She definitely isn't dead, she just collapsed from fatigue and used it to her advantage, by making a play like this she can directly relax and live out her days in leisure while Anna can take her place.
Probably why the King didn't mention her until she was brought up, otherwise people would've deified her name and she'd have gained even more overwhelming notoriety and never would've been able to leave her house without getting swamped by stupefied peasants gasping at the Goddess' divine rebirth.