Quotes & Sayings About Queen Elizabeth

You got blood on your face, you big disgrace, waving your banner all over the place. — Queen Elizabeth II

There are today many institutions, taken for granted as pillars of the establishment, which owe their existence, or their appearance, in part to Albert. He is regarded as the architect of the modern monarchy; and when his great-great granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, waves to people from Buckingham Palace, she does so standing on the balcony which was Albert's idea. — Sarah Ferguson

The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women. — Queen Elizabeth II

[On the 1982 intruder into her bedroom:] I realized immediately that it wasn't a servant because they don't slam doors. — Queen Elizabeth II

[On being told Mary, Queen of Scots, was taller than she:] Then she is too high, for I myself am neither too high nor too low. — Elizabeth I

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too. QUEEN ELIZABETH 1, 1588 — Anonymous

Miranda was nineteen. Her experience with men consisted of Winston and himself. Both of whom had
heretofore been brotherly figures. The poor girl must be confused as hell. Winston had suddenly decided
that she was Venus, Queen Elizabeth, and the Virgin Mary all rolled into one,and Turner had all but
forced himself on her. Not exactly an average day in the life of a young country miss — Julia Quinn

We have all felt those emotions in these last few days. So what I say to you now, as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart. — Queen Elizabeth II

If it really was Queen Elizabeth who demanded to see Falstaff in a comedy, then she showed herself a very perceptive critic. But even in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff has not and could not have found his true home because Shakespeare was only a poet. For that he was to wait nearly two hundred years till Verdi wrote his last opera. Falstaff is not the only case of a character whose true home is the world of music; others are Tristan, Isolde and Don Giovanni. — W. H. Auden

In the humanist world following Erasmus, man is at the centre of the universe. Man becomes largely responsible for his own destiny, behaviour and future. This is the new current of thought which finds its manifestation in the writing of the 1590s and the decades which follow. The euphoria of Elizabeth's global affirmation of authority was undermined in these years by intimations of mortality: in 1590 she was 57 years old. No one could tell how much longer her golden age would last; hence, in part, Spenser's attempts to analyse and encapsulate that glory in an epic of the age. This concern about the death of a monarch who - as Gloriana, the Virgin Queen - was both symbol and totem, underscores the deeper realisation that mortality is central to life. After the Reformation, the certainties of heaven and hell were less clear, more debatable, more uncertain. — Ronald Carter

I feel like the queen of the oven! I am the Queen of all oven-dry! Master of heat! You may now address me as "Your Royal Highness"! — Elizabeth Duivenvoorde

The world is not the most pleasant place. Eventually your parents leave you and nobody is going to go out of their way to protect you unconditionally. You need to learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass. — Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth was rather a flirt all her life. She finally developed a bad habit of boxing her partners' ears and shouting "god's death, I'll have thy head!" This discouraged some of her more sensitive partners, — Will Cuppy

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations. — Queen Elizabeth II

[Before each of numerous portrait sittings:] Now then, with teeth or without? — Queen Elizabeth II

For many, Christmas is also a time for coming together. But for others, service will come first. — Queen Elizabeth II

[To the suggestion that Great Britain might someday want a Republic:] We'll go quietly. — Queen Elizabeth II

I would not be a rose upon the wall
A queen might stop at, near the palace-door,
To say to a courtier, "Pluck that rose for me,
It's prettier than the rest." O Romney Leigh!
I'd rather far be trodden by his foot,
Than lie in a great queen's bosom. — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The seventeenth century began with the death of Queen Elizabeth and the ascension to the English throne of James VI of Scotland, who, for this reason, became James I of England. Of course, James' grandmother was Marie de Guise of France, who had married James V of Scotland. She had steered the Stuart dynasty away from Protestantism in the direction of Catholicism. Marie was a Merovingian and a member of the Priory of Sion, and she functioned on behalf of its Catholic wing, in attempting to control the course of change in European Christendom. Chapter 8 - Sion's Army — Jeff Wilkerson

The cheapest of all things is kindness, its exercise requiring the least possible trouble and self-sacrifice. Win hearts, said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth, and you have all men's hearts and purses. — Samuel Smiles

There's four biggies. There was Elizabeth I, George III, Victoria, and the current queen, who really dominated four eras. — Geoffrey Rush

Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually born to succeed. King George VI was 41 when the abdication of Edward VIII propelled him suddenly and unexpectedly to take up the crown; and Queen Elizabeth II spent her first decade with no inkling thay she herself might one day have to reign. Taken together, these examples suggest that the best preparation for the job of sovereign is not to be prepared for it at all, ir not to be too well prepared for it, or for too long. — David Cannadine

You know, not even your British Queen is called just Elizabeth - she's Elizabeth the Second. There's only one Imelda. — Imelda Marcos

There are certain historical figures of such importance that we need to know everything about them, which is why books about Napoleon, Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I, and the great religious founders continue to proliferate; these lives require constant reevaluation and interpretation. — Robert Gottlieb

There is only one heaven, one earth and one queen (me) Queen Elizabeth is an impostor. — Dinah Washington

Like the Elizabeth I play, Queen Elizabeth is a monarch who actually moves with the times. She gets new information, assimilates it, and changes in order the fit in with the way the world is moving. I admire that. — Samuel Barnett

We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep. — Queen Elizabeth II

Mother' (with a short scornful laugh), 'you will make me confess. The only time I saw Miss Hale, she treated me with a haughty civility which had a strong flavour of contempt in it. She held herself aloof from me as if she had been a queen, and I her humble, unwashed vassal. Be easy, mother. — Elizabeth Gaskell

The events that I have attended to mark my Diamond Jubilee have been a humbling experience. It has touched me deeply to see so many thousands of families, neighbors and friends celebrating together in such a happy atmosphere. — Queen Elizabeth II

Or consider how we citizens of rich countries obtain our oil and minerals. Teodoro Obiang, the dictator of tiny Equatorial Guinea, sells most of his country's oil to American corporations, among them Exxon Mobil, Marathon, and Hess. Although his official salary is a modest $60,000, this ruler of a country of 550,000 people is richer than Queen Elizabeth II. He owns six private jets and a $35 million house in Malibu, as well as other houses in Maryland and Cape Town and a fleet of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Bentleys. Most of the people over whom he rules live in extreme poverty, with a life expectancy of forty-nine and an infant mortality of eighty-seven per one thousand (this means that more than one child in twelve dies before its first birthday). — Peter Singer

Your Majesty, I'm afraid everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong," said Major Sir Michael Parker, an impresario for royal events with an expertise in pyrotechnics. "Oh good, what fun!" she replied with a smile. — Sally Bedell Smith

Therefore I am sure that this, my Coronation, is not the symbol of a power and a splendor that are gone but a declaration of our hopes for the future, and for the years I may, by God's Grace and Mercy, be given to reign and serve you as your Queen. — Queen Elizabeth II

With domineering hand she moves the turning wheel,
Like currents in a treacherous bay swept to and fro:
Her ruthless will has just deposed once fearful kings
While trustless still, from low she lifts a conquered head;
No cries of misery she hears, no tears she heeds,
But steely hearted laughs at groans her deeds have wrung.
Such is a game she plays, and so she tests her strength;
Of mighty power she makes parade when one short hour
Sees happiness from utter desolation grow.
(A Consolation of Philosophy, Book II, translated by V.E. Watts) — Boethius - Queen Elizabeth I Translation

This thing called love, it cries like a baby in a cradle all night. It swings, it jives, it shakes all over like a jelly fish. I kinda like it. — Queen Elizabeth II

Good memories are our second chance at happiness. — Queen Elizabeth II

There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles. — Elizabeth I

I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate,
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate.
I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun,
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done. — Elizabeth I

True patriotism doesn't exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others. — Queen Elizabeth II

I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life. It is a chance to show to the whole world the British nation united in grief and respect. — Queen Elizabeth II

I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust. — Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth, in a much-cited quote, faithfully bathed once a month "whether she needs it or no. — Bill Bryson

Family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation — Queen Elizabeth II

I have never wanted to be a queen! Cleopatra was a role, and I am an actor, so it was fun to play one, but it's not real. — Elizabeth Taylor

Djinn," she said. "We go to review the troops. Clothe me as befits a queen."
"Silks and satins?" he asked, eyes sparkling like sapphires. "White brocade?"
"Armor," she said. "And flame. — Elizabeth Bear

There are long periods when life seems a small, dull round, a petty business with no point, and then suddenly we are caught up in some great event which gives us a glimpse of the solid and durable foundations of our existence. — Queen Elizabeth II

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. — Queen Elizabeth II

For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God's love, as we strive daily to become better people. The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone. There is no one beyond its reach. — Queen Elizabeth II

I do not want a husband who honours me as a queen, if he does not love me as a woman. — Elizabeth I

For me, heaven is likely to be a bit of a come-down. — Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen Elizabeth II provides vast amounts of entertainment for an age that has forgotten how to amuse itself unaided. — Hans Koning

[To Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, on his return from self-imposed exile, occasioned by the embarrassing flatulence he had experienced in the presence of the Queen:] My Lord, I had forgot the fart. — Elizabeth I

Tame him? You can't tame a Tower rat
they're flea-bitten and vicious."
"So are most men!" The girl smiled and stretched her cramped limbs. "Shall I tame one of them instead? They too make diverting pets, you know."
Markham laughed nervously. "Wouldn't you rather have a dog, madam?"
"Ah no
too loyal! They present no challenge." Behind the girl's steady eyes a shadow stirred. "My mother had a dog once. She used to make it jump through a burning hoop to prove its devotion to her, until she found my father did it better. He jumped through that hoop for over six years. When he finally got tired of performing for her amusement he killed her. And that's what makes men such interesting pets, Markham
you never know when they're going to turn and bite. — Susan Kay

To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all. — Queen Elizabeth II

I think that the benefit of playing someone like Queen Elizabeth is that so much has been written about her, and there's so much speculation about her - was she a hermaphrodite? She's so mythologised, and there are a lot of images of her. — Cate Blanchett

My guitar's name was Liz. As in, short for Elizabeth, Queen of England. She was a lady.
Don't judge. — Rachael Wade

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together. — Queen Elizabeth II

Wouldn't it be terrible if you'd spent all your life doing everything you were supposed to do, didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't eat things, took lots of exercise, all the things you didn't want to do, and suddenly one day you were run over by a big red bus, and as the wheels were crunching into you you'd say 'Oh my god, I could have got so drunk last night!' That's the way you should live your life, as if tomorrow you'll be run over by a big red bus. — Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother

But what use was the semblance of power without the substance? — Alison Weir

Daniel, I did not knowwhat I wanted when I was agirl. And then I was a fool in every sense of the word. And now that I am a woman grown, I know that I love you and I want this son of yours, and our children who will come. I have seen a woman break her heart for love: my Queen Mary. I have seen another break her soul to avoid it: my Princess Elizabeth. I don't want to be Mary or Elizabeth, I want to be me: Hannah Verde Carpenter."
"And we shall live somewhere that we can follow our belifs without danger," he insisted.
"Yes," I said, "in the England that Elizabeth will make. — Philippa Gregory

[To a woman whose cellphone rang during a formal meeting:] You'd better answer that. It could be someone important. — Queen Elizabeth II

It has turned out to be an annus horribilis. — Queen Elizabeth II

A great lady(Queen Elizabeth )of England , on her dying bed cried out ,"call time again , call time again; a world of wealth for an inch of time !"but time past was never nor could never be recalled. — Thomas Brooks

And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even the dust. I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too. — Elizabeth I

Thatcher once said that if she were a visitor from Mars required to create a constitutional system, I would set up ... a hereditary monarchy, wonderfully trained, in duty and in leadership which understands example, which is always there, which is above politics, for which the whole nation has an affection and which is a symbol of patriotism. — Sally Bedell Smith

I knew Queen Elizabeth didn't do any laundry! I knew I wasn't going to be doing laundry. I was going to be singing. — Cyndi Lauper

The mullein had finished blooming, and stood up out of the pastures like dusty candelabra. The flowers of Queen Anne's lace had curled up into birds' nests, and the bee balm was covered with little crown-shaped pods. In another month
no, two, maybe
would come the season of the skeletons, when all that was left of the weeds was their brittle architecture. But the time was not yet. The air was warm and bright, the grass was green, and the leaves, and the lazy monarch butterflies were everywhere. — Elizabeth Enright

But this morning in meditation, after I heard the lion roar YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW STRONG MY LOVE IS, I came out of that meditation cave like worrior queen. — Elizabeth Gilbert

If you saw Queen Elizabeth it would be amazing, she came from another planet. She was so attractive in what she was wearing. — Vivienne Westwood

[I]n the end this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a Queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin. — Elizabeth I

This Earle of Oxford, making of his low obeisance to Queen Elizabeth, happened to let a Fart, at which he was so abashed and ashamed that he went to Travell, 7 yeares. On his returne the Queen welcomed him home, and sayd, My Lord, I had forgott the Fart. — John Aubrey

I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a people. — Elizabeth I

It is as queen of Canada that I am here. Queen of Canada and all Canadians, not just one or two ancestral strains. — Queen Elizabeth II

First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected her - for her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. — Queen Elizabeth II

The Eastern potentate who declared that women were at the bottom of all mischief, should have gone a little further and seen why it is so. It is because women are never lazy. They don't know what it is to be quiet. They are Semiramides, and Cleopatras, and Joan of Arcs, Queen Elizabeths, and Catharine the Seconds, and they riot in battle, and murder, and clamour, and desperation. If they can't agitate the universe and play at ball with hemispheres, they'll make mountains of warfare and vexation out of domestic molehills; and social storms in household teacups. Forbid them to hold forth upon the freedom of nations and the wrongs of mankind, and they'll quarrel with Mrs Jones about the shape of a mantle or the character of a small maid-servant. To call them the weaker sex is to utter a hideous mockery. They are the stronger sex, the nosier, the more persevering, the most self-assertive sex. — Mary Elizabeth Braddon

They are not royal. They just happen to have me as their aunt. — Queen Elizabeth II

My husband has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years, and I owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim. — Queen Elizabeth II

When she realized all attention was on her, she slowed. "Oh." She gave them a Queen Elizabeth wave and said, "Play on. — Kresley Cole

I know who Queen Elizabeth represents. I know she's the head of the British state. I know she has all sorts of titles in relation to different regiments in the British army. She knows my history. She knows I was a member of the IRA. She knows I was in conflict with her soldiers, yet both of us were prepared to rise above all of that. — Martin McGuinness

There's only one Elizabeth like me and that's the Queen. — Elizabeth Arden

Despite the absence of Queen Elizabeth II's name in annual Forbes Rich Lists, everyone in the room was aware the Queen was one of the wealthiest people in the world, if not the wealthiest. However, hers and the House of Windsor's assets and income were mostly non-declared. — James Morcan

Again the water rose, they both took a breath; again they were submerged and his leg hooked over something, an old pipe, unmoving. The next time, they both reached their heads high as the water rushed back, another breath taken. He heard Mrs. Kitteridge yelling from above. He couldn't hear the words, but he understood that help was coming. He had only to keep Patty from falling away, and as they went again beneath the swirling, sucking water, he strengthened his grip on her arm to let her known: He would not let her go. Even though, staring into her open eyes in the swirling salt-filled water, with sun flashing through each wave, he thought he would like this moment to be forever: the dark-haired woman on shore calling for their safety, the girl who had once jumped rope like a queen, now holding him with a fierceness that matched the power of the ocean - oh, insane, ludicrous, unknowable world! Look how she wanted to live, look she wanted to hold on. — Elizabeth Strout

It is easy enough to define what the Commonwealth is not. Indeed this is quite a popular pastime. — Queen Elizabeth II

She had been born knowing that boldness erased fear, while cowardice invited it and earned her only more ill treatment. No matter how she shook with dread in private, she would never show fear before her questioners or her guards. In men's minds fear was a certain mark of guilt. — Jeane Westin

It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained. — Queen Elizabeth II

If pushed to say what I like about Elizabeth, who, as I'm sure most of you know, overtook Queen Victoria this week to become our longest-serving monarch, it would be her uncomplaining, getting-on-with-it ethic. — John Niven

It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the hard progress of humankind. — Queen Elizabeth II

I looked up the word "scandal" in my dictionary last night. No wonder there has been such a fuss. — Paula M. Hunter

You are being trained to be a Queen, but you do not have to act like one until y ou get your own hive. Being a Queen will not overtax you as you will never be called upon to use your mind on any major matter. You will use the National Mind, their mind. It's very restful ... — Elizabeth Hawes

[On being criticized for her serious expression:] I simply ache from smiling. Why are women expected to beam all the time? It's unfair. If a man looks solemn, it's automatically assumed he's a serious person, not a miserable one. — Queen Elizabeth II

The use of sea and air is common to all; neither can a title to the ocean belong to any people or private persons, forasmuch as neither nature nor public use and custom permit any possession therof. — Elizabeth I

I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married. — Elizabeth I

A few weeks before the jubilee began in 2002, Queen Elizabeth died, and the public outpouring of grief and affection, with hundreds of thousands of people queuing for hours to pass by her coffin, showed how widely and deeply loved she was. — William Shawcross

Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth. — Queen Elizabeth II

Little had changed after independence. Jomo Kenyatta's face hung in a framed portrait in every shop where Queen Elizabeth's had been. Some schools were built, some streets renamed. But educated people are a liability in a dictatorship: all the schools were underfunded, few of them succeeded. A great deal of foreign money was given to the government and most of it ended up in the pockets of politicians, some of whom were assassinated. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the fatness of corrupt African politicians. — Paul Theroux

When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future. — Queen Elizabeth II

I know Jane is dear to you," Bess said. "I also know that she's in danger. But Jane is one person, Edward. There are thousands of lives at stake. There's a kingdom on the edge of a knife. We must tread carefully. — Cynthia Hand

A light comes on in his eyes. "Sure, why not? A date with Queen Elizabeth." He smiles. — Cynthia Hand

This new power, which has proved itself to be such a terrifying weapon of destruction, is harnessed for the first time for the common good of our community. — Queen Elizabeth II

Mary Queen of Scots had a little dog, a Skye terrier, that was devoted to her. Moments after Mary was beheaded, the people who were watching saw her skirts moving about and they thought her headless body was trying to get itself to its feet. But the movement turned out to be her dog, which she had carried to the block with her, hidden in her skirts. Mary Stuart is supposed to have faced her execution with grace and courage (she wore a scarlet chemise to suggest she was being martyred), but I don't think she could have been so brave if she had not secretly been holding tight to her Skye terrier, feeling his warm, silky fur against her trembling skin. — Elizabeth Wein

If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married. — Elizabeth I