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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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'body of a weak and feeble woman'
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A phrase used by *Elizabeth I on 9 August 1588 in a speech to her troops at Tilbury. The Spanish *Armada had been defeated two weeks earlier but invasion was still expected from another fleet allied with Spain, that of the duke of Parma. The queen said: 'I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman. But I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm.'
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