re: #451 Alouette

Queen Elizabeth I deliberately branded herself the “virgin” queen, which is why she applied the layers of white makeup. It made her resemble the statues of the Holy Virgin worshiped by Catholics. (Hence the U.S. state named “Virginia” in her honor.) She was a Protestant Anglican, and a fierce enemy of the Catholic Church, which spent much of its time trying to murder or usurp her with relatives such as Mary Queen of Scots.

This was back when beheading was the execution of choice for the English nobility.