I have just received this stunning picture from local photographer Bill Stevenson.  It shows Queen Elizabeth I making a grand entrance wearing a very beautiful and ornate Gold Silk Gown.

It is a theatrical costume inspired by portraits of this famous Queen and costumes worn by Helen Mirren in the TV drama series ‘Elizabeth’.

Elizabeth’s image was carefully engineered to impress and to convey wealth, authority and power. Her wardrobes was full of gowns of rich fabrics adorned with jewels and elaborate surface detail, they were clearly imposing and speak volumes about wealth and status. At her death, over 3000 gowns were recorded in Elizabeth’s wardrobe.  As the nation’s most powerful woman, Elizabeth’s taste set the ‘look’ of the day, especially for the aristocracy. Many of the women around her at court wore the narrow waisted, full sleeved, large-ruffed, full-skirted style of her later years.

It is a wonderful image which perfectly captures the regal grandeur of possibly the greatest Monarch of England – Queen Elizabeth I.