Elizabeth was the daughter of
John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle and Lady Muriel Howard. The death of her father in 1504 meant that she was born a considerable heiress and ward of the Crown. In 1509 her grandfather,
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, obtained a lease of her lands from the king. After the death of her stepfather
Sir Thomas Knyvet in August 1512 and of her mother a few months later, Elizabeth's wardship was purchased by
Sir Charles Brandon, a favourite of
Henry VIII. Betrothal to his eight-year-old ward facilitated Brandon's elevation to the peerage as
Viscount Lisle in May 1513. In 1515, Brandon married
Mary Tudor, the Queen Dowager of France and Henry VIII's younger sister (without having obtained the consent of the King). The Countess married Elizabeth to her son
Henry Courtenay, a cousin of the King and grandson of
Edward IV of England, but as she died aged fourteen it is unlikely the marriage was consummated. After her death the Lisle title passed to
Arthur Plantagenet, the husband of
Elizabeth Grey, 6th Baroness Lisle, Elizabeth's aunt. ==References==