Why did Elizabeth I of England become a "virgin" queen, and why was it important to her? Thanks!

Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) was called a "virgin" queen because she never married, despite her advisors urging her to do so to forge international alliances. However, there is evidence that she had many romantic relationships, including with Sir Walter Raleigh and Lord Dudley (later known as Earl of Leicester). Elizabeth's advisors also wanted her to marry to produce an heir, but she might have been eager to remain single because she had watched her father, Henry VIII, murder many of his wives. He had ordered Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, killed when Elizabeth was just two and a half. In addition, a married queen might have had to share power with her husband, and perhaps she was loathe to do so. Marriage also presented the possibility of anger among the nobles. For example, the nobility was opposed to her marriage to Lord Dudley, and she feared the loss of political power if she were to marry someone the nobles did not like.