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Queen Elizabeth I vs Queen Victoria

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Daisy Goodwin, writer of the hit ITV series Victoria, argued the case for her heroine. In the Elizabethan corner stood Philippa Gregory, queen of British historical fiction.

Intelligence Squared’s historical and cultural combat events have been thrilling our audiences with their unique blend of entertainment, information and live performance. Here we present the battle of the queens. Both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria set their stamp firmly on their era but which was the greater monarch?

On one side stood Philippa Gregory, bestselling author of the Tudor Court series of novels. She made the case for Elizabeth I, with widely acclaimed actor Fiona Shaw bringing this most majestic and flirtatious of rulers to life with readings from her speeches and letters. In the other corner was Daisy Goodwin, writer of last autumn’s hit ITV series Victoria, who will argue the case for her heroine. Award-winning star of stage and screen Greta Scacchi revealed the determination and wit of this most human of monarchs by performing extracts from Victoria’s diaries and personal missives. Chairing the proceedings was celebrated historian and television presenter Dan Jones.

Neither Elizabeth nor Victoria grew up expecting to be queen, and each had to struggle to assert herself in a man’s world. As Gregory will argue, Elizabeth managed this by her shrewd intelligence, playing off the men in her court against each other and refusing to dilute her power by marrying, despite the intense pressure of her advisers. As Catholics and Protestants fought wars across Europe, she averted bloodshed in England by consolidating the Protestant revolution begun by her father Henry VIII, expressing her religious tolerance with the famous words, ‘I have no desire to make windows into men’s souls.’

Goodwin made the case that Victoria was not just a great queen but an icon for our own times. Not only did she save the monarchy after a succession of dissolute and incompetent Georgian kings; by embracing marriage and motherhood, she set an example that our own queen and royal family have followed to this day. Her popularity was such that when in 1848 revolutionary uprisings toppled monarchies in France, Austria, Italy and Poland, Victoria’s throne remained secure.

Featuring

  • Philippa Gregory

    Bestselling novelist and author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl'

  • Daisy Goodwin

    Screenwriter and novelist

  • Greta Scacchi

    Award-winning actor

  • Fiona Shaw

    Widely acclaimed Irish actress

Chair

  • Daniel Jones

    Bestselling historian, broadcaster and journalist

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Chair

Daniel Jones

Bestselling historian, broadcaster and journalist

Bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist. His books include The Plantagenets and The Hollow Crown. He has presented several TV series including Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets. His journalism appears on both sides of the Atlantic, and he writes a regular column for The Evening Standard.
Featuring

Philippa Gregory

Bestselling novelist and author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl'

One of the world's foremost historical novelists. She is the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and has an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London. Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016 was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers' Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Neilsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output.

Daisy Goodwin

Screenwriter and novelist

Screenwriter and novelist. She created and wrote the recent hit ITV series Victoria. She has also published the novel Victoria: A Novel of a Young Queen. She has written two other novels, My Last Duchess and The Fortune Hunter, both set in the 19th century, which were New York Times bestsellers. As a television producer, she created a number of programmes including the long-running series Grand Designs.

Greta Scacchi

Award-winning actor

Award-winning actor whose film credits include Heat and Dust, White Mischief, The Browning Version, Jefferson in Paris, The Player and The Falling. In 2016, she appeared in the BBC production of War and Peace as Countess Natalya Rostova. Her other television credits include Poirot, Miss Austen Regrets, Miss Marple, Daniel Deronda and Broken Trail. Scacchi’s West End credits include The Entertainer, Deep Blue Sea, and Uncle Vanya. She has done numerous audiobooks and radio drama for BBC Radio 3 and 4.

Fiona Shaw

Widely acclaimed Irish actress

Widely acclaimed Irish actress as well as a theatre and opera director. Her stage credits include As You Like It, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Joan of Arc, and a one-woman reading of T.S. Eliot’s epic poem The Waste Land, to name a few. Her roles in film have included My Left Foot, Harry Potter, Persuasion and Jane Eyre. In the theatre she is perhaps most renowned for her powerful portrayal of Richard II. She has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, twice winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress, for various roles including Electra in 1990, and for Machinal in 1994.