IT’S little wonder that politicians down the ages have quite obviously studied the style of England’s most celebrated monarch.

Firing all the evocative and emotional artillery of an emerging language this is a young queen only ten years into her reign but nevertheless battle-hardened by surviving in a dangerous world of men.

The Spaniards have yet to come knocking on the doors of her realm. But she is already displaying the oratorical skills that would culminate in that famous speech to the soldiers at Tilbury.

The strident, defiant tones of Churchill and Thatcher are immediately brought to mind. And what a role model indeed… Rebecca Vaughan’s portrayal of a ruler beset on all sides by foreign foes, the endless plots of a hostile fellow prince, and constant demands for her to find a husband is absolutely stunning.

With a voice bursting with emotion, she takes us on an exhausting royal progress across a kingdom beset with religious strife and insecurity - certainly not the country described by Shakespeare as “this blessed plot.”

For here is a woman convinced that she has been chosen by God to steer a troubled land through equally stormy waters.

But not once does she falter in her resolve or lose sight of the fact that destiny has chosen her to shoulder this heavy burden.

And like her subject, Rebecca Vaughan’s performance throughout is never less than steadfast as she charts her course around the perilous rocks of 16th century diplomacy.

Superbly directed by Guy Masterson, this is an absorbing - and at times -overwhelming piece of theatre.