Elizabeth Raleigh

Elizabeth “Bess” Throckmorton was a lady of the privy chamber to Elizabeth I and the wife of Walter Raleigh. Her secret marriage to Raleigh caused royal anger, and she managed family affairs through his expeditions and imprisonment.

Lady in Waiting makes Bess the central viewpoint through which Raleigh’s ambition and the politics of two reigns are experienced. The marriage, imprisonment and major family events are historical; interior motives and many private scenes are fictionalised.