Kat Ashley

Kat Ashley, born Katherine Champernowne, was a trusted attendant, governess and companion of the future Elizabeth I. She entered Elizabeth’s household when the princess was a child and supervised important parts of her education, helping to foster the linguistic, literary and Protestant learning for which Elizabeth later became famous. Ashley’s long service gave her unusual personal access to a royal woman whose position was repeatedly transformed by Tudor succession politics.

During Edward VI’s reign Ashley became entangled in the scandal surrounding Thomas Seymour, who behaved with dangerous familiarity toward the young Elizabeth. Ashley was questioned and imprisoned after Seymour’s arrest, though she was later released and returned to Elizabeth’s service. Under Mary I, her closeness to Elizabeth again attracted suspicion. After Elizabeth became queen in 1558, Ashley served as Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and remained a valued member of the household until her death in 1565.

Alison Weir’s The Lady Elizabeth places Kat Ashley beside the young Elizabeth Tudor as governess, confidante and protective adult while Anne Boleyn’s execution, Thomas Seymour’s attentions and Mary I’s suspicions make the princess’s household politically dangerous. Sam Burnell’s The Tudor Heresy returns to the Seymour scandal of 1548, using Elizabeth’s household and the gossip surrounding Thomas Seymour to show the precarious environment in which Ashley helped supervise the future queen.