The locations in the comic were not easy to research, not least because many of the palaces Elizabeth lived in no longer exist today. Greenwich palace, where Elizabeth was born, was demolished; Whitehall palace, where Elizabeth spent a lot of time in, was mostly demolished in a fire; Richmond palace, where Elizabeth died, was also mostly demolished. Surviving palaces, such as Windsor Castle, Hatfield House and Hampton Court, all fell into disrepair after her reign (especially in the Oliver Cromwell era), and so look little like they originally did today.
Here is an image of Chelsea Manor, where Elizabeth spent a portion of her teenage years with her stepmother Catherine Parr. The history of Chelsea Manor and the image comes from this British Landownership Records, but the image itself is of the rear side of the Tudor manor, and shows 17th Century additions that did not exist in Elizabeth’s time. All in all, not a reliable depiction of the original, and the building no longer exists today.
Hatfield House is where Elizabeth spent her time after she left Catherine’s manor, and where she first received news of her accession to the throne. Hatfield house is actually much larger than this–most of it was demolished. while this picture from ElizabethI.org only shows the banquet hall.
Elizabeth riding to see her half-sister Mary 1, and here is the gate of Anne Boleyn at Hampton Court Palace from Wikipedia.
Since there are very few historic buildings in England that still has period-era Tudor architecture, most existing references are recreations such as this Henry VIII bedchamber from Hever Castle. We know from locations such as Hardwick Hall, an Elizabethan country manor, that Tudors favour extensive wood-panelling everywhere, so much of the backgrounds in this comic have a lot of wood panelling even as it’s not entirely historically accurate.
We have no true idea of what Elizabeth’s ships looked like in the battle against the Spanish armada since so many were retrofitted merchant ships, but here is a recreation the Mary Rose, which is a carrack-type warship from the reign of Henry VIII. While not accurate to Elizabeth’s navy, this is a raised shipwreck that last saw action in 1545, about 40 years before the Spanish battle, and so carries a fair amount of Tudor accuracy even as it’s inaccurate to Elizabeth’s time.
The tomb of Elizabeth 1, which is located in Westminister Abbey in the Chapel of Henry VIII. There’s multiple renditions of this (from the British Museum), and it exists in modern times, so it was pretty easy to find references of it.
Some of the remaining sources come from the movie “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (2007) starring Cate Blanchett, and while some scenes are fairly accurate such as Elizabeth’s coronation, a fair amount of this movie is inaccurate both in plot and in the background details.
The movie’s depiction of Robert Dudley’s betrayal of Elizabeth is particularly irritating, because while Robert wasn’t entirely “faithful” to Elizabeth (having secretly married more than once after his wife’s death), he seemed loyal to her until his death and never seemed to have ever considered rebellion.
The movie’s depiction of Elizabeth’s sexual “adventures” was even stranger. Due to Elizabeth’s traumatic early life experiences with childbirth and marriage involving her father’s wives, she probably had a fair amount of body horror relating to both of these things. Being a king’s daughter and potential heir to the throne also meant that she knew her body was also never truly hers, and that any mere suggestion of pregnancy is instantly a political affair, and may endanger her life and her claim to the throne. Coupled with the fact that she was surrounded by ladies-in-waiting and councillors almost 24/7 makes the suggestion of any kind of physical affair unlikely.
