Alice Perrers Philippa of Hainault, the respected and matronly queen of Edward III. Alice's beauty and charm caught the eye of King Edward III while at court. Shortly after, around 1366, when she was only 18 years of age (the king was 55), she became the mistress of Edward III. Only when Philippa died in 1369 of dropsy did Alice's affair with the king become more visible. Their affair aroused envy and hatred of Alice, as she was only 21 years old. Following the queen's death, a devastated Edward leaned heavily on her considerable abilities; her courtly dominance accelerated by his loss.
Alice FitzAlan, Baroness Cherleton Eleanor of Lancaster, and her maternal grandparents were William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. On 21 September 1397, her father was executed at Tower Hill, Cheapside for high treason against King Richard II of England. Sometime before March 1392 Alice married John Cherleton, 4th Lord Cherleton (25 April 1362 – 19 October 1401). According to popular belief, following her marriage she became the mistress of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, and bore him an illegitimate daughter, Jane Beaufort. In Philip Yorke's "The Royal Tribes of Wales", he states that "Cardinal Beaufort left an illegitimate daughter by Alice,