Who Was … Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester?

Lettice Knollys was the wife of two great nobles – Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, and Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. It is also possible that she was an illegitimate granddaughter of Henry VIII through her grandmother, Mary Boleyn’s, affair with Henry, possibly resulting in her mother, Catherine Carey. Lettice lived in the reigns of six different monarchs – Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I.

Name: Lettice Knollys (at birth) / Lettice Devereux (married name) / Lettice Dudley (married name)

Title/s: Viscountess Hereford /Countess of Essex /Countess of Leicester

Birth: 8 November 1543 at Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire, England

Death: 25 December 1634 at Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England

Burial: Beauchamp Chapel of the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, England

Spouse: Walter Devereux, 1^st Earl of Essex 1541-1576 / Robert Dudley, 1^st Earl of Leicester 1532-1588 / Sir Christopher Blount c.1555 – 1601

Children: (by Walter Devereux) Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire c.1563-1607 / Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland c.1564-1619 / Robert Devereux, 2^nd Earl of Essex 1565-1601 / Walter Devereux 1569-1591 / (by Robert Dudley) Robert Dudley, Baron Denbigh 1579-1584

Parents: Sir Francis Knollys c.1511-1596 & Catherine Carey c.1524-1569

Siblings: Sir Henry Knollys c.1541-1582 / Mary Stalker 1542-1593 / William Knollys, 1^st Earl of Banbury c.1544-1632 / Edward Knollys 1546-1580 / Sir Robert Knollys 1547-1626 / Elizabeth Leighton 1549-c.1605 / Richard Knollys 1552-1596 / Sir Thomas Knollys c.1558-c.1596 / Sir Francis Knollys c.1552-1643 / Anne West, Baroness de la Warr 1555-1608 / Katherine Fitzgerald, Baroness Offaley c.1560-1632 / Dudley Knollys 1562-1562

Noble Connections: Lettice was the grand-daughter of Mary Boleyn through her daughter, Catherine Carey, and thus the great-niece of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII. Lettice’s mother was a favourite of Elizabeth I and Lettice herself married Elizabeth’s favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, as her second husband, having first been married to Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex.

Controversy: The main controversy surrounding Lettice is her secret marriage to Elizabeth I’s favourite, Robert Dudley. She was banished from court because of it, and later lost her stepson, the Earl of Essex, and her third husband to the axeman for rebellion in 1601. It is also possible that Lettice is a descendent of Henry VIII, as her grandmother, Mary Boleyn, had an affair with Henry and it is questioned whether her daughter, Catherine Carey (Lettice’s mother) was actually fathered by him.

Works of Fiction:

• Carolly Erickson, ‘Rival to the Queen’ (2010)
• Margaret George, ‘Elizabeth I’ (2012)
• Victoria Holt, ‘My Enemy the Queen’ (1987)
• Jean Plaidy, ‘Lord Robert’ (1955)
• Alison Weir, ‘The Marriage Game’ (2014)

Portrayals on Screen:

• Sienna Guillory, The Virgin Queen, 2006, 4 episodes

Further Reading:  

• Alison Plowden, ‘Tudor Women: Queens and Commoners’ (1979)
• Nicola Tallis, ‘Elizabeth’s Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester’ (2017)
• Alison Weir, ‘Elizabeth the Queen’ (1998)
• Anna Whitelock, ‘Elizabeth’s Bedfellows: an Intimate History of the Queen’s Court’ (2013)