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The sitter of the portrait is thought to be Catherine Carey, after her marriage Catherine Knollys and later known as both Lady Knollys and Lady Catherine Knollys (c. 1524-1569). She was chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I, who was her first cousin. Catherine's mother was Mary Boleyn, a mistress of Henry VIII before he courted and later married her sister, Anne Boleyn. Catherine is believed by some authors to be an illegitimate child of Henry VIII. She was the wife of Sir Francis Knollys, with whom she had 14 children.
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