Not long after the death of John, Lord Sheffield, in December 1568, his widow began an affair with Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, Queen Elizabeth's favourite.

"[7] He would help her, in case she wanted to marry elsewhere for reasons of respectability: "for when you have made your election you shall find me a most willing and ready friend to perform all good offices toward you".

[14] In 1604 Lady Sheffield claimed that she had refused to surrender the custody of their son, Robert, for fear that his father, Leicester, would have him killed.

[17] From 1583 until 1591 Edward Stafford served as English ambassador to the court of Henry III of France; his wife accompanied him to Paris.

There Lady Sheffield became a prominent figure in society and a special friend of Catherine de' Medici, whom she advised about a reform of the French royal household.

It was concluded that Sir Robert Dudley had been duped by Thomas Drury, who in his turn had sought "his own private gains".

[1] Required to answer questions for the case, he maintained that Sir Robert Dudley had "terrified" his mother into supporting him against her deep reservations.

[1] Stafford wrote that he had asked his wife in December 1579, on the Queen's command, if she had been contracted to Leicester, to which "she answered with great vows, grief and passion that she had trusted the said earl too much to have anything to show to constrain him to marry her.

[1] In her will she left a black velvet bed among other things to her "honourable and beloved son Sir Robert Dudley".