Ella is a postdoctoral candidate at the University of Roehampton, researching queenly clothing in England and France during the 16th century.
Her work explores the creation and construction of royal image through dress and other forms of material culture at a pivotal point in Anglo-French relations, focussing particularly on the various ways that sartorial symbolism was observed and interpreted throughout society. This research is funded in its entirety by a scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s techne programme.
As well as her postdoctoral candidacy, Ella is Assistant Editor of History Today magazine and the Chief Copyeditor of the Open-Access Royal Studies Journal. She has presented her research for Historic Royal Palaces, West Yorkshire Archive Services and a number of academic conferences, including the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds. Ella is also a member of The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme, designing and teaching courses based on her own academic research for young people at non-selective state schools.
The Field of the Cloth of Gold, c.1545 (Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace)