Penelope Devereux | |
|---|---|
| Lady Rich | |
 Portrait miniature thought to be Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich, c.1590 by Nicholas Hilliard | |
| Born | January 1563 Chartley Castle, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 7 July 1607 (aged 44) London, England |
| Noble family | Devereux |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Rich, 3rd Baron Rich Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire |
| Issue | Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland Sir Charles Rich Lettice Rich Penelope Rich Essex Rich Isabel Rich Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport Elizabeth Blount John Blount |
| Father | Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex |
| Mother | Lettice Knollys |
Penelope Rich, Lady Rich, later styled Penelope Blount (née Devereux; January 1563[1] – 7 July 1607) was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the English queen Anne of Denmark. She was the sister of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and is traditionally thought to be the inspiration for "Stella" of Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella sonnet sequence (published posthumously in 1591).[2][3] She was married to Robert Rich, 3rd Baron Rich (later 1st Earl of Warwick) and had a public liaison with Charles Blount, Baron Mountjoy, whom she married in an unlicensed ceremony following her divorce from Rich. She died in 1607.
- ^ Hammer, p. 22. Hammer cites M. Margetts: "A christening date for Lady Penelope Rich", N&Q 238, (1993), pp. 153–54.
- ^ Stephen, p. 1007
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 292.