Alex Richards
Donor
"But by the end of 1561 Elizabeth was confined to bed with a mysterious illness.
According to witnesses she was suffering from dropsy - now known as oedema - an abnormal swelling of the body due to a build-up of fluid.
The Spanish ambassador reported she had a swelling of the abdomen, and Doherty insists it is not too much of a jump to imagine this might also have been due to a pregnancy. After all, it is known that several ladies-in-waiting at the Queen's court successfully concealed their own pregnancies at the time."
A pregnancy perhaps?
Probably not. Mary I had suffered from a false pregnancy in 1554-1555 and while it's usually attributed to her overwhelming desire for a child, a genetic reason is not out of the question. True Mary was 10 years older at the time than Elizabeth was in 1561, but it's certainly more likely than a hidden pregnancy.