Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon

Lady Elizabeth Stanley
Countess of Huntingdon Lady Hastings of Hungerford Lady Botreaux
Miniature portrait of Lady Elizabeth Stanley by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1601–1610
Spouse(s)	Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon
Issue Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon Lady Alice Hastings Lady Elizabeth Hastings Lord Henry Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough of Loughborough
Noble family	Stanley
Father	Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, Lord of Mann
Mother	Alice Spencer
Born	6 January 1588 Knowsley Hall, Knowsley, England
Died	20 January 1633 (aged 45) Whitefriars, London, England
Buried	Parish church of St. Helen, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire
Occupation	Writer

Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Huntingdon (6 January 1588 – 20 January 1633) was an English noblewoman and writer who was third in line of succession to the English throne. She was the wife of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon. She was also styled Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux as her husband held both of these titles in addition to the Earl of Huntingdon.

Lady Elizabeth was born and baptised on 6 January 1588, in Knowsley, Lancashire, the third and youngest daughter, and co-heir of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, Lord of Mann, and Alice Spencer (4 May 1559 -January 1637). As the great-great-granddaughter of Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk, the younger sister of King Henry VIII, Elizabeth became, after the death of her grandmother, Lady Margaret Clifford in 1596, third in line of succession to the English throne. Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, Elizabeth and her older sisters, Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven, heir presumptive, and Lady Frances Stanley were passed over in favour of King James VI of Scotland, who was descended from King Henry's elder sister Margaret Tudor.

(See main article: Alternative successions of the English crown).

On 15 January 1601, shortly after her 13th birthday, Lady Elizabeth married Henry Hastings, the only son of Francis Hastings, Baron Hastings and Lady Sarah Harrington. As his father had died in 1595, Henry was heir to the earldom of Huntingdon. On 31 December 1604, upon the death of his grandfather George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon, he succeeded as the fifth earl. From that date onward, Lady Elizabeth was styled Countess of Huntingdon, as well as Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux, since her husband also held those titles.