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Anne Stafford
Portrait of Anne Stafford.jpg
Anne Stafford, c. 1535, by Ambrosius Benson
Born c.1483
Died 1544
Buried at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire
Noble family Stafford (by birth)
Huntingdon (by marriage)
Spouse(s) Sir Walter Herbert
George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon
Issue Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon
Sir Thomas Hastings
Edward Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings of Loughborough
Henry Hastings
William Hastings
Dorothy Hastings
Mary Hastings
Katherine Hastings
Father Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Mother Catherine Woodville

Lady Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (née Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. She was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Catherine Woodville, sister of queen consort Elizabeth Woodville. She was first the wife of Sir Walter Herbert and then George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, and served in the household of King Henry VIII's daughter, the future Queen Mary I.

Life

Born around 1483, Anne Stafford was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Catherine Woodville Catherine was a sister of Elizabeth Woodville, Consort of Edward IV, making Anne a first cousin of Elizabeth of York. Anne had two brothers, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire; and a sister, Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex.

In 1483, Richard III executed her father for treason, following his part in the uprisings which became known as Buckingham's rebellion. Anne's mother remarried in 1485 to Jasper Tudor, later Duke of Bedford.

In 1503, Anne married Sir Walter Herbert. After Herbert died in 1507, Anne gave control of her jointure, which included Raglan Castle in Wales, to her brother, Edward. Anne went to live in her brother's household at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, until her second marriage to George Hastings in 1509.

..... On one occasion, Stafford found Compton in Anne's room. ..... Hastings sent Anne to live in a convent 60 miles (100 km) away from the royal court. ..... Nor that she was Henry VIII's mistress, aside from illogical notion that Compton met her to hand her a message from the King, which he could easily have handed to her in less scandalous way. However, in 1523 Compton took the unusual step of bequeathing land to Anne in his will, and directing his executors to include her in the prayers for his kin for which he had made provision in his will.

Despite this scandal, Anne and Hastings apparently enjoyed a close, loving relationship. This was evidenced by a letter written to Anne by Hastings in 1525 which has been described as 'one of the most affectionate and charming letters of the period'.

Marriages and children

Anne Stafford married firstly, in 1503, Sir Walter Herbert (d. 16 September 1507), an illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The marriage was childless.

She married secondly, in December 1509, George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon. They had five sons and three daughters:

Fictional portrayals

  • Anne is the protagonist of At the King's Pleasure by Kate Emerson.
  • In two 2007 episodes of the Showtime television series, The Tudors, Anne, portrayed by Anna Brewster, is presented as the 3rd Duke of Buckingham's daughter (she was his sister), and is involved not with Henry VIII but with a fictionalized version of the King's future brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Several episodes later, a "Mistress Hastings" portrayed by Rachel Kavanagh is shown as dying of the same sweating sickness that killed William Compton. It is uncertain if both characters are an amalgamation of historical Anne Stafford.

In the second season of the Starz TV show The Spanish Princess she is played by actress Tessa Bonham Jones.

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