Neel Mukherjee,
I truly feel you've missed the essence of Elizabeth altogether.
First your assertion, "She was the first English Renaissance leader to exploit fully the importance of spectacle," is incorrect.
Ever heard of the Field of Cloth of Gold? Elizabeth's father loved spectacle, and the magnificent Wolsey served him well and often in this.
Actually Henry spent his once full treasury - built up by Henry VII - down to nothing on this kind of nonsense.
There is a real basis for Elizabeth's fame. Myth is not even an issue here.
First she was a brilliant leader, speaking six languages, selecting a remarkable group of talents to advise and support her (she was an extraordinary judge of talent and character), and able to carry on a very artful policy towards other European princes, using their prejudices about women against their own interests.
A pope at the time said that he and Elizabeth would produce the most extraordinary children.
She did her very best to keep England out of war. She did her very best to keep the treasury sound, reforming the inflated currency - debased by Henry's extravagance - as one of her early acts of office.
Her period was one of a real flowering of exploration and culture owing to changing technology. Her court was surrounded by the most amazing people as diverse as Doctor Dee and Drake to Shakespeare and Raleigh.
She genuinely loved the affection of her people, and they wholeheartedly returned the feeling.
She genuinely believed in freedom of religion, just so people did not go against the established order in public, a very advanced outlook for her time.
She was genuinely concerned about doing the right thing in many circumstances, including the handling of Mary, Queen of Scots, a foolish woman who constantly pushed the boundaries and worked to make Elizabeth feel insecure on her throne.
She only reluctantly agreed to Mary's execution after taking years of abuse and with her advisors and parliament demanding and pushing her for execution.
Elizabeth's reign also marked the real beginning of parliamentary-limited monarchy, a genuine historical milestone.
In many respects she well qualifies as the greatest prince of modern European history.
Two favorite portraits of Gloriana, the first as young girl
