Elizabeth's court were displeased by the publication. Circulation of this pamphlet was prohibited, and Stubbs, his printer, and publisher were tried at Westminster, found guilty of "seditious writing", and sentenced to have their right hands cut off by means of a cleaver driven through the wrist by a mallet. Initially Queen Elizabeth had favoured the death penalty but was persuaded by adviser John Jovey to opt for the lesser sentence. The printer was subsequently pardoned by Elizabeth, but in the case of Stubbs and his publisher the sentence was carried out, and Stubbs' right hand was cut off on 3 November 1579. At the time Stubbs protested his loyalty to the Crown, and immediately before the public dismemberment delivered a shocking pun: "Pray for me now my calamity is at hand." His right hand having been cut off, he removed his hat with his left hand and cried "God Save the Queen!" before fainting. His fellow conspirator, the publisher William Page, according to witness William Camden (Camden, Historie III, 10, placed wrongly under 1581), lifted up his bleeding hand and said: "I left there a true Englishman's hand." The scene is recreated in the 2005 TV miniseries "Elizabeth I", starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth.