William Cecil was an exceptionally capable minister whose hard work, loyalty, and mastery of statecraft were fundamental to the survival of Elizabeth I's regime.

“I would say perhaps the ablest minister in the whole of British history. Um and as you said, under Elizabeth the First, he's definitely the most powerful figure in the kingdom. And that is because he has all kinds of qualities. He's very loyal. He's very subtle. He has an insane capacity for hard wo”