For the sixth episode of Let’s Talk Shakespeare, I asked “Did Shakespeare know Queen Elizabeth 1?”. This is something that people love to imagine, that these two icons of British culture could have had a relationship, and in this episode we look at Shakespeare's royal patronage, performance's at court and whether or not anyone could really have had a relationship with a monarch at all.

Ye Bard - hys Birth… ye immortal bard cometh to town - ergo, he is Born in ye merrie town of Stratford, A. D. 1564, c1850, by unknown author Ye Bard - hys Birth… ye immortal bard cometh to town - ergo, he is Born in ye merrie town of Stratford, A. D. 1564, c1850, by unknown author This weeks guests are:

• Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute


• Dr Elizabeth Dollimore, Outreach and Primary Learning Manager a the SBT


• Professor Stanley Wells, Honorary President of the SBT


• Dr Anjna Chouhan, Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the SBT -


• Ben Crystal, Actor Director and producer

You can find the shownotes for this episode over on our blog: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/podcast/did-shakespeare-know-queen-elizabeth-i/