John Hopkins

It is the Golden Hind, freshly returned from a perilous three-year circumnavigation of the globe.

Marchmont guides Elizabeth along the wooden boards that have been laid over the stinking mud of the riverbank, to where a gangplank leads up to the ship itself.

A stately train of courtiers follow, and behind them the raucous mass of onlookers, eagerly pushing aboard the famous vessel.

Once Marchmont and Elizabeth are safely on the ship's deck, an ear-splitting crack sounds from behind them.

The ambassador whirls round, just in time to witness the gangplank splintering.

Dozens tumble onto the muddy riverbank below.

He starts forward in concern, but those on the ground are already laughing and picking themselves up.

It seems no one has been harmed, beyond perhaps some wounded pride and grubby clothes.

Relieved, he returns to the queen and accompanies her across the deck to a carved wooden throne.

There, a stout, strong-looking man with a pointed, reddish-blonde beard is already sweeping into a deep bow.

Marchmont has met him recently at court, the Golden Hines' captain, Francis Drake.

Elizabeth takes a seat, and the French ambassador stands beside her throne just as the herald blows a fanfare on a trumpet.

The chattering crowd fall silent, and in a clear voice, the queen bids Drake kneel, before taking hold of a sword offered by one of her guards.

Smiling, she jokes about whether she should knight him or behead him, to appease the Spanish king whose ships he insists on raiding.

Drake throws his head back, guffawing loudly.

When the mirth has subsided, Elizabeth turns to offer Marshmallow the sword.

With a hint of challenge in her tone, she asks him to dub her new knight.

The ambassador knows that doing as she asks will bind England and France tighter together against Spain.

But he cannot publicly refuse.

So he bows and takes the blade, before stepping forward and gravely touching it to Drake's shoulders in turn.