The date is August 1598. Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne.

Phillip is in Spain where he’s been for the last 40 years. He thinks he needs a holiday to get away from it all.

It's true that Phillip returned to Spain from England after the death of his wife Mary and stayed there for 40 years even though he was the ruler of the largest empire in the world covering four continents and 50 million people. He was both the ruler of the Spanish empire and Portuguese empire and so all the countries listed were indeed part of those two empires. 

He really did know only basic English and German but really only knew Spanish fluently. He was on a one-man mission to covert people to catholicism. The Phillippines really are named after him. He did marry four times and Mary his second wife, really was his aunt. Eew!

He did enjoy the mechanics of government in London and wanted to stay longer than planned. He was actually a pretty good politician in terms of bringing everyone around him on board and put England in a better financial footing. He was asked to go to the Netherlands and continued to write to Mary but she was desperate after her phantom pregnancies. Mary died and he was no longer co-ruler. He really did consider marrying Elizabeth, the new Queen. But then he did send the Spanish Armada after her so that was never going to work.

If you want to find out more about Phillip, check out the sources and places below:

Imprudent King: A New Life of Phillip II - Geoffrey Parker

El Escorial, Spain