Secret files reveal plan to honour Elizabeth I

BY ED WEST
NEWLY RELEASED Government files reveal that plans to mark the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's accession were dropped for fear they would upset Catholics and Scots.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that plans for a series of national events in 1958 were abandoned, despite Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's approval.
The celebrations were proposed a year before, in April 1957, by Henry Kerby, Conservative MP for Arundel and Shoreham. He wrote to the Prime Minister, stating that: "A friend of mine lately in conversation with Sir John Neale the historian of Elizabeth I and her parliaments was excited by the fact that November 17 1958, next year, will be the 400th anniversary of Elizabeth I's accession to the throne. My friend's excitement set my own thoughts on fire and therefore I am persuaded, even though I am very conscious of seeming to carry wisdom to Athens."
Mr Kerby proposed an "Elizabethan festival, in the reign of Elizabeth II" involving the whole country and "reverberating" in the Commonwealth. "A sense of national pride and joy of heritage might well set everyone's pulses beating with high hope and firmer faith," he added.
Mr Macmillan replied that he would "think about it" and noted: "1 might mention it to the Queen".
However after discussions with Charles Hill, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the plan was abandoned. Hill wrote: "Having discussed the idea with Harold Evans, Fife Clark [a senior press adviser] and others... [I] have come to the conclusion that this is not an occasion suitable for a big splash at government expense.
"A major objection is the feeling in Scotland about Her Majesty the Queen's title. Some Scottish opinion would resent any national festival connected with the accession of a sovereign who did not reign in Scotland."
He added: "There might also be some lack of enthusiasm, if not vocal opposition, among the Roman Catholic community. The Catholic Church has little reason to celebrate the reign of Elizabeth I."
Elizabeth I is regarded as one of England's most successful and popular monarchs, except by Catholics, who view her as a tyrant. During the Tudor queen's early reign all officials were obliged to take the Oath of Supremacy, recognising the Queen's leadership of the Church, and attendance at Anglican services was mandatory. After Pope Pius V's 1570 papal bull Regnans in Excelsis, which sought to depose Elizabeth, hundreds of Catholics were rounded up and brutally executed.