The Queen, or her agents, is playing chess with the world. The French always try to join in but always prove too hot blooded to sustain a cold, emotionless, strategic fight. And the Spanish try to pick up morsels that the other two let fall as they engage in combat.
Let's face it, we're slap bang back In a 17th/18th/19th century Colonialist War - that never really ended - and America/American Continent is the bauble in their eye once more.