Elizabeth I retired to Richmond Palace, her warm, snug box in March 1603. Her death was preceded by physical weakness and mental depression. She was almost seventy years old. She rested in a low chair by the fire, refusing to let doctors examine her. As the days passed, her condition slowly worsened. She stood for hours on end until, finally, she was persuaded to lay upon cushions on the floor. She rested there for two days, not speaking. A doctor ventured close and asked how she could bear the endless silence. She replied simply, I meditate. For the third and fourth day, she continued to rest in silence, with a finger often in her mouth. Her attendants were terrified; they must move her but she refused. The younger Cecil visited and said, Your Majesty, to content the people, you must go to bed. Elizabeth replied, with some of her old spirit, Little man, little man, the word must is not used to princes. Finally, she grew so weak that they could carry her to bed. She asked for music and, for a time, it brought some comfort. Death finally came on March 24, 1603 & It is said that she took to death ‘mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree’. She is generally believed to have died of blood poisoning, possibly caused by her white make-up (ceruse) a mixture of white lead and vinegar. It is also possible that she simply died of old age. She was Queen for 44 years. -- Anna
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 00:10:00 +0000
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