Hatfield House

From Time Travel-Britain:

On November 17, 1558, Lady Elizabeth Tudor was sitting beneath an oak tree at her Hatfield estate -- either reading or eating an apple -- when she received the news that she was Queen of England. We're told that as the courtiers who came bearing the news bowed before their new queen, Elizabeth got on her knees and said in Latin, "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Within hours, Queen Elizabeth I's councilors had gathered around her for her first Council of State, held in the Great Hall of The Royal Palace of Hatfield. One of those councilors was William Cecil, Elizabeth's trusted friend and chief advisor whose family name would eventually become closely tied to Hatfield. For several days, Hatfield played host to the influx of courtiers and the Great Hall was the forum for the many meetings, appointments and confirmations vital to a new reign. Elizabeth officially addressed her councilors and courtiers for the first time as Queen in the Great Hall, seated on her throne under the canopy of estate. On November 23, barely a week after she sat unknowing under that tree, Elizabeth left Hatfield, accompanied by her entourage of more than 1000, for London, returning to her childhood home only rarely. (Read more.)