Our Aunt
Alison Weir – my hero – made an error in her book Henry VIII; it’s on page 398, re: Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet. She wrote “In 1537, his marriage to Elizabeth Brooke was finally dissolved, and he married Jane Haute, a distant connection of the King’s grandmother, Elizabeth Wydeville, queen of Edward IV. Despite his aversion for court life, Wyatt now made a career of diplomacy …”
She got her Wyatts crossed. It’s easy to do.
Sir Tom’s love to the end was Elizabeth Darrell, one of Katherine of Aragon’s most faithful ladies. They openly lived together. So far as I know, Thomas and Elizabeth Brooke never got their divorce; she remarried after his death. And we all know his son married Jane Haute.
There was a bright spot in the disappointment – I didn’t know about the Haute/Wydeville connection. I threw myself into ancestry.com and hope you’re as excited as I am to learn more about this branch of our tree. If memory serves, Edward IV made a somewhat violent pass at (our Aunt) Elizabeth and she resisted. Of course he was smitten by any beautiful woman with morals, so he married her. He was a fun, earthy king – someone we might enjoy having a beer with. He remembered names and treated commoners with uncommon friendliness.
When he died our “Aunt” Elizabeth York scrambled to protect her children from the forces that hoped to seize his throne. Our cousins – the princes in the tower – were probably smothered in their bed by Richard III’s men. (It amazes me that the history that affects me most deeply always winds up involving actual ancestors.)
Henry Tudor’s brilliant mother Margaret Beaufort plotted a match between Elizabeth’s daughter and her son; Richard III was vanquished, the marriage took place and our Haute line joined the Tudor line to Henry VIII himself. Worst cousin EVER.
Imagine what this means to our relation to Queen Elizabeth. Since we’re related to Anne Boleyn through Elizabeth Brooke, we’re related to her mother and her father.
The generational distance shown here is mine and I’m a baby boomer. If you are too, the distance should be fairly close. Add, subtract, or hit ancestry.com to work it out on your own.
(Note that part of this line might be incorrect – see the comment about Joan Woodville below; this warrants further investigation when I have time. )
OUR HAUTE – WYDEVILLE – WYATT CONNECTION
Lady Joan Wydville/Woodville (1410 – 1462)
(Sister of Queen Elizabeth, Wife of Edward IV)
is our 16th great grandmother
William Haute or Hawte (1430 – 1497)
Son of Lady Joan
Thomas Hawte (1453 – 1502)
Son of William
Hawte, Sir William Knight (1490 – 1530)
Son of Thomas
Jane, Lady Hawte (Haute) (1522 – 1600)
Daughter of Hawte, Sir William Knight
George (Sir) Wyatt (1550 – 1625)
Son of Jane, Lady
Reverend Haute Wyatt (1594 – 1638)
Son of George (Sir)
Elizabeth Wydeville “Queen Consort of England” Wife of Edward IV (1437 – 1492)
Mother of the Princes in the Tower
is our 16th great grand aunt
Sir Richard I DeWydeville/Woodville Constable of the Tower (1385 – 1441)
Father of Elizabeth
Lady Joan Wydville/Woodville (1410 – 1462)
Daughter of Sir Richard I
William Haute or Hawte (1430 – 1497)
Son of Lady Joan
Thomas Hawte (1453 – 1502)
Son of William
Hawte, Sir William Knight (1490 – 1530)
Son of Thomas
Jane, Lady Hawte (Haute) (1522 – 1600)
Daughter of Hawte, Sir William Knight
George (Sir) Wyatt (1550 – 1625)
Son of Jane, Lady
Reverend Haute Wyatt (1594 – 1638)
Son of George (Sir)
Elizabeth York Plantagenet (Queen of England, Wife of Henry VII) (1466 – 1503)
is our 1st cousin 17x removed
Elizabeth Wydeville “Queen Consort of England” (1437 – 1492)
Mother of Elizabeth York
Sir Richard I DeWydeville/Woodville Constable of the Tower (1385 – 1441)
Father of Elizabeth
Lady Joan Wydville/Woodville (1410 – 1462)
Daughter of Sir Richard I
William Haute or Hawte (1430 – 1497)
Son of Lady Joan
Thomas Hawte (1453 – 1502)
Son of William
Hawte, Sir William Knight (1490 – 1530)
Son of Thomas
Jane, Lady Hawte (Haute) (1522 – 1600)
Daughter of Hawte, Sir William Knight
George (Sir) Wyatt (1550 – 1625)
Son of Jane, Lady
Reverend Haute Wyatt (1594 – 1638)
Son of George (Sir)
Henry VIII Tudor (1491 – 1547)
is our 2nd cousin 16x removed
Elizabeth York Plantagenet (Queen Of England) (1466 – 1503)
Mother of Henry VIII
Elizabeth Wydeville “Queen Consort of England” (1437 – 1492)
Mother of Elizabeth York
Sir Richard I DeWydeville/Woodville Constable of the Tower (1385 – 1441)
Father of Elizabeth
Lady Joan Wydville/Woodville (1410 – 1462)
Daughter of Sir Richard I
William Haute or Hawte (1430 – 1497)
Son of Lady Joan
Thomas Hawte (1453 – 1502)
Son of William
Hawte, Sir William Knight (1490 – 1530)
Son of Thomas
Jane, Lady Hawte (Haute) (1522 – 1600)
Daughter of Hawte, Sir William Knight
George (Sir) Wyatt (1550 – 1625)
Son of Jane, Lady
Reverend Haute Wyatt (1594 – 1638)
Son of George (Sir)
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet 
Joan Woodville, wife to Sir William Haute/Hawte was actually the aunt of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, not a sister. This lineage is well documented as one of their descendants was another controversial wife of a later King Edward (VIII), Wallis Warfield, Duchess of Windsor. This lineage is in her latest biography and Richardson’s genealogical books. This connection also makes “us” a cousin to Katherine Parr, sixth queen of Henry VIII (Joan was her maternal great-great-grandmother).
This was from ancestry.com – thank you very much for the correction!