No one, not even the king, was so well connected as Henry

Twelve of the most prominent young men of the realm were to be knighted in a special service. … If ever there was an event which demonstrated Henry’s position at the heart of English aristocracy, it was this ceremony. Imagine the oak doors to the chapel closing behind them, and each of the twelve youths casting sideways glances at each other as they stood ready to be knighted. No one, not even the king, was so well connected as Henry. He was related to all but one of them.

I. Mortimer, The fears of Henry IV (2007), 33