1. Lettice Knollys, Countess of Essex and Countess of Leicester, was an English noblewoman and mother to the courtiers Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and Lady Penelope Rich.
22 Facts About Lettice Knollys
1. 2.
Lettice Knollys was always close to her large family circle.
3.
Lettice Knollys's father, Sir Francis Knollys, was a Member of Parliament and acted as Master of the Horse to Prince Edward.
4.
Lettice Knollys's mother, Catherine Carey, was a daughter of Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne Boleyn.
5.
In late 1560 Lettice Knollys married Walter Devereux, Viscount Hereford.
6.
Lettice Knollys Devereux returned to court on at least one occasion, in the summer of 1565, when the Spanish ambassador Diego Guzman de Silva described her as "one of the best-looking ladies of the court" and as a favourite with the Queen.
7.
Lettice Knollys's body was carried over to Carmarthen, where his widow attended the funeral.
8.
Lettice Knollys partly lived in her father's house at Rotherfield Greys, but with friends; Leicester's Commonwealth claimed that Leicester had her move "up and down the country from house to house by privy ways".
9.
Lettice Knollys pleaded for an augmentation of her jointure with the authorities and, to reach a compromise with the late Earl's executors, threatened "by some froward advice" to claim her dower rights.
10.
Lettice Knollys feared Elizabeth's reaction and insisted that his marriage be kept a secret.
11.
Lettice Knollys Dudley continued to style herself Countess of Essex for several years into her new marriage.
12.
Lettice Knollys lived very discreetly, often with her relatives at the Knollys family home in Oxfordshire.
13.
The next year Lettice Knollys Dudley became officially resident at Leicester House, and Elizabeth was furious with the Earl "about his marriage, for he opened the same more plainly than ever before".
14.
Lettice Knollys Dudley financed her personal expenses and servants out of her revenue as Dowager Countess of Essex, and remained largely excluded from society life.
15.
Lettice Knollys's death shattered the hopes of a dynasty for the House of Dudley.
16.
Lettice Knollys addressed him "Sweet Robin", longing for his letters and helpless about his moodiness and depression.
17.
Lettice Knollys moved to Drayton Bassett near Chartley in Staffordshire, which would be her main residence for the rest of her life.
18.
Lettice Knollys tried to send Elizabeth a present in the form of a gown, which Elizabeth neither accepted nor refused.
19.
Lettice Knollys was alarmed when she discovered that Cresswell was set on becoming a nun.
20.
Lettice Knollys had intended his illegitimate son from his early 1570s relationship with Douglas Sheffield, the adolescent Robert Dudley, to inherit Kenilworth after the death of his brother, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.
21.
Lettice Knollys was backed by Sir Robert Sidney, who considered himself the only legitimate heir of his uncles Leicester and Warwick.
22.
Lettice Knollys's request was respected and she came to rest in the Beauchamp Chapel of Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, opposite the tomb of her son, young Lord Denbigh.