[9] It was there at court that the young woman caught the eye of the King and became his mistress during 1514 or 1515, a relationship which continued for about eight years, after the suggestion of an affair was brought to light.

[10][11][12] Blount's relationship with Henry VIII lasted for some time, compared to his other affairs, which were generally short-lived and unacknowledged.

[13] On 15 June 1519, Blount bore the King an illegitimate son who was named Henry FitzRoy, later created Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Earl of Nottingham.

Soon after the birth of his son, the King began an affair with Mary Boleyn, who may have been partly the reason for Blount's dismissal.

Her role in the life of her royal son is less documented, although a letter of 1529 to her from John Palsgrave, Henry FitzRoy's tutor, suggests that her involvement in the duke's upbringing was greater than previously believed.

[16] Compared with Henry's first two wives, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, Blount's importance to history is arguably negligible.

Blount was the mother of Henry's only acknowledged illegitimate child, and at one point in the 1520s it was suggested that her son should be named the King's legal heir.

[citation needed] The fact that Henry fathered a healthy son with Elizabeth would later prove to be important during the king's Great Matter.

Katherine gave birth to a son, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, in 1511, but the prince died of unknown causes just seven weeks later.