Elizabeth Woodville most beautiful woman in the Island of Britain" with "heavy-lidded eyes like those of a dragon." Edward IV had many mistresses, the best known of them Jane Shore, and he did not have a reputation for fidelity. His marriage to the widowed Elizabeth Woodville took place secretly and, though the date is not known, it is traditionally said to have taken place at her family home in Northamptonshire on 1 May 1464. Only the bride's mother and two ladies were in attendance. Edward married her just over three years after he had assumed the English throne in the wake of
Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk Lady Katherine Woodville (sister of queen consort Elizabeth Woodville), and on her mother's, Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, and Lady Maud Herbert. Her paternal grandfather, the 2nd Duke, was executed for treason in 1483 by King Richard III, and in 1521 her own father suffered the same fate when he was beheaded on Tower Hill for treason against King Henry VIII. Elizabeth had a brother and two sisters: Elizabeth's father is also said to have had three illegitimate children, who would have been Elizabeth's siblings of the half blood: Elizabeth lived at home until at least 1508. According to