Portrait of William, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580-1630), Lord Chamberlain to King Charles I and Chancellor of Oxford University, three-quarter-length, in a black doublet and hose and a white ruff, holding a glove in his left hand and a wand of office in his right

The sitter, the eldest son of Henry, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and his third wife Mary, the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney, succeeded to the Earldom in 1600. He married Mary, daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury in 1604, and the marriage was celebrated by a tournament at Wilton. The previous year he had been made a Knight of the Garter by King James I and had entertained the King at Wilton. He had a great interest in the New World and in 1609 became a member if the King's Council for the Virginia Company, and the Bermudas company in 1615, a division of the island being named after him. From 1614 he was also a member of the East India company. After the fall of Somerset in 1616 he was appointed Lord Chamberlain and from 1617 he was also Chancellor of Oxford University. An accomplished poet he was a friend of John Donne and Ben Johnson and the first folio of Shakespeare's works were dedicated to him and his brother. In this portrait he is shown with his wand of office as Lord Chamberlain.