Kat Ashley: The First Lady
Queen Elizabeth I trusted very few people, but she trusted her lady-in-waiting Kat Ashley with her life. From devastating lows to royal highs, Kat Ashley was with Elizabeth through it all, and she watched more secrets unfold behind the throne than anyone else at court. One in particular could have ruined Elizabeth, and nearly cost Kat her life.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
1. We Don’t Know Who Her Father Is
Although Kat Ashley rose to become one of the most influential (if unseen) powers behind the throne in England, nothing in her early life indicated she would rise to such heights. She was obscure enough in her early years that historians don’t even know her parentage, and even the best guesses are a toss-up between Sir Philip Champernowne and Sir John Champernowne. Either option would give her a different mother.
But whoever her parents were, it was good enough for royalty.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
2. She Was Close To Royalty
As a young woman, Kat’s connection to Thomas Cromwell, then the chief minister for King Henry VIII, earned her an appointment as “gentlewoman in waiting” to Henry and Anne Boleyn’s daughter, then the Lady Elizabeth, in the summer of 1536. Kat was in her 30s at the time, while Elizabeth was barely a toddler.
But this was a very dangerous time to have anything to do with the girl.
Screenshot from The Tudors, Showtime (2007-2010)
3. She Witnessed An Infamous Execution
The same year that Kat Ashley joined Elizabeth’s retinue, the girl’s mother Anne Boleyn suffered a brutal change of fortune. Queen Anne, who had replaced Henry’s first wife Catherine of Aragon in his affections, soon fell steeply out of favor after being unable to deliver Henry the son he desperately wanted.
Just a couple months before Kat entered the household, Anne was beheaded, and Elizabeth was newly motherless, with few to care for or about her. But Kat was more than ready.
Screenshot from The Tudors, Showtime (2007-2010)
4. She Was An Exacting Teacher
By 1537, Kat was made the four-year-old Elizabeth’s governess. Though the princess had multiple women fulfilling this role, Kat made her mark: She ingrained in the now-neglected Boleyn leftover an “elaborate code of politeness and respect to her elders,” ruling the little princess with a firm hand. It wasn’t all she did.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
5. She Was Smart
Though we can only surmise about Kat’s background, given her mysterious parentage, she did demonstrate that she was well-educated during this time. She taught Elizabeth math, geometry, and astronomy, among other scientific subjects, as well as history and multiple languages. Even better, the sharp princess soaked up all this learning rapidly. Not that Kat neglected more “womanly” pursuits.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
6. She Pushed Elizabeth
Elizabeth may have been the daughter of the disgraced Anne Boleyn, but Kat was determined to foster unimpeachable manners and accomplishments in the girl, so that no one could look sideways at her. Kat was so insistent on teaching needlework and embroidery that at just six years old, Elizabeth sewed a shirt for her new baby brother, Prince Edward—the long-awaited son for Henry, from his third queen Jane Seymour.
It was a smart, diplomatic move, and it was Kat Ashley who oversaw it. But things kept changing.
Screenshot from The Tudors, Showtime (2007-2010)
7. She Had To Navigate Big Changes
Elizabeth would later credit “Kat,” as she herself called her, with “great labour and pain in bringing of me up in learning and honesty”. That labor grew all the more difficult when Henry’s court changed again and again. Jane Seymour perished in childbirth while giving birth to Edward, and Henry quickly remarried and just as quickly annulled his union with Anne of Cleves, whom he found ugly in person.
But it was his next queen who would bring horrible flashbacks to Elizabeth’s household.
Hans Holbein the Younger, Wikimedia Commons
8. She Went Through Another Execution
Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, traced an all-too familiar path for Kat Ashely and her young charge. After getting too close to another courtier, Henry charged Catherine with adultery and had her beheaded. In response, Elizabeth reportedly told her childhood friend Robert Dudley that she would never marry, apparently deeply affected by the deaths of both Catherine and her own mother as Henry’s wives.
Through this, Kat Ashley had a front seat to Elizabeth’s mental turmoil. But both their lives were about to (briefly) change for the better.
Hans Holbein the Younger, Wikimedia Commons
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9. She Had A Moment Of Calm
In 1543, seemingly tired of his own dramatic marriages, Henry VIII married his sixth and last queen, Catherine Parr. While the royal stepmothers since Anne Boleyn had been deferential to Elizabeth, it was the steady hand of Parr on Henry that truly provided the Princess’s household with stability. Parr also gave that household an enormous upgrade.
William Henry Kearney, Wikimedia Commons
10. She Went Back Into The Inner Circle
During the Parr years, Henry finally paid more attention to Elizabeth and restored the once-disgraced princess to the line of succession. Accordingly, Kat and the rest of the girl’s household were brought back to the royal court, putting the lady-in-waiting in the center of things for the first time.
Kat Ashley took this opportunity to finally take something for herself.
Screenshot from The Tudors, Showtime (2007-2010)
11. She Found A Groom
In 1545, just two years after Henry’s marriage to Catherine Parr, Kat decided it was time to choose a groom for herself. She did so with a tinge of scandal: She married John Ashley (sometimes called Astley), who had a prominent position as Elizabeth’s senior gentleman…and who was a cousin of Elizabeth’s disgraced mother Anne Boleyn. There was another spicy angle to this, too.
Unknown Italian artist, Wikimedia Commons
12. She Got A Younger Man
Kat had spent a lot of her time waiting in the wings, bringing up a princess at the fringes of royal life. So by the time she married, she was already over 40 years old—and about five years older than her new husband, to boot.
Nonetheless, Kat was ready to grab at life with both hands. Until, that is, those hands went behind her back in chains.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
13. Her Life Changed Again
Kat had two good years in steady, married life, still serving as Elizabeth’s governess, before chaos broke loose once more. In 1547, Henry VIII passed, and his nine-year-old son succeeded him as Edward VI. This transition in itself was naturally a difficult period, and made worse when Edward’s uncles, Edward and Thomas Seymour, exerted increasing influence on the boy.
For Kat, this was more than just distant court politicking. It came right to her door.
After Hans Holbein the Younger, Wikimedia Commons
14. Her Charge Was In Danger
Thomas Seymour was particularly ambitious, not just for power in court but for power on the throne itself. Around this time, he began inquiring whether anyone would allow him to wed either Elizabeth’s older sister Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry’s first queen Catherine of Aragon, or else Elizabeth herself, thus bringing him one step closer to a kingship. He did more than that.
Nicolas Denizot, Wikimedia Commons
15. A Wolf Came To Their Door
After being told Elizabeth and her sister were off the table, Seymour, rather incredibly, rekindled a rumored old romance and married the widowed queen Catherine Parr instead, just two months after Henry’s death. More than that, the newlyweds then invited Elizabeth, Kat, and the rest of the princess’s household to live with them in Chelsea. It was a step up—at first.
16. She Got A Promotion
Kat Ashley had proved herself a loyal governess, and under Parr and Seymour’s roof she got a promotion to “Chief Gentlewoman” for Elizabeth. This was a position of great power, and not just because it gave Kat more purview over Elizabeth’s life. After all, the princess, with her brother Edward still childless, was now second in line for the throne after her sister Mary.
The stakes were very high, then, when it all started to go so wrong.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
17. Bad Things Began Happening
Kat Ashley was one of the first to notice the dark signs, but they didn’t initially alarm her. Namely, Kat couldn’t fail to see when Thomas Seymour began developing a flirtation with his 14-year-old royal ward. But even though Kat was like the mother Elizabeth never had, her first reaction was to find these attentions merely amusing. In this, Kat might have had ulterior motives.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
18. She Had A Crush
Thomas Seymour was a devious man, but he was also eminently attractive to many of the women in his circle. Although we don’t know what exactly the young, impressionable Elizabeth thought of Seymour, there is some indication that Kat herself had developed a crush on him, and helped encourage Elizabeth to “play along” with the horseplay. She didn’t stop there.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
19. She Made Scandalous Comments
Far from just turning a blind eye to Seymour’s interest in Elizabeth, Kat Ashley actually seems to have tried to live vicariously through the girl. She reportedly once commented that Elizabeth would be lucky to have someone like Thomas Seymour for a husband, and let her know how much Seymour had wanted to marry her before he wed Catherine Parr.
But the next development shook her.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
20. He Crossed A Line
The smitten Kat had allowed Seymour his little interludes with Elizabeth in public, but she was aghast at his next move. One morning, he entered the teen’s bedroom in only a nightshirt and tried to tickle her while she was still in bed and largely undressed. Even for Kat, this was beyond the pale, especially for a young princess in need of her “virtue”. There was only one thing she could do.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
21. She Made A Confession
Kat had spent over a decade protecting Elizabeth, and she wasn’t about to stop now, despite her initial lapse. Instead of continuing to ignore Seymour’s approaches, she now went to Catherine Parr and confessed what she’d been seeing and hearing.
Kat likely hoped that Parr would speak to her husband and stop his actions, but she got something else entirely.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
22. They Took Advantage Of Elizabeth
Parr was just as enamored with Seymour as everyone else, and didn’t seem to want to listen to Kat. In fact, instead of stopping Seymour from touching or teasing Elizabeth, Parr took part in their “romps,” perhaps hoping to keep an eye on him that way. The former queen even reportedly helped hold down Elizabeth in a “game” while Seymour cut up the girl’s gown.
Soon, it hit a breaking point.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
23. It Came To A Crisis
Kat Ashley had been right about the danger Seymour presented to Elizabeth’s royal respectability, and Parr soon found that out the hard way. Not long after she aided in cutting up Elizabeth’s dress, Parr walked in on her stepdaughter and her husband in some kind of private embrace. With both women now aghast, Kat and Catherine finally acted.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
24. She Took Elizabeth Away
First, Kat and Catherine lectured Elizabeth—though not Seymour—on the need for decorum at all times. Then, Elizabeth decamped with her lady-in-waiting from the couple’s home, going to live in Cheshunt and writing Parr and Seymour an apologetic letter soon after.
Though the teenaged Elizabeth bore the brunt of Seymour’s scandalous affections, she was now at least mercifully out of his home. Meanwhile, Kat Ashley, flawed as she was, had helped navigate Elizabeth through a painful period. She was about to face another.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
25. She Lost Another Queen
Just months after Elizabeth and Kat left the Seymour household, the 36-year-old Catherine Parr died after giving birth, taking away one of the only adults Elizabeth trusted during her turbulent childhood. Kat must have consoled Elizabeth about the loss of her stepmother, but she also made a heartless suggestion.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
26. She Couldn’t Let Her Crush Go
For all that Kat Ashley had tried to save her mistress’s honor around Thomas Seymour, the man still had a strange power over the lady-in-waiting. Following Catherine Parr’s passing, and despite the trace of scandal in Elizabeth’s departure from Chelsea, Kat suggested the girl write to Seymour to “comfort him in his sorrow”. She received a sharp reply.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
27. She Got Rebuffed
The young Elizabeth may have been more hardened to Seymour than the elder Kat was, because she told her governess, in so many words, that Thomas Seymour likely wasn’t sad enough about Catherine Parr’s death to even need comfort. As Kat soon saw for herself, Elizabeth was right.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
28. Her Affection Came Back To Haunt Her
In almost no time at all, the newly-single Thomas Seymour was again directing his attention at Elizabeth, likely still in the hope he might marry her. In fact, given that certain court factions were turning against him for his other machinations surrounding Edward VI, Seymour appeared to be very desperate to land Elizabeth this time.
So desperate, he made a fatal error—and swept up Kat Ashley right along with him.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
29. Word Got Out
With many in court hoping for Seymour’s downfall, news about his flirtations with Elizabeth reached King Edward’s other advisors. Unlike Kat and Catherine, these men were immediately appalled at the situation, if only because they detested the thought of Seymour gaining an ounce more influence. Then the situation really turned.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
30. Her Crush Spiraled
With enemies closing in on him, Thomas Seymour inexplicably went to his nephew King Edward’s chambers with a loaded pistol—perhaps to take Edward into his own custody—and ended up fatally shooting the boy’s spaniel.
The next day, Kat’s crush was arrested and thrown in the Tower of London. He brought Kat down with him.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
31. She Was Implicated In Violence
As court officials tried to interpret the various motives behind Thomas Seymour’s bizarre midnight powerplay, they came to disturbing conclusions. Most alarmingly, they began to worry that he, as well as Kat Ashley, had roped Elizabeth into a plot to harm her half-brother in between his flirtations. So, days after Seymour’s arrest, Kat got the worst news of her life.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
32. She Was Arrested
Elizabeth was too precious a target for the court advisors to hit, but her loyal lady Kat Ashley was not. So on the 21st of January 1549, they placed Kat under arrest for suspicion of aiding Seymour’s activities, also bringing her to the infamous Tower of London. Kat’s next days were terrifying.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
33. She Spent Weeks In The Tower
Kat spent over a month inside the walls of the Tower, facing constant interrogations about her role in the goings-on of Elizabeth’s household. Though Kat freely admitted to the flirtations—it’s because of this testimony that historians know so much about what happened between Thomas, Elizabeth, and Catherine Parr—but swore she had absolutely no involvement in Seymour’s raid of Edward’s chambers. She also held fast to another claim.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
34. She Never Turned Her Back On Elizabeth
If Elizabeth was ever in doubt of Kat Ashley’s loyalty to her, she couldn’t be now. Even facing fears of continued imprisonment and an uncertain future, Kat maintained that Elizabeth had nothing at all to do with Seymour’s plans for Edward, even though she perhaps stood to gain from them the most. It had the desired effect.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
35. Her Old Boss Went To The Chopping Block
Kat was finally released from the Tower in early March, 1549, but the atmosphere was decidedly not celebratory: just 13 days after her release, the crown executed Thomas Seymour on March 20, ending his intrigues once and for all. Kat Ashley likely couldn’t help imagining herself in his place. Besides, her next years were more turbulent than ever.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
36. There Was Another Death In The Family
Though Kat went back to Elizabeth’s household, she had little time to rebuild a steady life. Not long after, in early 1553, Elizabeth’s now-teenaged brother King Edward VI fell ill, possibly with tuberculosis, and the once-healthy boy declined rapidly before perishing that summer.
Once more, then, Kat Ashley’s whole world was about to change.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
37. Her World Erupted
The succession from Edward VI was nothing short of catastrophe. Not only were both Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth—the childless Edward’s natural successors—women, but while Elizabeth was Protestant, the elder Princess Mary was Catholic. These gendered and religious tensions tore apart the court for months, leading even to the brief “reign” of the Nine Days’ Queen Jane Grey, before Mary finally took the throne by force.
When she did, Kat Ashley and her mistress were in more danger than ever.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
38. The Tides Turned Against Her
With all this initial turmoil, Mary’s reign was fundamentally precarious, and in 1554 the new monarch imprisoned her sister Elizabeth in the Tower to keep a better eye on her chief rival for power. As with everything that happened to Elizabeth, Kat Ashley felt the consequences, too: she went into the custody of Sir Roger Cholmeley for months.
All the same, she never lost her loyalty to Elizabeth. She just paid dearly for it.
Screenshot from The Virgin Queen, BBC (2005–2006)
39. She Ran Back To Elizabeth
In May 1555, the political environment had calmed down enough that Kat Ashley was finally released from custody, and she—of course—went right back to Elizabeth, joining her household in October of the same year, as soon as she was allowed to.
Even so, Queen Mary kept a close eye on both her sister and Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting. So she was ready the minute Kat Ashley slipped.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
40. She Was Seditious
As Mary remained childless, her fear that Elizabeth would take her throne grew, and in May of 1556, she took this paranoia out on Kat Ashley. Crown men discovered “seditious” reading material among Kat’s belongings, and Mary immediately punished her for it. This time, Kat didn’t get anything so cushy as the Tower of London.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
41. She Went To Prison
Likely seeking to scare Elizabeth through her lady-in-waiting, Queen Mary threw Kat in Fleet Prison for three months, where Kat was no doubt subject to a series of indignities. Even so, she didn’t crack, and once more her loyalty never wavered. She was so loyal, in fact, that even after her release, Queen Mary refused to let Kat see Elizabeth ever again.
But not even the Queen of England could make that wish happen.
Screenshot from Becoming Elizabeth, Starz (2022)
42. She Rose To The Top
Just two years after Kat’s stint in Fleet, Mary herself died still without an heir. Thus, against seemingly all odds, Kat’s little Lady Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth made sure to thank her old governess profusely for her devotion, making Kat First Lady of the Bedchamber (Kat’s husband also became Master of the Jewel Office) and plying her with luxurious fabrics and favors.
After nearly a lifetime of serving Elizabeth, Kat’s loyalty had finally paid off. She didn’t waste her moment.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
43. She Held Great Power
Kat Ashley would only witness Elizabeth’s long reign for a few short years, but she nonetheless helped define it. As trustworthy as she was, Kat became one of the most influential and central people in court, was the figure people came to in order to beg favors of Elizabeth, and helped form the strict ranks of aristocracy that would aid the queen in maintaining control of her government.
But even now, Kat couldn’t stay out of trouble.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
44. She Wanted One Thing For Elizabeth
Elizabeth was now of marrying age, but she staunchly refused to take a husband, lest he chip away at her power. While this would give her the nickname “The Virgin Queen,” Kat was none too happy about the queen’s obstinacy on this matter, and apparently harbored hopes that one day Elizabeth would marry.
Indeed, near the end of her life, Kat tried to take this into her own hands, with disastrous results.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
45. She Came Up With A Plot Of Her Own
In 1561, Elizabeth was in her late 20s, and Kat Ashley was nearing 60. Perhaps sensing she had little time left to capitalize on Elizabeth’s childbearing years, Kat became involved in a plot with her fellow lady-in-waiting Dorothy Bradbelt to marry Elizabeth to King Eric XIV of Sweden. They just went about it entirely the wrong way.
Attributed to Domenicus Verwilt, Wikimedia Commons
46. Her Scandalous Letter Was Intercepted
Kat and Dorothy, determined to turn Elizabeth into a bride, penned a letter to a Swedish politician and strongly hinted that the match between his monarch and theirs would be very welcome at the English court.
Unfortunately, this letter was immediately intercepted by one of Elizabeth’s advisors, and the hammer came down.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
47. The Queen Put Her Under House Arrest
When Elizabeth found out about Kat and Dorothy’s plot to marry her off, she was incensed they would go behind her back and jeopardize her power. She acted accordingly, placing both of them under house arrest and censuring them for the plot, which never advanced. (As Eric XIV ended up suffering from insanity, this was probably for the best.)
It was the last mistake Kat Ashley ever made.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
48. She Got Back In Her Good Graces
In the end, Elizabeth was only able to keep Kat and Dorothy under house arrest for the briefest of periods before she caved and let them out, though likely not without another lecture. Kat didn’t even lose her high position as the Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, and spent the next two years as influential as ever. But she had very little time left.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
49. She Broke Elizabeth’s Heart
In the summer of 1565, Kat passed at the age of 63—and while her end seems to have been peaceful, Queen Elizabeth’s grief was not. She mourned her old governess deeply, especially since Kat wasn’t at court when she died, so Elizabeth didn’t have full and complete access to her for a long goodbye. Elizabeth would live for almost 40 more years, but she never forgot her old governess.
Screenshot from Elizabeth, Universal Pictures (1998)
50. She Was An Emblem of Her Age
Although Kat Ashley is often forgotten to history, she helped create it in subtle—and sometimes scandalous—ways. From her involvement in Thomas Seymour’s execution to her matrimonial defiance of the Virgin Queen, Kat Ashley witnessed and survived the turmoil and blood of the Tudor and Elizabethan Era. She was also a vital part of it.
Screenshot from The Virgin Queen, BBC (2005–2006)
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