I See Many Eyes And I

This remark is attributed to Queen Elizabeth I in court accounts, reflecting the acute political intelligence she deployed in managing her Privy Council and foreign ambassadors. Elizabeth's council contained factions with competing agendas — for and against war with Spain, for and against the execution of Mary Queen of Scots — and she frequently frustrated her advisors by delaying decisions and keeping her own counsel. Her ability to read the dynamics of a room and manage competing opinions without revealing her own intentions was widely noted by foreign ambassadors, who found her extraordinarily difficult to manipulate.