Anne de Courcy

The perils of waiting on a Tudor queen

Henry VIII considered the queen’s household a fruitful hunting-ground – for a mistress, a future wife, or a pawn, whose testimony could provide useful damaging evidence

Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, lived at the courts of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. The daughter of María de Salinas, lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon, she was the close friend and confidante of Kathryn Parr. [Bridgeman Images]

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