The Person Behind the Persona

Abstract

Getting to know the person behind the public persona of Elizabeth of York is difficult. Public documents describe her appearance and interpret her actions and emotions through the eyes of observers—many of whom see what they want to see, tell others what they want them to hear, and project onto the queen their own experiences and feelings. The Spanish ambassador De Puebla, for instance, observed Elizabeth closely during the decade he was negotiating the marriage of Arthur and Katherine of Aragon. As an advocate for the marriage, De Puebla’s letters to Spain impressed upon his monarchs the splendor of Elizabeth’s court, especially the ladies who attended her. When he visited the queen at “an unexpected hour” in July 1488, he found Elizabeth

with two and twenty companions of angelical appearance, and all we saw there seemed very magnificent, and in splendid style, as was suitable for the occasion.¹