Lady Eleanor Brandon (1519 – 27 September 1547) was the third child and second daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Princess Mary Tudor, the Dowager Queen consort of France. She was the younger sister of Lady Frances Brandon and the elder sister of Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln. She was also the younger paternal half-sister of Lady Anne Brandon and Lady Mary Brandon from her father's second marriage. After her mother's death in 1533, her father remarried to Catherine Willoughby and Eleanor became the elder half-sister of Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk.
Marriage[]
Lady Eleanor was a descendant of a member of the Tudor dynasty and therefore her marriage would advance the political ambitions of any given husband. In March 1533, a marriage contract was written up for Lady Eleanor and Henry Clifford, the eldest son and heir of Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland by Lady Margaret Percy. However, since her mother died nine months later, she waited to go and live with her young husband and in-laws. In anticipation of Eleanor's arrival, the Earl of Cumberland built two towers and the great gallery within Skipton Castle. Eleanor married Clifford in June 1535; her uncle King Henry VIII was present.
A Queen's funeral[]
In January 1536, Eleanor was designated the chief mourner for the funeral service of Catherine of Aragon, first Queen consort of Henry VIII, at Peterborough Cathedral.
Prospects of succeeding to the throne[]
The Will of Henry VIII, excluding the argument that it was signed with a dry stamp rather than by hand, defined that Eleanor was in line to succeed her maternal uncle Henry VIII. She was eighth-in-line for the throne following;
- Edward, Prince of Wales, her first cousin.
- Mary Tudor, her first cousin.
- Elizabeth Tudor, her first cousin.
- Lady Frances Brandon, her elder sister.
- Lady Jane Grey, her eldest niece.
- Lady Katherine Grey, her second niece.
- Lady Mary Grey, her third niece.
Death[]
Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. Prince Edward became King Edward VI. Lady Eleanor was the seventh-in-line for the throne, but she died on 27 September the same year without surviving male issue at Brougham Castle and was buried at Skipwith. Her place in line to succession to the throne was taken by her daughter, Lady Margaret Clifford. Her husband later remarried Anne Dacre, who bore him six more children.