Allegorical Portrait of Elizabeth I, unknown artist (1610). Corsham Court In March 1603, Elizabeth I refused to go to bed. For days, she sat on cushions in her Richmond Palace chamber, silent and withdrawn, as her courtiers waited for the end. It’s a final moment that can be read not simply as the failing of her body, but as the last expression of a life defined by the quest for control. Elizabeth’s vitality had been central to her image, so her retreat marked a striking change. The Venetian en