One of the most influential and heroic Queens to ever rule England was Elizabeth I, the
Tudor Monarch that her father Henry VIII would have been proud of.
Elizabeth faced many challenges throughout her life, from questions about her strength
due to fact she was a Queen and not a King, to the threats from the Spanish Armada that
she managed to see off and defeat.
She would throughout her reign execute many people who she believed were religious dissenters,
but she would also execute Mary Queen of Scots, her cousin who had plotted to bring about
her death and downfall.
But Elizabeth in her final months of life was a shadow of her former self.
Portraits showed her standing strong and tall and as if she had a hand on the world, but
her final days were spent very differently.
Following her death, she had a death mask cast of her face, which shows the haunting
look of the Queen who by the time she died was suffering greatly.
But what is the story of her death mask?
Elizabeth I reigned for around 45 years, and she was the final Tudor Monarch as she died
without having a child.
Her reign was a Golden Age in which writers such as Shakespeare were creating incredibly
works, and performing them in theatres around London.
But during her final years, the Queen’s health would deteriorate over time, and her
close friends began to pass away.
Some of her closest ladies that remained with her for decades were getting old and dying,
and Elizabeth I would then fall into bouts of depression.
In 1590, Blanche Parry one of her closest ladies died, and Blanche had known the Queen
since she was a Queen and was even the Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and also
the Keeper of the Queen’s jewels.
Blanche’s death upset the Queen greatly, but then in 1598 another one of her close
friends, William Cecil her trusted advisor would also die.
Cecil had backed the Queen for decades, and as she was losing her trusted friends, Elizabeth
began to retreat and become more isolated.
She drifted from the court that she once commanded and became distant to it, but in her final
years she would also executed Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
Devereux was one of her favourites, but he had been charged with high treason after being
involved in planning a rebellion which included the kidnapping of the Queen.
But in January 1603, Elizabeth I was not very well at all.
She was in deep depression, and she retired to Richmond Palace which she loved.
She believed this was a good place for her to retire to in her old age, and whilst at
Richmond in her final months, she remained with her loyal ladies.
Elizabeth whilst here would turn down food and drink, and she lost a lot of weight, and
her ladies became very worried about her.
They asked doctors to come and examine, but Elizabeth refused to allow them to see her.
She would also be hit by the sorry news that another long serving lady, Katherine Howard
the Countess of Nottingham had died.
She had served Elizabeth for around 45 years, and this seemed to really tip Elizabeth over
the edge.
It was said, ‘the Queen loved the countess well, and hath much lamented her death, remaining
ever since in a deep melancholy that she must seemeth be overtaken.’
She was very frail and was almost 70 years old, but she remained stubborn and in charge.
However she refused to rest at times, and she stood for long periods of time.
It was believed that she was in thought contending with her impending death, and in the final
days of her life she became rather contemplative and also rather guilt-ridden.
She worried about the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, and it was said ‘She shed many
tears and sigh, manifesting her innocence that she never gave consent to the death of
that Queen.’
She also began to be visited but a ghostly vision of Mary Queen of Scots, and it was
clear that Elizabeth was dying.
Her health was failing and her mind was also, and she would make the decision to retire
to bed.
She summoned the Archbishop of Canterbury to come to her side and to pray for her soul,
and he told Elizabeth I that she would go to heaven and would be a Queen in heaven.
On the 24th March 1603, the Queen died and her body was then taken from Richmond to Whitehall
Palace where it was watched over for three weeks.
However at some point following her death, a death mask was taken of the final Tudor
Queen.
There were many questions that remained after her death including the succession with the
King of Scotland invited to also rule England.
However a mould of her face was taken, and what is interesting is that it shows the Queen
looking very different to the portraits that were painted throughout her life.
It showed an ageing Queen who hid behind the mask of youth, and the death mask of Elizabeth
I would later inspire the design on her tomb.
She was shown with a pensive look, and the effigy which was made of her would also be
complete with her ruff and jewels.
It was common at the time for people to take death masks of high profile people, and they
were used to make funeral effigies and tombs, but also to act as a reminder of the person
who died.
Elizabeth I was shown looking rather old, and this would have been true to her last
few moments.
Today the tomb in Westminster Abbey that is based on her death mask is colossal, and shows
the Queen complete with a crown and headdress, and it does show her importance and riches.
There are a number of possible illnesses or problems that could have killed Elizabeth
I. It’s believed that the Queen may have had blood poisoning, based on the lead makeup
that Elizabeth wore to cover up the smallpox scars that she was so self conscious of.
Another illness proposed is that the Queen had cancer, or that she may have had an infection
that turned to pneumonia and took the Queen as she was older and had a weaker immune system.
The Queen was embalmed, and it would have been during this time that the death mask
was made.
Those who did this process such as physicians would had made the Queen look comfortable
and relaxed in her death state, and this is how the death mask would have been cast.
Today Elizabeth I is buried in Westminster Abbey, and her body was first placed in a
vault by her grandfather King Henry VII.
However James I would order the creation of a huge monument and tomb, and she was interred
inside this, and in the same vault as her half sister.
Elizabeth interestingly was place above Mary I showing her importance over Mary in History.
Her tomb reads, ‘Consorts in realm and tomb, here we sleep Elizabeth and Mary, sisters
in hope of resurrection.
Many people lamented her death, but there were others who had high expectations of the
Stuart King James I, but over time this would wane and within 15 years of her death, Elizabeth
had a heroic reputation in society at the time.
Elizabeth was shown for being a brilliant Queen who had done so much, from defeating
the Spanish Armada to trying to unite religion.
But her death mask is interesting, as it shows us a realistic image of the final Tudor Queen,
who would control everything that was painted of her, to make sure that she stayed young,
and looked incredibly powerful, even when this was not the case.
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