Inspection reveals a number of alterations and reworkings have been made to the painting.

The queen’s face was shifted slightly during painting to a more three-quarter view; the change in the position of her eyes is clear in the infra-red reflectogram. Alterations to her profile can be seen where the paint of the green damask curtain follows a different contour to the drawn line.

Edward Bonkil was initially painted lower down and possibly more in profile. The underdrawn eye and eyebrow can be seen just to the right of his nose. The first position of the crown of his head can just be made out with a few diagonal lines of hatching below, whilst the dark shapes at his neck are areas of damage with overpaint that must contain carbon black.