[citation needed] Perriers exploited Edward's growing senility and convinced him to buy her the same jewels over and over again, which she would then turn in for more cash.

[citation needed] She was paraded around London in golden garments as the "Lady of the Sun" at the King's command, causing a wave of public criticism.

[10] De Windsor spent long periods of time away from England, thus making it less probable that the King would discover the marriage.

[citation needed] In 1376, an ordinance aimed specifically at Perrers set penalties for women who practiced "maintenance", interfering in the due process of the law.

At the height of her power, Perrers possessed 56 manors, castles and town houses in over 25 counties of England, only 15 of which were gifts from the king.

[citation needed] Perrers is thought to have served as the prototype for Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales.

[16] Langland describes Lady Meed wearing rings of purest "perreize", a word for precious stones possibly chosen to play on the surname Perrers.

The earliest tradition spoke of a lowly birth, either as a niece of William of Wykeham (1320/1324–1404), Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, or as the daughter of a weaver from Devon.

She was a shameless, impudent harlot, and of low birth, for she was the daughter of a thatcher from the town of Henny, elevated by fortune.

Blind fortune elevated this woman to such heights and promoted her to a greater intimacy with the king than was proper, since she had been the maidservant and mistress of a man of Lombardy.

She is portrayed in Rebecca Gablé's Das Lächeln der Fortuna, a historical novel in the German language about the time-period.