“Sad Stories of the Death of Queens”

Building on John Watkins's work on posthumous representations of Elizabeth I, this chapter compares responses to the deaths of Mary I, Elizabeth I, and Elizabeth II. It looks beyond official ceremonies and memorials to focus on observations by ordinary Londoners. Diaries by Henry Machyn (from 1558) and John Manningham (from 1603) report in the moment on the breaking news of a royal death and its unfolding aftermath while at the same time reverberating suggestively with materials from September 2022. All three deaths highlight the intense, complex relationships between queens and their subjects, and were experienced as disorientating moments when time seems at once to be ruptured, but also to stand still, or to loop back on itself. Viewing the deaths of the Tudor queens in light of the death of Elizabeth II demonstrates the value of historicist inquiry that activates dynamic dialogue between past and present.