In January 1510, Henry VIII surprised his new queen and her ladies, ‘appearing unannounced in her Chamber at Westminster with ten of his companions dressed as Robin Hood’s men’. Detailing the innovations of the performance, W.R. Streitberger notes the ‘elements of breaching ordinary decorum, concealed identity, and surprise’. Henry’s personal participation in the masque reflected the larger influence of his personality on all elements of court life and, ultimately, on England. Henry emphasized, through his early masques, his spontaneity, youth, and ostensible accessibility. At the same time, as Streitberger adds, ‘as the head of a household that governed the realm, his ceremonies, spectacles, and revels were public and so expressed the character of the state itself’. Henry was changing the particular investment of interest reflected in the masque; as Streitberger argues, speaking specifically about the revels of 1510, ‘the interests of prestige diplomacy were being served, but the manner of their presentation, emphasizing participation by the King and his friends, personalized diplomacy in a manner calculated to overwhelm’. Thus, in these early masques, Henry set the tone of his new administration through the performance that would come to be seen as an essential characteristic of Tudor monarchy. Seen through this lens, the King’s control of the masque emphasizes his aims to expand his control more generally.