The mute postures of the two women – one deferential, the other munificent – are reminiscent of those depicted on a strange 16th-Century memorial in Bacton Church, Herefordshire: a sculpture that reminds us how secretive the pantomime of power has long been. Like the photo released by Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening, the marble and alabaster work portrays a figure kneeling before royalty – in this case, the courtier Blanche Parry prostrating herself to Queen Elizabeth I. Assigned to Elizabeth since the future monarch’s infancy (Blanche is said to have ‘rockte’ her ‘cradell’), Blanche would become a close royal confidante.