 In April 1922 , Lloyd collapsed in her dressing room after singing " The Cosmopolitan Girl " at the Gateshead Empire in Cardiff . Her doctor diagnosed exhaustion , and she returned to the stage in August . Her voice became weak , and she reduced her act to a much shorter running time . Her biographer Naomi Jacob thought that Lloyd was " growing old , and [ she ] was determined to show herself to her public as she really was ... an old , grey @-@ faced , tired woman " . On 12 August 1921 , Lloyd failed to show for an appearance at the London Palladium , choosing instead to stay at home and write her will . 
