Who Wrote Elizabeth I's Most Scathing Letters?

New research suggests that Elizabeth I's male secretaries revised her scathing letters to emphasize her temper. The study analyzed 70 of her letters to 15 recipients, finding that her male secretaries often rewrote her words to tone down her anger. The study's authors used stylometry, a statistical analysis of writing style, to identify the authors of the letters. They found that the revisions were made by three of her secretaries, William Cecil, Sir Thomas Smith, and Sir Francis Walsingham. The study suggests that these secretaries may have been trying to protect Elizabeth's reputation by toning down her emotions.