Queen's Presence Room

Queen's Presence Room

The Queen’s Presence Room mirrored that of the King’s, in that it was open to all gentry and wealthy merchants. It was a spacious room, able to seat 40, but a welcoming one, decorated in warm red that was nicely accented by the ivory upholstery of the seats and decorative gilding. The central focus of the room was an elevated couch, reserved for the Queen, with a scattering of chairs near it as well as other groupings of seats settled around the room for attending courtiers.

The rounded tables and cupboards around the desk held bouquets of flowers as well as busts of various historical figues – Aristotle, Copernicus, Julius Ceasar, Sappho, Dido and others. Leading further from the room were two doors on the far side of the room. The door to the left would take one to the Queen’s Drawing room and the one on the right to the Queen’s private parlour that guarded the entrance to the Queen’s bedroom and closet.