Lady Laetitia “Lettice” Dudley Knollys (Knowles), Letitia, Lady Knolles Knollys, Countess of Essex, Chief Lady of the Bedchamber, Royal Lady in Waiting, (1st cousin 12x removed)
1543–1634
BIRTH 08 NOV 1543 • Rotherfield Greys, South Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England
DEATH 25 DECEMBER 1634 • (aged 91) Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England
Lettice is my 1st cousin, 12x removed.
Lettice Knollys was the daughter of:
Lady Catherine Carey (Knowles) (Knollys), “The Illegitimate Tudor – daughter of Henry VIII (14th GGM & 11th GG Aunt)
1524–1569
BIRTH 19 MAY 1524 • Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire, England
DEATH 15 JAN 1569 • Hampton Court Palace, Richmond upon Thames, London, England
Catherine Carey is my 11th great-grandaunt.
Catherine Carey is the daughter of:
Lady Mary Catherine Boleyn of Hever”Mistress to Henry VIII, Lady in waiting of bed chamber to Catherine of Aragon (12th GGM)
1499–1543
BIRTH 1499 • Blickling Hall, Hever Castle, Norfolk, England
DEATH 19 JULY 1543 • Rochford, Essex, , England
Lady Mary Boleyn is my 12th great-grandmother.
Lettice Knollys Was A Favourite Of Elizabeth I… Then She Stole The Queen’s SweetheartBBC History Magazine|December 2017
Nicola Tallis tells the story of a Tudor love triangle.
The atmosphere within the queen’s apartments at the Palace of Whitehall was icily cold when, in late 1579, Lettice Knollys stood before Elizabeth I. The queen raged at the woman in front of her in no uncertain terms. “As but one sun lightened the Earth, she would have but one queen in England,” Elizabeth seethed before reputedly boxing Lettice’s ears and banishing her from the court.
What could Lettice have possibly done to provoke such a volcanic reaction? She had entered a secret marriage without the queen’s consent – reason enough to cause royal outrage. But the groom’s identity fanned the flames of Elizabeth’s fury: Lettice’s husband was none other than the queen’s favorite and one-time suitor, Robert Dudley. It was a betrayal that Elizabeth would never forgive.
Scandalous gossip
“They say she is in love with Lord Robert and never lets him leave her.” So wrote the Spanish ambassador, the Count de Feria, two decades earlier, in 1559, of the blossoming relationship between Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley. Nor was de Feria alone in his belief that matters were far from platonic between the queen and Dudley, and scandalous gossip about the pair began to circulate soon after Elizabeth’s accession the previous year.
De Feria had heard that “Her Majesty visits him in his chamber day and night”. Dudley was already married to Amy Robsart, but this did nothing to quell the rumors. When Amy died in mysterious circumstances (she was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs) in September 1560, it was whispered that Dudley had ordered her murder to free himself to marry the queen.
Elizabeth had known Dudley since childhood, and from the beginning of her reign, she showed him great favor. He was created her Master of the Horse, and in 1564 she granted him the title of Earl of Leicester. Their behavior raised eyebrows, and although Elizabeth would later swear that nothing improper had ever passed between them, one thing was sure: Dudley was more than her favorite, and her relationship with him was arguably the most important of her life.
Handsome, clever, and ambitious, it was little wonder that Dudley caught the queen’s eye. She was a tall, slim, and fiercely intelligent woman, described by the Venetian ambassador as “comely rather than handsome.”
When she ascended the throne, Elizabeth – scarred by her mother, Anne Boleyn’s tragic fate – publicly declared her intention to remain unmarried and a virgin. This was of little matter to the queen’s advisors, and no sooner had she taken her seat on the throne than the pressure on her began to mount: few people believed that Elizabeth intended to remain single, and it was expected that she would marry to produce an heir.
