But could Mary, the anointed Queen of Scots, commit treason in England? Elizabeth did not yet think so. She refused to hand Parliament an ax for Mary’s execution, instead encouraging members to seek an act excluding her from the succession. When the bill was passed, however, she vetoed it. She claimed it was not technically a veto, but in this she played with words. She could not bring herself to proceed against an anointed queen, yielding only to Parliament’s pleas to execute the Duke of Norfolk, who went to the block on June 2, a month before Parliament ended. Cecil was wholly frustrated.
