The season finale of Becoming Elizabeth sees us fast-forwarding two months from the end of the last episode, where we saw Edward coughing up blood. The king appears to be dying, there’s a power struggle between Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the former Lord Protector, and his successor, John Dudley, but also between Edward’s half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and then, wham bam, Edward is standing there: “Surprise, I’m alive, and you’re all in big trouble! One of you in huge trouble!” That about covers it!

But is any of that true? Well, let me, historian and best-selling author Claire Ridgway, enlighten you…

If you’ve been following my weekly videos on the Starz series “Becoming Elizabeth”, you’ll have realised that I’ve been rather disappointed in its central theme. I don’t feel it’s shown viewers what shaped Elizabeth in her youth, what made her the woman and queen she became. It’s been frustrating.

It’s made me all the more determined to ensure that my online event “Elizabeth I: The Life of Gloriana, the Virgin Queen” does Elizabeth I justice. I want to peel back the many layers that have built up over the centuries and look at Elizabeth I’s life, her reign, what shaped her, who she relied on, her achievements, her relationships (both personal and diplomatic), and the many myths that surround her.