Her name is enclosed in a royal cartouche, and there are in fact more statues and drawings of her than of Akhenaten. Some have even claimed that it was Nefertiti, not Akhenaten, who instigated the monotheistic religion of Aten. It is around Year 15 that Nefertiti mysteriously disappears from view. It could be that she died, although no indication of this exists to this date. Some scholars think that she was banished for some reason, and lived the rest of her years in the northern palace, raising Tutankaten.
Reasons given for the banishment are two-fold.
One, it could be that she disapproved of the slow return to the worship of Amun, which was taking place at that time, with Smenkhkare becoming co-regent and moving back to Thebes to reopen some temples. Or, perhaps she was of the opinion that Akhenaten was losing touch with his people and angering them by destroying all other gods besides his own. She could have been banished by Akhenaten for going against his beloved religion. Whatever the case, she is replaced by her oldest daughter, Meritaten, and we hear no more of her. Neferu-aten Nefertiti, living forever.