Ladies-in-Waiting: Ladies-at-Work

What if the women closest to Elizabeth I were among the most powerful people in England? History casts the queen’s ladies-in-waiting as decorative attendants—beautiful, passive, peripheral. A closer look reveals a different picture. These trusted confidantes dictated Privy Council agendas, advised on military organization, and—remarkably—engaged in privateering on the high seas. They didn’t just wait. They worked.

Kristin Bundesen, an Associate Dean at Walden University, earned her doctorate at the University of Nottingham, UK. She maintains an active research agenda, presenting and publishing for academic and lay audiences. A self-confessed Shakespeare and pop culture geek, she has presented at Renesan previously.