My most horrible
ancestor was the Walter Devereux who married Lettice Knowles. He
committed foul crimes in Ireland. I feel heartily ashamed. Look
him up in the Dictionary of National Biography if you have the
stomach for it.
According to Nicola Tallis the historian, it seems that Lettice may have been a secret granddaughter of King Henry the Eighth as a result of her grandmother Mary Boleyn's affair with the king. She was the elder sister of Anne Boleyn. who would marry Henry later.
See page nine of Nicola's book Elizabeth's Rival for the statement, which has a whole chapter leading up to it called Hiding Royal Blood.
I'm not too sure about being descended from Henry the Eighth, but one comfort is that as so much time has elapsed since those days, there will be many thousands of people in a similar position, perhaps millions. Just to be clear, I utterly reject the nasty behaviour of Henry and Walter his grandson by marriage and want nothing to do with it.
Cheap copies of the book are widely available. It is published by Michael O'Mara Books ltd, 2017-2018, ISBN 978-1-78243-924-0 in print format and ISBN 978-1-78243-751-2 in e-book format.
Think twice before researching your family history as you don't know what you may find.
I discovered all this from a visit to Greys Court | Oxfordshire | National Trust at Henley-on-Thames, where there is an exhibition about little Lettice (I bet she was a gem) and her family home. The property was a gift from Henry the Eighth.
Please contact me if you wish. Thank you, David Pennant, Woking, Surrey, UK