 At the time, Sullivan and Chorley had submitted "The Sapphire Necklace" to the Royal Opera House, but the opera was turned down.Instead, Costa, perhaps in consolation for rejecting the opera, arranged for Chorley to write the libretto for the masque.Chorley's libretto draws on the description in the 1821 novel "Kenilworth", by Sir Walter Scott, of the visit of Queen Elizabeth and her 400-member entourage to Kenilworth Castle in 1575.