Henry de Lacy’s daughter Alice was married to Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, and he by right of his wife became Earl of Denbigh. Edward of Carnarvon had received his father’s instructions before Edward I. died. Of these the principal were: that he should persist in the conquest of Scotland, and should not recall his favourite Piers de Gaveston. These commands were violated by the young King. His first act was to send for Gaveston, and to confer on him the royal earldom of Cornwall; and when, at the coronation of Edward, Gaveston was given precedence over all the great nobles of the realm, their wrath knew no bounds. Three days after the ceremony they called upon the King to dismiss his favourite. Edward was obliged to give way, and Gaveston to swear that he would never return. The Pope, however, released the favourite from his oath, and shortly after Edward recalled him. The Earl of Lancaster and Denbigh refused to attend the next parliament convoked by the King, and the barons, flying to arms, captured Gaveston at Scarborough, and by order of Thomas of Lancaster cut off his head. The news affected the King with passionate grief, to which was quickly added a fierce desire for revenge. Some time after the death of Gaveston, Edward found a new favourite, Hugh le Despenser, whose harsh attempt to enforce feudal law to his own advantage excited the marchers of Wales to arms against him. They were joined by Thomas of Lancaster, but he was defeated and taken to Pontefract Castle, where he was executed. Upon his death Denbigh was conferred on Hugh le Despenser. The incapacity and favouritism of Edward occasioned a fresh outbreak, and Hugh le Despenser fell into the hands of the barons, who hanged him after a hasty trial. Then Denbigh Castle passed to another favourite, Roger Mortimer, the paramour of Queen Isabella. He was taken at Nottingham, arraigned in a Parliament summoned at Winchester, and hanged at Tyburn. It really seemed that Denbigh was doomed to bring ill-luck on its masters. That ill-luck did not end with the hanging of Mortimer. In 1566 Elizabeth granted it to her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whom she created Earl of Denbigh.