Barbara Walter's Dream

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.




If time neither time nor money were objects, and I could interview anyone in the world, past or present, I would love to interview Queen Elizabeth I. I would hope that she would be willing to let me ask difficult or inappropriate questions without suffering the consequences of overstepping her royal boundaries, however. I think she must have been a fascinating woman. To have ruled a country as a woman during those times, when it was a man’s job, and women’s rightful place was as an agreeable, submissive, seen but not heard being, is an enormous accomplishment, and at the same time an enormous amount of burden and pressure. I would ask the following Questions, and then state my reasoning behind those questions:

1.What was the most challenging thing about being a woman, and being the primary leader of a country?
•Maybe it was commanding an army while wearing a dress that covered her ankles. That seems hard to me. There had to be so many tribulations day to day not only being a woman doing the job of a man, but being the only woman to have ever done this job.

2.What was your biggest accomplishment, and your biggest mistake
•Often times, the outsiders see mistakes and accomplishments differently than the ones who actually make them. I would be curious to see her take on her successes and failures.

3.What is the biggest misconception about your life both personally and as a ruler?
•Much of what we know about rulers such as Queen Elizabeth is factual, but surely there is something that was taken the wrong way, exaggerated, or analyzed incorrectly. I would want her to have the chance to set the record straight.

4.Knowing what you do now, would you trade your throne for a more personal life? Perhaps with someone you loved?
•Wouldn’t to marry mean being forced to give up her throne to her husband the king? So, if that seemed unfavorable to her, she sacrificed much in being the primary ruler. She was called the virgin queen, never married, in love (That we know of. See Question 5). Would she trade one for the other?

5.Were you ever in love?
•Purely out of girlish curiosity.

I actually think I could ask Queen Elizabeth enough questions to fill up a week. I would want to give her a chance to be in an interview where she could tell all of this and anything else she felt necessary. I would be intimidated though, in the presence of such a woman.