Lady Elizabeth Stafford (later Duchess of Norfolk) (c.1497 – 30 November 1558) was an English aristocrat. She was the eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Lady Eleanor Percy. By marriage she became Duchess of Norfolk. Her abusive marriage to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, created a public scandal. Family Lady Elizabeth Stafford, born about 1497, was the eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and Eleanor Percy (d. 1530). Her paternal grandmother, Lady Catherine Woodville was sister of Queen Elizabeth Woodville and hence sister-in-law of King Edward IV of England. Her paternal grandfather, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 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. Early life Elizabeth lived at home until at least 1508. According to Harris, Elizabeth's father saw that all his children received some education and her literacy is attested to by the fact that she was described by the poet John Skelton as an admirer, friend of the muses and his particular patron. Elizabeth came to court in 1509 as a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, and became the Queen's lifelong friend. Marriage Before 8 January 1513, when she was only fifteen and he was thirty-five years of age, Elizabeth became the second wife of Thomas Howard, then Earl of Surrey. He was the widower of Anne, daughter of King Edward IV. Elizabeth had earlier been promised in marriage to her father's ward, Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland. The young Elizabeth and Ralph Neville seem to have been mutually devoted, and years later, in a letter to Thomas Cromwell dated 28 September 1537, Elizabeth recalled that: He and I had loved together two years, an my lord my husband had not sent immediately word after my lady and my lord's first wife was dead, he made suit to my lord my father, or else I had been married before Christmas to my Lord of Westmorland'. Elizabeth's father initially attempted to persuade Howard to marry one of his other daughters, but according to Elizabeth, 'He would have none of my sisters, but only me'. Elizabeth brought Howard a dowry of 2000 marks, and was promised a jointure of 500 marks a year, although Howard apparently never kept that promise. In her later