Eleanor was born on 18 June 1318,[1] at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire to King Edward II of England and Isabella of France.

[8] In May 1332 Eleanor married the count of Guelders and Zutphen, Reinoud II "the black" (English: Reginald), of the House of Wassenberg (born c. 1287), a marriage arranged by her brother, Edward III, and her mother's cousin Joan of Valois.

[10] Her husband was reportedly under the influence of the priest Jan Moliart, who had been active in her exile and the false pretense of her alleged leprosy.

[10] During her supposed exile, she is said to have stayed in Deventer; she does appear to have been active as the protector of the Franciscan Friars, and a financier of their new church.

Although there is no firm evidence to support this story, which finds parallels in the legends surrounding numerous other royal women, Eleanor turned up in Court in Nijmegen to contest the annulment, and proceeded to strip down, proving she was no leper, and thus forcing her husband to take her back.

Her tombstone had the simple inscription ELEANOR on it; however, in England, on the south side of Philippa of Hainault's tomb in Westminster Abbey there is an image of her and her husband.