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Lettice Knollys
WHEN WAS SHE BORN?
On or around 6 November 1543HOW DID SHE RISE TO PROMINENCE?
Her grandmother was Elizabeth I’s aunt,
Mary Boleyn, and her mother was a close
companion of Elizabeth. Lettice served in
Elizabeth’s household, where she is said to
have been a favourite of the queen.WHO WERE HER LOVE INTERESTS?
Lettice was married three times: to Walter
Devereux, who died of dysentery in 1576;
to Robert Dudley; and finally to Sir
Christopher Blount, who was executed in
1601 for conspiring against the queen.DID SHE HAVE ANY CHILDREN?
She had one son with Robert Dudley and
five children with Walter Devereux. Of these,
the most famous was Robert Devereux, who
lost his head after leading the conspiracy
that cost Sir Christopher Blount his life.WHEN DID SHE DIE?
Christmas Day, 1634Elizabeth I
WHEN WAS SHE BORN?
On 7 September 1533HOW DID SHE RISE TO PROMINENCE?
Elizabeth was King Henry VIII’s only
surviving child by Anne Boleyn. Her mother
was executed before her third birthday, and
as a result Elizabeth spent much of her
childhood in disgrace. Her accession to the
throne in 1558 (following the death of her
half-sister, Mary I) marked a turning point in
her life: from that moment on, she was in
control of her own destiny.WHO WERE HER LOVE INTERESTS?
Elizabeth famously never married, despite
considering (but ultimately refusing) offers
from numerous foreign suitors. She formed
a close and enduring bond with Robert
Dudley – one that, despite her protestations
that nothing untoward had occurred
between the two, was the source of
scandalous gossip in the English court.WHEN DID SHE DIE?
On 24 March 1603 at Richmond PalaceRobert Dudley
WHEN WAS HE BORN?
In c1532HOW DID HE RISE TO PROMINENCE?
Robert was the third surviving son of John
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, by his
wife Jane Guildford. The couple invested
heavily in his education and, as a result,
Robert’s scholarly interests were vast. For
the rest of his life he would be renowned
as a patron of artists and poets.WHO WERE HIS LOVE INTERESTS?
Dudley married Amy Robsart in 1550 but,
following her mysterious death in 1560,
he remained unmarried until 1578. He
dedicated much of his life to attempting,
and failing, to persuade Elizabeth I to
accept his hand in marriage. To the queen’s
great ire, Robert wed Lettice Knollys in- It was a happy marriage that
produced one son, Robert, Lord Denbigh,
who died at the age of three.
WHEN DID HE DIE?
On 4 September 1588, probably of malariaThe countess, the courtier and the queen
The three players in the love triangle that scandalised the Tudor courtDudley attempted
to provoke the
queen’s jealousy
by showering
Lettice Knollys
with attention
old sweetheart. He had made enormous
personal sacrifices to retain her favour,
and later claimed that, since the death of
his first wife, he “had for a good season
forborne marriage in respect of her
Majesty’s displeasure”. In the 1570s he had,
however, become embroiled in an affairwith Lady Douglas Sheffield – one of the
queen’s ladies – resulting in the birth of
a son, Robin Sheffield.
Lettice Knollys’s life had also reached a
crossroads. For several years of the 1570s,
her husband, Walter Devereux, now Earl
of Essex, had been engaged in a protracted
military campaign to colonise Ulster. The
enterprise was a disaster, and had sparked
a storm of condemnation back in England.
One of Devereux’s fiercest critics was Robert
Dudley – and so, when Devereux died of
dysentery in Dublin in September 1576,
whispers soon spread that he had been
poisoned on Dudley’s orders. The rumours
were baseless but, in light of consequent
events, it is unsurprising that such gossip
was circulating.
In the summer of 1577, the widowed
Countess of Essex spent time hunting onhoped, produce more than dithering
indecision from the queen in response to his
suit for her hand.
It achieved no such thing. All Dudley
succeeded in doing was throwing Elizabeth
into a jealous rage. She admonished
him, we’re told, for “his flirting with the
viscountess in very bitter words”.
As the 1560s gave way to the 1570s, the
queen remained unmarried – and, to
many of her courtiers, it was becoming
increasingly apparent that this would
remain the case. She appeared to take
seriously several marriage offers from
European suitors before inevitably getting
cold feet, and the prospect of her accepting
Dudley’s overtures grew more remote with
every passing year.
The realisation that the queen would
not wed him came as a major blow to her