English and British royal mistress cousin, the Earl of Lancaster, a group of the barons seized and executed Gaveston in 1312. Edward III appears to have been devoted to his wife, Philippa of Hainault, who bore him 12 children. However, late in their marriage the aged King met Alice Perrers, a young lady-in-waiting to the Queen. Some sources have it that she became his mistress in 1363, six years before his wife's death; others date their relationship to the time when the Queen was terminally ill. The affair was not made public until after the Queen's death, when the King lavished gifts and honours on
Alice FitzAlan, Countess of Kent Lord Holland was appointed captain of the English forces in Aquitaine in 1366, and in 1375, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Two years later in 1377, his half-brother Richard succeeded to the throne of England, as King Richard II. Alice's husband would become one of the young King's chief counsellors and exert a strong influence over his brother which led to the enrichment of Thomas and Alice. Alice was appointed a Lady of the Garter, an order of chivalry, in 1388. Together Thomas and Alice had ten children: Alice's husband died on 25 April 1397. In 1399,