Post by bookburnNow that she's gone, after some 70 years at the helm and idolized by many, we can remember, too, that Shakespeare did a lot for British national literature, with his many history plays featuring the conversations and manners of nobles.
I suppose we have to remember that QE I recognized and liked Stratman, even to the extent of asking him to write a play with a romantic Falstaff in it? Many doubt that, but must accept that she did request many of his plays at court.
Not sure how big a fan of Shakespeare QE II has been.
On that point, I have it that QE II was interested, but not devoted. At https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shakespeare+under+two+Elizabeths.-a090469054
it is said this sort of thing:
"The reign of Queen Elizabeth II has seen Shakespeare's position both confirmed and subtly questioned. My thesis is that the sequential reigns of Elizabeth I and James I are re-enacted, side by side, by Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales. Their roles echo those of their great predecessors.
The present Queen is thought not to be a devotee of theatre. She is however the patron of various theatrical causes, above all the great State companies. In 1961, soon after the arrival of Sir Peter Hall as Artistic Director, the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon changed its name to the Royal Shakespeare Company. The new title, as someone remarked to Hall, 'had practically everything going for it except God'. There followed a couple of decades of stunning artistic and popular success. The 1960s saw the Age of the Director, and a golden age it was at first. Shakespeare texts were treated to an x-ray scrutiny which yielded remarkable results. The Wars of the Roses (Henry VI and Richard III) and Henry V left English history looking very different. Measure for Measure, with its Isabella pausing over the Duke's final offer of marriage, entered the play into the era of feminism. David Warner's student-prince Hamlet signposted the way to the events of May, 1968. The RSC has found it impossible to repeat these feats, and it is generally thought to have lost some of its grip of recent years."