May is more of a young Victoria than Queen Elizabeth I
May is more of a young Victoria than Queen Elizabeth I
Theresa May says Queen Victoria is a role model in an interview with a local newspaper in her constituency CREDIT: FRANK AUGSTEIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Elizabeth I is a symbol of the fight against "European" influences for Brexiteers CREDIT: NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
KATE MALTBY
30 AUGUST 2016
Ever since Theresa May arrived in Downing Street, friends and enemies have sought to find another woman to whom we can compare her – and each time come up with Margaret Thatcher. Now the PM has caused a stir by citing Elizabeth I as a role model in a carefully vetted Q&A with her local constituency paper. I’m not sure Elizabeth would have been impressed: four years working on her private papers has made clear to me that she was determined to be sui generis. If there are lessons to be learned from our most impressive absolute monarch, they are not easily applied to a modern democracy.
Historical comparisons tell us more about ourselves than they do about the past. Elizabeth’s success in a male world appeals to our new PM, who tells us to admire: “a woman who knew her own mind and achieved in a male environment”. She cites Elizabeth’s supposed Tilbury speech: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the stomach of a king.” May has made no secret of her contempt for Cameron’s old boys’ club.
Her reference to Elizabeth, however, looks more artfully planned. For Brexiteers, Elizabeth I is a symbol of the fight against “European” influences. (No matter that, like May, she preferred compromise, negotiating with all sides right up until the Armada.) May’s loyalty to the Brexit cause has been suspect, to put it mildly. As meetings for Brexit approach, she’s repositioning herself on the Tilbury cliffs, shaking an armoured fist at Jean-Claude Juncker.
For Brexiteers, Elizabeth I is a symbol of the fight against “European” influences. (No matter that, like May, she preferred compromise, negotiating with all sides right up until the Armada)
Not that there aren’t other striking comparisons. Elizabeth’s long wait for the throne prefigures the tribulations of Theresa May. In 1549, the guardian of the 15-year-old Elizabeth, Thomas Seymour, was arrested for attempting a coup. Suspecting her involvement, Edward VI’s government ordered Elizabeth’s favourite servants to be banished from her household; two – Thomas Parry and Katherine Ashley – wound up in the tower.
