golden Age with you. Honestly, I believe that Cate Blanchett does an amazing job portraying you. I
would be delighted to hear your thoughts.

Well, I can never turn down a proposal like that one. I certainly can turn down other proposals though!
Hahaha!

Hahaha! Now that we are discussing modern times I would like to address the central topic of this
interview – women leaders, but more specifically the regime of Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor
and de facto head of the country of Myanmar. You too have many common life experiences and
ideas, but recently she has diverged from that path of commonality. This divergence is rooted in
religious tension.

Religious tension. How can a leader allow such a divide within a country? I realized that it was
necessary to alleviate the religious tension in England upon my succession. I achieved this with a
religious settlement that was inclusive as possible. The Act of Uniformity of 1559 restored the English
Prayer Book but allowed for two interpretations of communion, one Catholic and one Protestant. While
England was technically returned to the Protestant faith, I was careful not to erase all traces of Catholic
worship. This policy of moderation resulted in unsteady but tolerable compromise between the two
faiths. How did this Aung San Suu Kyi address the religious tension in her country, Myanmar?

Before we delve into your conflicting approach to religious tension, I am going to review your many
similarities.

Quickly now, I know my story and the aspects of it. I do not require a lecture to begin a discourse on
leadership.

Of course, your majesty. I would never presume to teach you anything. Not only are you the greatest
female leader England ever experienced, but I would be remiss if I did not state my opinion that you
are genuinely the greatest leader of England in all of history. Regardless of sex.

Oh, I do so love flattery. You may proceed.

I will begin from your similar childhood experiences. You both had to endure the violent death of a
parent at just 2 years old. Your mother, Anne Boleyn, was unjustly convicted of incest, adultery and
conspiracy against the crown and was executed by beheading. Suu Kyi’s father was assassinated in
1947.

It is such a terrible thing to lose a parent at such a young age. I was just a baby when I lost my mother.
However, I did keep a special relic of hers – her pendant with the initial “A”. My father forbade any
mention of my mother and certainly would not have approved of my wearing anything of hers. Let me
tell you a secret. I found a way to display my love for my mother in 1544. King Henry VII commissioned a
painting, The Family of Henry VIII for publication. If you look closely you will see that very pendant worn
about my neck!

I need to see this painting! How clever!

I have heard praise of my cleverness many times. Continue with this Aung, I am interested. Especially if
she is so like myself.

Okay, this is a small side note but one that I found very interesting. You both attended classes on
morality during your teenage years.

Oh those, my father required them. However, I love learning of all pursuits. My education was quite
excellent, fit for a prince they said. More like, fit for a future Queen.

Of course, now here is a sorrowful shared experience. You were a political prisoner held first at the
Tower of London and after under house arrest by your sister, Mary Tudor. Suu Kyi was a political
prisoner held for nearly two decades under house arrest by Myanmar’s military regime.

Two decades! I could not imagine. I was held for only four years, but those four years were perhaps the
most fearful ones of my life. Each day I awoke wondering if Mary had signed an execution edict and if it
were my last.

After her release from house arrest she found a country destroyed. Myanmar had once had a strong
education system and a prosperous economy due to their fertile rice paddies. However, after the
disastrous reign of the military regime it had become one of the poorest with any government
dissident being slaughtered. Upon her election to state counsellor of Myanmar, in the first openly
contested election in 25 years, she inherited a broken country.

Sounds all too familiar.

Now we approach the great divide between you and Suu Kyi. Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist
country with an ethnic Muslim minority, the Rohingya. Before August 2017, there was an estimated
one million Rohingya in Myanmar, nearly a third of the population. They differ from Myanmar’s
dominant Buddhist groups ethnically, linguistically, and religiously. As of November 2017, Aung San
Suu Kyi is implicated in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya.

What?

Yes, the military and Buddhist mobs raped women, executed civilians and burned more than 200
villages in a crackdown that followed an attack by Rohingya extremists Aug. 25, causing more
than 600,000 Muslim Rohingya to flee into neighboring Bangladesh. Once viewed as a human rights
icon, Suu Kyi has denied that ethnic cleansing is taking place. In September 2017, she claimed that the
military operations and ceased even as smoke from the burning villages were plainly visible in the sky.

This woman is beginning to sound more like my half-sister than myself. At the beginning of her reign
Mary was very popular with the people. I’m sure you are aware of the nickname given to her because of
her treatment of the Protestants.
Bloody Mary.

That’s the one. She only sat upon the throne for five years, but in that brief time she reversed all of the
religious work of both my father and brother. In 1555, she succeeded in ratifying the Second Statute of
Repeal. Not only did this reinstate the pope as the head of the church, restore the Catholic Mass,
dismantle the Protestant churches in the country but it also reinstated the heresy laws. A British subject
convicted of heresy was sentenced to the horrible death of being burned at the stake. Mary did not shy
away from this cruel punishment. Just one month after the institution of the Repeal she began executing
Protestants. She inflicted this inhumane death upon nearly three hundred Englishmen, most of whom
were commoners. This atrocious treatment of her fellow countrymen was based upon her narrow-
minded view of the “correct” religion that should be practiced.

Now, I believe that you presented an entirely different approach to religion. I base this on your
quotes, “There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. all else is a dispute over trifles.” And “I have no
desire to make windows into men’s souls.” Your religious views were remarkably tolerant for the
time in which you lived.

Michelle, the time in which I lived? What is the date?

April 10, 2018.

What did you tell me the topic of this interview was?

Aung San Suu Kyi, the veritable leader of Myanmar who has essentially facilitated the persecution,
mass exodus, and slaughter of at least six thousand seven hundred Rohingya people …

My sister, Mary, slaughtered nearly three hundred Protestants and several hundred Protestants exited
the country into exile rather than face persecution.

Wow.

This occurred in February 1555. This interview is taking place in April 2018. The inhumanity perpetrated
in the name of religion has not changed in four hundred and sixty-three years. This saddens me.
However, I would like to inform your listeners about my position on the role of religion in leading a
country.

Please do, you have provided such meaningful insights thus far.

There should be no importance placed on religion in the leading of a country A true and righteous Queen
is tolerant. A true and righteous queen prioritizes the peace and stability within her realm. Most
importantly, a true and righteous queen values the people in which she rules – for without them she
would not be a queen at all.

Queen Elizabeth, you are a true sense of the word “leader”. I have always admired you and I cannot
tell you how grateful I am for your commentary. If I could be so bold as to receive your opinion on
another female leader – Sheikh Hasina ….