Married three times, she eventually became a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, an honour granted rarely to women and marking the friendship between herself and her third husband, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, with King Henry VI and his wife Margaret of Anjou.

She ordered the making of a series of tapestries depicting the life of St Anne, which were displayed in the room in her house at Ewelme in Oxfordshire where she greeted visitors.

On his way across the English Channel his vessel was intercepted by The Nicholas of the Tower whose crew subjected him to a mock trial, after which he was beheaded and his body thrown overboard.

William's remains were recovered from the beach at Dover, and Alice had her husband buried at the Kingston Charterhouse, founded in 1377 by his grandfather, Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk.

A wealthy landowner, Alice de la Pole held land in 22 counties, and was a patron of the poet John Lydgate.

[6][7] The alabaster monument, almost undamaged by time, consists of a chest tomb on top of which is the recumbent effigy of the Duchess, with a canopy of panelled stone above.

[1] The Latin inscription on the monument is: Orate pro Anima Serenissimae Principissae Aliciae Ducissae Suffolciae Huius Ecclesiae Patronae, et Primae Fundatricis Huius Eleemosynariae Quae obit XX Die Mensis Maii Anno 1475[1] ("Pray ye all for the soul of the Most Serene Princess Alice, Duchess of Suffolk, patron of this church, and first founder of this charity, who died on the 20th day of the month of May in the year 1475").

Three of John de la Pole's four sons by Elizabeth of York - Alice's grandsons - pursued the unsuccessful Yorkist claim to the throne against Henry VII.