Queenie
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Queenie was a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in the second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan Britain.
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Royal Life
Often childish and silly, but with a fiery temper, 'Queenie', as she came to be known, would readily threaten her courtiers with execution if they did not do as she wished. She was portrayed in the manner of a school girl bequeathed with the power to have executed anyone whose nose is prettier than hers - a power which she revelled in. It would appear that there was nothing Queenie liked more than to "get squiffy and seduce [nobles]", apart from beheading them. A naughty schoolgirl at heart, Queenie loved to party, play games and get drunk. And if anyone failed to so much as laugh at her jokes, they risked execution, but at times she tired of their toadying and welcomed a more cynical approach.
Courtiers and Aquaintances
Her favourites included Edmund Lord Blackadder, along with his friend, Lord Percy and his pet monkey); Lord Melchett; Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Simon Jones; and her childhood nurse, Nursie. However, her ire was easily raised against them: Raleigh was threatened with execution after she grew bored of his tales of exploration, but was spared for 'blubbing' on his way to the block; Blackadder was threatened with execution for refusing to admit a woman to see her husband, who was also to be executed; and Melchett accidentally signed his own name on a death warrant — the Queen mused that she could not go back on it without dismantling the whole British constitutional system. She also threatened the entire cast—sans Nursie—with execution after she became entangled in a drunken party and Blackadder accused her of being 'Merlin, the Happy Pig'. She became drunk and forgot.
Oratory and Literary Works
The writers of the series, Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, seemed to enjoy playing around with famous Elizabethan speeches. One fine example is:
- "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman but I have the heart - and stomach - of a concrete elephant!"
While the real Elizabeth has several poems attributed to her, Queenie was a real budding poet. One example of her work was "Edmund"
Edmund By Elizabeth I When the night is dark, And the dogs go 'bark'; When the clouds are black, And the ducks go 'quack'; When the sky is blue, And the cows go 'mooo'; Think of lovely Queenie, She'll be thinking of you.
The "Real" Queenie
Although the real Queen Elizabeth lived until 1603, Blackadder chronicles that she—and the rest of the cast—were murdered by Prince Ludwig the Indestructible, a master of disguise played by Hugh Laurie, who then usurped the throne in disguise, although he did have trouble getting the voice right.
Miranda Richardson went on to play the in some respects slightly similar Amy Hardwood and Mary Fletcher-Brown in series 3 and 4, before reprising the role of Queenie in the millennium special Blackadder Back and Forth, in which she also played a modern day Sloane Ranger version of Queenie called Lady Elizabeth.