Sir William Petre was Secretary of State to three successive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I. He also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I.
Sir William Petre. The sitter is identified both by his armorials (upper left) and in the cartellino (upper right). This form of cartellino was often added to portraits in the Lumley collection. A copy without the cartellino is among the Petre Pictures
Secretary of State (England)
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary.
Richard Foxe, King's Secretary 1485 to 1487
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, a Secretary of Queen Elizabeth