THE HISTORY ESSAY
PERSONAL POLITICS IN
ELIZABETH’S COURT
The Virgin Queen’s possessive treatment of her favourite advisors and
maids of honour was driven more by political motives than by petty jealousy
By Susan Doran
Queen Elizabeth receives Dutch ambassadors in a contemporary painting. Her court was strictly controlled at both an official and
personal level – to the extent that she demanded the power of veto over the love lives of the men and women who served herALAMYThe queen and her court / Personal politics