by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Unknown woman engraved as Jane Shore by Francesco Bartolozzi, published by Edward Harding, after Silvester (Sylvester) Harding, stipple engraving, published 1 May 1790 NPG D24103 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Edward IV, King of England had numerous mistresses but the most famous was Jane Shore. Born in London, England circa 1445 as Elizabeth Lambert, she was the daughter of John Lambert, a wealthy merchant, and his wife Amy Marshall. Some sources say she later took the name Jane for unknown reasons. Other sources say she was never called Jane during her lifetime and that the name was an invention of Thomas Heywood, 17th-century playwright and author because her real first name was omitted and then forgotten by authors. Regardless of the truth, she has come to be known as Jane Shore, Shore being her married name. Sir Thomas More, lawyer, social philosopher, author, and statesman, wrote about Jane in his History of Richard III. According to More, Jane had been fair of body though not tall. She was attractive to men more through her personality than her physical beauty, being intelligent, literate, merry, and playful.

As a young girl, Jane attracted many admirers, both for her beauty and intellect. Jane married William Shore (died 1494), a goldsmith and banker, who had been a frequent visitor to Jane’s home. Shore was fifteen years older than Jane, and although he was handsome and successful in business, he never could fully claim Jane’s affections. In 1476,  Jane received an annulment of her marriage due to Shore’s impotence which had prevented the couple from having children.

King Edward IV, the first monarch of the House of York, by Unknown English artist, oil on panel, circa 1540, NPG 3542 © National Portrait Gallery, London

According to the Patent Rolls for December 4, 1476, Jane and King Edward IV began their relationship in 1476. Edward was particularly devoted to Jane and Jane had a great influence on Edward. Jane did not use her relationship with the king for her personal gain and official documents show that Edward IV  did not bestow gifts upon her. In his History of Richard III, Sir Thomas More wrote of Jane, “Where the king took displeasure, she would mitigate and appease his mind; where men were out of favour, she would bring them in his grace; for many that highly offended, she obtained pardon.” Their relationship lasted until King Edward IV’s early death on April 9, 1483, a few weeks before his 41st birthday. His cause of death is not known for certain. Pneumonia, typhoid fever, malaria, poison, and an unhealthy lifestyle are some possibilities.

It appears that Jane was also the mistress of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, a close friend of King Edward IV, whom he served as Lord Chamberlain, and Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV, and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby.

Richard III, King of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Jane played a role in creating an alliance between William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings and Elizabeth Woodville’s family during the time Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future King Richard III), King Edward IV’s brother, served as Lord Protector of his young nephew King Edward V, the son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. The Duke of Gloucester moved to keep the Woodville family from exercising any power. Jane Shore was accused of carrying messages between Hastings and Edward IV’s widow Elizabeth Woodville. It was because of her role in this alliance that Jane was charged with conspiracy, along with Hastings and the Woodvilles, against the Lord Protector’s government. William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings eventually lost his head as did Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, Elizabeth Woodville’s brother, and Sir Richard Grey, Elizabeth Woodville’s son from her first marriage.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester had his young nephews, King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, taken to the Tower of London, declared illegitimate, and then, he succeeded to the throne as King Richard III. At the end of the summer of 1483, the two boys, known as The Princes in the Tower, disappeared from public view altogether. Their fate is unknown and remains one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Jane’s punishment for her conspiracy included a public penance at Paul’s Cross, a preaching cross and open-air pulpit on the grounds of Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, England. Jane proceeded through the streets of London with a candle in her hand, dressed only in her kirtle, a one-piece undergarment similar to a slip, attracting a lot of male attention along the way. Jane’s public penance is widely believed to be the inspiration behind Queen Cersei’s walk of atonement in the novel series and television series Game of Thrones.

The Penance of Jane Shore in St Paul’s Church, c.1793 by William Blake; Credit – Wikipedia

After her public penance, Jane was sent to Ludgate Prison in London, England. While at Ludgate Prison, Jane captivated Thomas Lynom, Solicitor-General of England. Lynom decided to marry, Jane believing that he would be able to free her from prison and Richard III did pardon Jane at the request of Lynom. The two married and had a daughter. In August 1485, when Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field and succeeded to the throne as King Henry VII, Lynom lost his position as Solicitor-General of England. However, under King Henry VII, Lynom served on the Council of Wales and the Marches and was the controller of the household of Henry VII’s eldest son Arthur, Prince of Wales at Ludlow Castle.

Church of St. Nicholas in Hinxworth, Hertfordshire, England; Credit – By Rodney Burton, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9165187

Jane and Thomas Lynom lived the rest of their lives in comfort and Jane even became friends with Sir Thomas More who admired her wit.  Jane died, aged around 82, in 1527, during the reign of King Henry VIII. She was buried in the churchyard at the Church of St. Nicholas in Hinxworth, Hertfordshire, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Jane Shore. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Shore> [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Edward IV Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iv-of-england/> [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Шор, Джейн. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%BE%D1%80,_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD> [Accessed 24 July 2020].
• Sparkes, Abagail, n.d. Jane Shore – Historic UK. [online] Historic UK. Available at: <https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Jane-Shore/> [Accessed 24 July 2020].

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford was the mistress of the future King George IV of the United Kingdom from 1807-1819.

Isabella Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford source: Wikipedia

Isabella Anne Ingram was born in London on July 7, 1759, the eldest of five daughters of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine and Frances Shepherd. Charles Ingram was a prominent landowner and politician and served as a Groom of the Bedchamber to King George III from 1756 until 1763. Isabella had four younger sisters:

• Hon. Frances Ingram (1761) – married Lord William Gordon, had issue
• Hon. Elizabeth Ingram (1762) – married Hugo Meynell, had issue
• Hon. Harriet Ingram (1765) – married Col. Henry Hervey-Aston, had issue
• Hon. Louisa Susan Ingram (1766) – married Sir John Ramsden, 4th Baronet, had issue

On May 20, 1776, she married Francis Seymour-Conway, Viscount Beauchamp, the eldest son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, and Lady Isabella Fitzroy, a daughter of the 2nd Duke of Grafton. Beauchamp would later succeed his father as 2nd Marquess of Hertford in 1794.

Francis spent much of his life in politics and public service. He served in the Irish House of Commons from 1761-1776 and held the position of Chief Secretary for Ireland under his father, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1765-1766. He was a Lord of the Treasury from 1774-1780, and then Cofferer of the Household until 1782. A member of the Privy Council, he was appointed Master of the Horse in 1804, and Lord Chamberlain of the Household from 1812-1821.

Isabella and her husband had one son:

• Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford (1777) – married Maria Emilia Fagniani, had issue

Ragley Hall. photo: By DeFacto – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57719761

The Seymour-Conways were one of the wealthiest families in Britain, with an extensive portfolio of land and properties throughout England, Ireland and Wales. Future generations would amass an extensive art collection that would later be left to the nation. Known as the Wallace Collection, it is housed at the former Hertford House, the family’s townhouse in London. In addition to their London home, Isabella and her husband also inherited Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, which would later become one of the first stately homes in Britain to be opened to the public, and Sudbourne Hall in Suffolk.

It was around 1806 when The Prince of Wales began to notice and pursue Isabella. At the time, the Prince was engaged in a legal battle over the guardianship of Minney Seymour, a ward of his mistress (and wife) Maria Fitzherbert. Using his influence, he had Isabella and her husband named as guardians to the young girl, with the assurance that Maria Fitzherbert would continue to raise her. It was then that he began to notice Lady Hertford. Despite her initial refusal, she soon replaced Mrs. Fitzherbert as the Prince’s mistress. Their relationship lasted for 12 years, during which time the Prince often visited Isabella at Ragley Hall and Hertford House. He had also visited her at Temple Newsam, in Leeds, where he gifted Isabella with some Chinese wallpaper and some tapestries.

Temple Newsam. source: Wikipedia

Temple Newsam had been the ancestral home of the Viscounts of Irvine. Following her father’s death, the property went to Isabella’s mother, and then passed to Isabella in 1807 upon her mother’s death. It was at that point that Isabella and her husband added ‘Ingram’ to their surname, becoming Ingram-Seymour-Conway. Temple Newsam had a rich history of royal connections. Perhaps the most widely known is that it was the birthplace of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and father of King James IV of Scotland/James I of England.

In 1819, Isabella’s relationship with the Prince ended, as she was replaced by the Marchioness of Conyngham, who would become his last official mistress. Following her husband’s death in 1822, Isabella retreated to the family’s homes, spending much of her time at Temple Newsam and Ragley Hall, and living a relatively quiet life. She died at Ragley Hall on April 12, 1834, having lived through the entire reign of her former lover as King George IV and the succession of his younger brother, King William IV. She is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Arrow, Warwickshire, near Ragley Hall.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Detail of Ford Madox Brown’s painting depicting Alice Perrers and King Edward III (see full painting below); Credit – Wikipedia

Alice Perrers is the most famous English royal mistress between King Henry II’s Rosamund de Clifford and King Edward IV’s Jane Shore. Biographical information about Alice Perrers is sketchy but recent research by historians Mark Ormrod and Laura Tompkins has revealed new details about her early life.

Alice Perrers was born around 1340 in London, England. Her family’s surname was Salisbury and they worked as goldsmiths. Janyn Perrers, who would become Alice’s first husband, became an apprentice to the Salisbury family in 1342. Goldsmiths would have been somewhat well-to-do and Alice most likely received an education at home and attended a local girls school.

Janyn Perrers eventually became a full member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of London. It appears that around 1359, he did some work for the royal court because in a royal writ he is described as “our beloved Janyn Perrers, our jeweler”. There is a possibility that he met King Edward III in his capacity as a goldsmith and jeweler and that Alice may have accompanied him. Around this same time, Alice and Janyn were married. The research shows that Janyn Perrers died sometime between May 19, 1361 and May 18, 1362.

Coronation of Philippa of Hainault; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly after her husband’s death, Alice became a lady-in-waiting to Philippa of Hainault, the wife of King Edward III. Even if Alice had not previously met Edward III, they certainly became acquainted while she served as a lady-in-waiting. Alice, who was about 24-years-old, gave birth to the first of her three children by Edward III in 1364, when the king was 56-years old.

Alice and Edward III’s children:

• Sir John de Southeray (1364 – 1383), married Maud Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy, no children
• Jane (1365 – ?), married Richard Northland
• Joan (1366 – before 1431), married Robert Skerne

Edward III’s relationship with Alice was kept mostly secret until the death of his wife in 1369. After Queen Philippa’s death, Edward III became increasingly dependent upon Alice. While the government was at Westminster Palace and his household was at Windsor Castle, Edward spent much of his time isolated at Havering Palace, Sheen Palace, and Eltham Palace. Alice became his chief advisor. She made sure she put in good words for her ambitious friends. Eventually, Alice and her relationship with the King of England caused much gossip at Westminster and Windsor.

Alice acquired numerous gifts from Edward III, including some of Queen Philippa’s jewelry, and she soon became an extremely wealthy woman. Her fortune was worth more than £20,000, equal to £6,000,000 in today’s money. On Edward’s command, Alice dressed in golden garments and was paraded around London as “The Lady of the Sun”. Courtiers were expected to behave respectfully toward her. This caused great criticism from those at court and eventually from the public. Alice was seen as an ambitious, grasping, calculating, and cold-hearted opportunist who manipulated the elderly, aging King Edward III.

Although Alice had received gifts from the king, her financial success cannot be totally attributed to that. Perhaps it was from having a father and a husband who were successful goldsmiths, but Alice did possess business acumen and did have useful business connections through the court. At the height of her power, Alice controlled 56 manors and castles in England and only fifteen were royal gifts.

Worried about Edward III’s advancing age and that after his death she would no longer have his protection, in November 1375, Alice made a secret marriage to Sir William Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor who was 26 years older than Alice. Because William was the Royal Lieutenant in Ireland, he was often away and this lessened the chance that Edward III would find out about the secret marriage. William and Alice had no children and remained married until William died in 1384.

King Edward III and his eldest son Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

Because the English court was perceived by much of the English population to be corrupt, the English Parliament met from April 28 to July 10, 1376, in an effort to reform the Royal Council. The Good Parliament was the name history has assigned to this meeting. Meanwhile, King Edward III’s eldest son and heir, Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, was dying. He summoned to his bedside, his father King Edward III and John of Gaunt, Edward III’s third but second surviving son, and made them swear to recognize his nine-year-old son, the future King Richard II, as Edward III’s successor. Both Edward III and John of Gaunt swore to recognize Richard, and soon after Parliament summoned Richard and acknowledged him as heir to the throne. Edward the Black Prince died on June 8, 1376.

As a result of the Good Parliament’s actions, Richard Lyons, Warden of the Mint, and William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer, Chamberlain of the Household, who were believed to be robbing the treasury, were called before Parliament, impeached, and then imprisoned. Also, King Edward III’s mistress, Alice Perrers, was called to Parliament where she was tried for corruption, banished from England, and her lands were forfeited. Parliament then imposed a new set of councilors on King Edward III. However, by the autumn of 1376, John of Gaunt was working on undoing the Good Parliament’s work. He dismissed the new council and recalled Lyons and Latimer to the Royal Council and Alice Perrers was recalled to court and regained some of her lands.

King Edward III suffered a stroke in May 1377. He died at Sheen Palace in Richmond, England on June 21, 1377, at the age of 64 with his mistress Alice Perrers at his side.

Geoffrey Chaucer reading  at the court of Edward III by Ford Madox Brown, painted 1847–1851;  Alice and Edward III are in the upper right; Credit – Wikipedia

Alice had a great influence on the poet Geoffrey Chaucer and supported him financially. She is thought to be the model for the Wife of Bath in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Alice Perrers died in Gaynes Park, Upminster, England during the winter of 1400/1401 at around the age of 60. She was buried in either the church or the churchyard of the Church of St Laurence, Upminster but there is no memorial to mark her grave. Her property was left to her surviving children, her daughters Jane and Joan.

Church of St Laurence, Upminster; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Alice Perrers. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Perrers> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2015. King Edward III Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Alice Perrers. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Perrers> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
• Medievalists.net. 2016. Alice Perrers – The Story Of A King’s Mistress. [online] Available at: <https://www.medievalists.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/the-medieval-magazine-no51.pdf> [Accessed 22 July 2020].
• Mortimer, Ian, 2014. Edward III: The Perfect King. New York: Rosetta Books LLC.

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey was one of the mistresses of King George IV of the United Kingdom from 1793 until 1807.

Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey – source: Wikipedia

Frances Twysden was born in London on February 25, 1753, the daughter of the late Rt. Rev. Dr. Philip Twysden, Lord Bishop of Raphoe, and his second wife, Frances Carter. Rev. Twysden was a younger son of Sir William Twysden, 5th Baronet of Roydon Hall. He died in November 1752, before Frances’s birth, after allegedly being shot while trying to rob a stagecoach. She had one older sister, Mary (born 1751), who died in infancy.

On March 26, 1770, Frances married George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, who was more than twice her age. Villers had served in the House of Commons from 1756 until 1769 when he inherited the Earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords. He was a Lord of the Admiralty from 1761-1763, became a member of the Privy Council in 1765, and served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1765-1770. After becoming the 4th Earl in 1769, he served as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King George III from 1769-1777, Master of the Buckhounds from 1782-1783, and several other positions at court over the next 30 years. He would later be appointed Master of the Horse to the Prince of Wales in 1795. Frances and Villiers had ten children:

• Lady Charlotte Anne Villiers (1771) – married Lord William Russel, had issue
• Lady Anne Villiers (1772) – married (1) William Lambton, had issue; (2) Hon. Charles Wyndham, no issue
• George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey (1773) – married Sarah Fane, had issue
• Lady Caroline Villiers (1774) – married (1) Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, had issue; (2) George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll, no issue
• Lady Georgiana Villiers (c1777) – died in childhood
• Lady Sarah Villiers (1779) – married Charles Bayley, no issue
• Hon. William Villiers (1780) – unmarried
• Lady Elizabeth Villiers (c1782) – unmarried
• Lady Frances Villiers (1786) – married John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby, no issue
• Lady Harriet Villiers (1788) – married Richard Bagot, Bishop of Oxford, had issue

The Prince of Wales, circa 1798. source: Wikipedia

Frances began her affair with the Prince of Wales in 1793, following a string of other discreet affairs she had had with others, including Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, and William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire – the husband of her close friend Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. By that time, George was secretly married to Maria Fitzherbert, but his wandering eye could not be kept in check. By the following year, Frances had convinced the Prince to end his relationship with Mrs. Fitzherbert and encouraged him to marry his future wife, Caroline of Brunswick. George and Caroline married in 1795, and Frances was appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber to the new Princess of Wales. Frances and George continued their affair and before long, he brought Mrs. Fitzherbert back into his life as well. The two disliked each other greatly, but the Prince continued his affairs with both. Then, a new mistress made her appearance, The Marchioness of Hertford soon replaced Frances as the Prince of Wales’s mistress. By 1807, Frances lost her royal household position and left the court completely.

Having been widowed in 1805 and left with little financial means, Frances struggled to maintain the lifestyle expected of someone of her rank. She benefited only from the generosity of her son who increased her annual income and often paid off her debts.

The Dowager Countess of Jersey died in Cheltenham on July 25, 1821, at the age of 68. She is buried in the Villiers Family vault in Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.