Elizabeth I Always Refused To Marry, And She Had Good Justification

As Elizabeth I sat on her throne, do you think she ever felt lonely? After all, despite being queen for 44 long years, she never took a husband. But why? Surely someone so powerful had no trouble attracting a partner? Well, it turns out that single life suited Elizabeth just fine — and for good reason.

A long reign

The sheer length of Elizabeth’s reign provided her kingdom with a sense of steadiness and cohesion. But at the same time, her single status ruffled a few feathers among members of the English elite. It made the matter of her successor murkier than certain people would have wished for.

The single life

Elizabeth was crowned queen late in 1558. And within a matter of months, she made a strange commitment to her country’s parliament. She said she planned to “live and die a virgin,” which seems to be exactly what happened. Elizabeth passed away in 1603, having never married or apparently even taken a lover. She’s been nicknamed the “Virgin Queen” as a result.

Never short of options

No other queen in the history of England failed to take a spouse, so what happened in the case of Elizabeth? It wasn’t like she was short of options, after all. There were plenty of aristocrats and foreign royals eager to take her hand in marriage, but none managed to convince Elizabeth.

Shrewd and cunning

Back then, it was widely seen as a terrible decision for a queen to live without a spouse. Elizabeth, on the other hand, held another view, even if she was never terribly vocal about her reasons. And historians have been forced to think long and hard about this question. They’ve come up with theories, too — and they point towards Elizabeth’s shrewd nature.