Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven

Who was Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven?

Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven was the eldest daughter and heir of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby and Alice Spencer. According to the will of Henry VIII and the Third Succession Act, she was heir presumptive to the English throne upon the death of Elizabeth I.

Her paternal grandparents were Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby and Lady Margaret Clifford. Margaret was a daughter of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Lady Eleanor Brandon. Eleanor was herself the youngest daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France.