ON THIS DAY - 08 June 1581

On This Day (08 Jun) in 1581, Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh, was born at Leicester House, on the Strand, London, the son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and his wife Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester and Essex.

Tomb effigy of Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh (1581-1584), Beauchamp Chapel, St Mary’s Church, Warwick © The Dudley Women

This “noble Impe” was the only known child of the couple, although sadly died aged 3yo at his father’s home in Wanstead, Essex in Jul 1584. It has also been speculated that Lettice was pregnant at the time of their secret marriage in Sep 1578, based on a deposition given in 1582 by the priest that married them, who described her wearing a “loose gown”. However, this Robert was the couple’s only known child, and the only acknowledged legitimate child of the Earl of Leicester.

Following the infant Robert’s death, he was moved to Warwick, where he was interred in the Beauchamp Chapel, St Mary’s Church, amongst his Beauchamp ancestors; his parents and uncle Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick (1530-1590) were later to be interred in the same chapel.

Tomb effigies of Robert Dudley, 1xt Earl of Leicester and Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester, Beauchamp Chapel, St Mary’s Church, Warwick © The Dudley Women

An inventory of Leicester House, taken in Mar 1589, following the Earl’s death the previous September, reveals amongst the numerous portraits and hangings, “one picture of my young Lord of Denbigh”.