Audrey Walsingham Audrey Walsingham Lady Audrey Walsingham, née "Shelton" (1568-1624), was an English court office holder. She served as Lady of the Bedchamber to queen Elizabeth I of England, and then as Mistress of the Robes to Anne of Denmark from 1603 until 1619. She was born to Sir Ralph Shelton and married Sir Thomas Walsingham, cousin of Sir Francis Walsingham. She served as Lady of the Bedchamber to queen Elizabeth I. In 1603, she was selected to be in the English entourage who met the new queen at the Scottish border, and accompanied her to London. She was appointed Mistress of
Francis Walsingham to promote the Protestant interest by embarrassing and weakening the Spanish, as well as to seize Spanish treasure. The first edition of Richard Hakluyt's "Principal Navigation, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation" was dedicated to Walsingham. Walsingham advocated direct intervention in the Netherlands in support of the Protestant revolt against Spain, on the grounds that although wars of conquest were unjust, wars in defence of religious liberty and freedom were not. Cecil was more circumspect and advised a policy of mediation, a policy that Elizabeth endorsed. Walsingham was sent on a special embassy to the Netherlands in 1578, to