Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex paternal aunt was Margaret Dayrell who was wife to James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley. Her maternal uncles included (among others) Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers and Lionel Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury. Her aunts included Elizabeth Woodville and Mary Woodville, married respectively to Edward IV of England and William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Her first cousins included (among others) John Tuchet, 8th Baron Audley, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, Richard Grey, Elizabeth of York, Mary of York, Cecily of York, Edward V of England, Margaret of York, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York,
Anne Woodville an Act of Parliament known as "Titulus Regius" which declared King Edward V and his siblings illegitimate. Elizabeth, now styled as Dame Grey, was forced to seek sanctuary with her daughters, while her two sons, the "Princes in the Tower" were kept in the Tower of London by the orders of King Richard III. On 25 June 1483, King Richard also ordered the executions of Anne and Elizabeth's brother Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, and Richard Grey who was Elizabeth's younger son by her first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby. Anne Woodville, Viscountess Bourchier, died on 30 July 1489,