Description | Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester (1540-1634), was a granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, the older sister of Queen Anne Boleyn. She first married Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex. Her son Robert Devereux (later 2nd Earl of Essex) was born in 1566. In about 1576, after her first husband's death, Lettice secretly married her lover Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester -- the favorite of Queen Elizabeth. She was banished from court after that. |