Gloriana: A Love Letter to London

I wrote this intending it for The London Society's annual compilation, only to notice the deadline passed December 20, 2024. Oh, well, that gives me a year until next time. But as I spent some time researching Elizabeth's relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots (not their finest hours), England has been much on my mind.

The resulting story, "The Unwanted Guest," appears in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in March 2025:
 
A Love Letter to London: In the Shadow of Gloriana
 
Dearest London,
 
History echoes in your streets. But the golden outline of your history is Queen Elizabeth I, the Gloriana who crowned your skyline with her vision and wove the arts into your soul.
 
It was under her reign that you became the template for the Renaissance spirit, unfurling banners of literature and drama. Elizabeth’s patronage of the arts was not born of whimsy; it was a calculated and profound belief in the power of culture to unite a fractured nation and immortalize her legacy.
 
Vibrant theaters sprang to life in your midst—first humble stages, then grand amphitheaters that pulsed with the brilliance of William Shakespeare. It was Elizabeth’s steadfast support that allowed such bold experiments in storytelling. She dared to foster an artistic freedom previously unseen, encouraging works that explored the depths of human ambition, folly, and redemption.
 
Shakespeare, from humble Stratford, found in your cobblestone lanes a muse and a home. Would Hamlet have pondered life’s fragile meaning without her golden age? Would Twelfth Night have rippled with giddy celebration without Elizabeth’s own theatrical court as inspiration?
 
The stage itself became a metaphor for the drama of survival and reinvention that defines you still, London. From the South Bank to the West End, from the Globe Theatre to the towering glass of the Shard, you remain a city that creates and reinvents itself.
 
At the Globe’s reconstructed stage, where tourists and locals alike gather in shared reverence for Shakespeare’s plays, her spirit lingers. The river Thames mirrors the grandeur she once bestowed with her royal barge rides.
 
Even your skyline—the blend of tradition and innovation—owes its foundation to her epoch, when you first became the beating heart of an empire driven by intellect, trade, and art.
 
Elizabeth’s London was not perfect. It was tumultuous and fraught with horrible religious strife, but her reign taught you endurance. And through her love of the arts, she bestowed upon you a gift that transcends centuries: the ability to dream, to question, and to celebrate humanity in all its contradictions.
 
So, to you, London, I write this love letter, to honor the queen who shaped your very essence. In every sonnet recited, in every play performed, Elizabeth lives, and through her, you live, too—a city eternal in creativity and courage.