Mary Fitton (or Fytton) (baptised 24 June 1578 – 1647) was an Elizabethan gentlewoman who became a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth. She is noted for her scandalous affairs with William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Leveson, and others. She is considered by some to be the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets. Family Fitton was the daughter of Sir Edward Fitton of Gawsworth, Cheshire and Alice Halcroft. She had at least three siblings: her elder sister Anne, who married John Newdigate in 1587 at the age of twelve, and two brothers. One of her brothers was Edward Fitton. Life at court Mary Fitton became a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth in about 1595. Her father recommended her to the care of Sir William Knollys, Comptroller of the Queen's household. Knollys promised, "I will be as careful of her well doing as if I were her own true father." but Knollys, then fifty years old and married, soon became suitor to Mary Fitton. He wrote of his passion to her sister and even named Mary's niece, whom he was sponsoring as godfather, "Mary". His infatuation was well known and mocked in court. In January 1599, Mary had to quit the court and returned to her father's house at Charing Cross because she was sick and "not well at ease". She was suffering from a mixture of physical and mental symptoms that Elizabethans called "suffocation of the mother", probably a form of hysteria. When she returned to court, she refused Knollys. In June 1600 Mary led a dance in the masque celebrating the fashionable wedding of Lady Anne Russell, granddaughter of the Earl of Bedford, with Henry Somerset, later created Marquess of Worcester, at Lord Cobham's residence in Blackfriars. Led by Mary, the maids performed an allegorical dance and afterwards chose substitutes from the audience. Mary boldly chose the queen, telling her that she represented Affection (which then meant passionate love), to which the queen replied "Affection? Affection's false". The masque was perhaps unusual, as on other occasions the noble dancers (especially women) rarely gave speeches. William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke, is known to have been present at this dance. Mary Fitton became his mistress, and was soon pregnant. In February 1601 Pembroke was sent to the Fleet Prison after admitting paternity but refusing to marry his mistress. Mary Fitton was placed with Lady Margaret Hawkins,