Eleanor Luke

Lady Eleanor Luke as played by Andrea Lowe

Character's backstory: Fictional character that may be based on a rumor that a very handsome lady caught the King's eye while his wife,Anne Boleyn,was pregnant.

Summer/Fall of 1534 - There are rumours of Henry taking a new mistress and Ambassador Chapuys writes calling her "the Imperial Lady" :
"[Her] Influence increases daily, while that of concubine Anne Boleyn] diminishes, which has already abated a good deal of her insolence. The said young lady has of late sent to the Princess [Mary] to tell her to be of good cheer, and that her troubles would sooner come to an end than she supposed, and that when the opportunity occurred she would show herself her true devoted servant."

In the series, it depicts George Boleyn telling her to leave court but it was actually his wife Jane Boleyn who plotted with her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to banish one of the King's young unnamed mistresses from Court in 1534. When the King discovered her involvement, Lady Rochford was herself exiled for a few months.

Gentility: Nobility

Position: Lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn

Personality type:

Signature look: Long blond hair

Endearing trait(s):

Annoying trait(s):

" Elizabeth Hervey, known as Bess, is my candidate for the "very handsome young lady of the court" in whom Henry VIII took an interest in during Anne Boleyn's 1534 pregnancy. This woman's name has not survived, only that Anne attempted to dismiss her and failed to do so and that she was a friend to Princess Mary. In October 1534, Lady Rochford was dismissed from court instead, for conspiring against this mystery woman. David Starkey's Six Wives recounts that Bess Hervey was in service to Anne Boleyn and on friendly terms with Sir Francis Bryan. She was sent away from court in 1536, although she claimed she did not know why. If she was the "handsome young lady," she had lost the king's interest by then. According to Carolly Erickson in Bloody Mary, an Elizabeth Harvey was one of Katherine of Aragon's women in 1536. After Catherine died she asked to be placed in Mary's service and was refused. In 1539, however, she was part of a group of court ladies who visited Portsmouth to tour the king's ships, at Henry VIII's special invitation. She was also among the ladies in Anne of Cleves' household, as Elsabeth Harvy. She was not appointed to Catherine Howard's household, but during Catherine's tenure as queen, Catherine gave Bess the gift of a gown. Starkey suggests Bess was Thomas Culpepper's paramour. In March 1541, Bess was granted an annuity of 10/year." ~ Source : Kathy Lynn Emerson <a class="external" href="http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenH-He.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Who is Who of Tudor Women">Who is Who of Tudor Women</a>

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