STRIKING BEAUTY Lettice was described as one of the bestlooking ladies in Elizabeth’s circle
© MARQUESS OF BATH/LONGLEATHOUSE
You may not know the name Lettice Knollys, but at one time she was one of the most important members of Elizabeth I’s court. Grandniece of Anne Boleyn – and thus kin to the Queen herself – she was a woman of extraordinary beauty, passion and wit. Yet in 1579, she was cast out of Elizabeth’s good graces and banished from the palace. Her crime? She had secretly married the one man in England who was closest to the Queen’s heart, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Lettice had risked her liege’s enmity for love, and she paid the price. Later in her tumultuous life she would discover the taint of treason, and watch those closest to her succumb to the headsman’s axe – all the while remaining subject to Elizabeth’s bitter hatred.
HIDDEN ROYAL Lettice’s parents Sir Francis Knollys and Katherine Carey; Carey was born of Mary Boleyn, but who was her father? Some say it was Henry VIII, placing Lettice closer to the throne than she knew
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