by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, was the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom from 1889 until 1898, while he was The Prince of Wales. A renowned social hostess, she later put much of her time and effort – and fortune – into helping those less fortunate.

Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick – source: Wikipedia

Frances Evelyn “Daisy” Maynard was born in London on December 10, 1861, the daughter of Col. Charles Maynard and Blanche FitzRoy. Her father was the son and heir of Henry Maynard, 3rd Viscount Maynard. Daisy’s father Charles died several months before his father, resulting in the VIscountcy Maynard becoming extinct. As the elder child, Daisy inherited the majority of the Maynard estates and fortune. Daisy’s mother was descended from King Charles II in several different ways, through his mistresses Nell Gwyn, Barbara Palmer and Louise de Kéroualle.

Daisy had one younger sister:

• Blanche Maynard (1864) – married Col. Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, had issue

Two years after being widowed, Daisy’s mother married Robert St Clair-Erskine, 4th Earl of Rosslyn, a favorite of Queen Victoria. Through this marriage, Daisy had five half-siblings:

• Lady Millicent St Clair-Erskine (1867) – married Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland, had issue
• James St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl of Rosslyn (1869) – married (1) Violet Vyner, had issue (divorced); (2) Anna Robinson, no issue (divorced); (3) Vera Bayley, had issue
• The Hon. Alexander St Clair-Erskine (1870) – married Winifrede Baker, no issue
• Lady Sybil St Clair-Erskine (1871) – married Anthony Fane, 13th Earl of Westmorland, had issue
• Lady Angela St Clair-Erskine (1876) – married Lieutenant-Colonel James Forbes, had issue (divorced)

Having inherited her paternal grandfather’s estates and fortune in 1865, including the family seat, Easton Lodge in Essex, Daisy was greatly pursued as a potential bride. One prominent possibility was a marriage to Queen Victoria’s youngest son Prince Leopold. The Queen herself wanted to arrange a marriage, but it never came to be. Instead, Daisy fell in love with Leopold’s aide-de-camp Francis Greville.

Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick. source: Wikipedia

On April 30, 1881, Daisy and Francis were married at Westminster Abbey, with several members of the Royal Family in attendance including The Prince and Princess of Wales. Daisy’s new husband was the eldest son and heir of George Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick and Lady Anne Wemyss-Charteris, daughter of the 9th Earl of Wemyss. Following their marriage, the couple lived at Easton Lodge, and after her husband succeeded as 5th Earl of Warwick in 1893, they moved to Warwick Castle.

Daisy and Francis had five children:

• Leopold Guy Greville, 6th Earl of Warwick (1882) – married Elfrida Marjorie Eden, had issue
• Marjorie Blanche Greville (1884) – married (1) Charles Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham, had issue; (2) Sir William Gervase Beckett, 2nd Baronet, had issue
• The Hon. Charles Greville (1885) – died in childhood
• The Hon. Maynard Greville (1898) – married Dora Pape, had issue
• Lady Mercy Greville (1904) – married (1) Basil Dean, had issue; (2) Patrick Gamble, no issue; (3) Richard Marter, no issue

It is believed that only the couple’s first child was the legitimate child of Daisy’s husband. She alleged Lord Charles Beresford was the father of her elder daughter Marjorie and it is possible that her son Charles was also Beresford’s child. Her last two children were fathered by Joe Laycock, a wealthy bachelor with whom Daisy maintained a long-term affair despite his wandering ways.

The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII; Credit – Wikipedia

Quickly rising in the ranks of London society, Daisy became one of the most celebrated hostesses amongst the Marlborough House Set – the upper echelon of society led by the Prince and Princess of Wales. When her affair with Charles Beresford became a public scandal in 1889, Daisy turned to the Prince of Wales for advice and support. This quickly turned into an affair that would last for nine years. The Prince would often visit her at Easton Lodge, where she had a rail station built closer to the house to make it easier for him to come and go more discreetly. After her husband succeeded his father as Earl of Warwick in 1893, the Prince of Wales became less discreet about his relationship with Daisy, often attending the theatre and other events together. This led to the Princess of Wales, who had formerly enjoyed Daisy’s company, to refuse to include Daisy in any further social events at Marlborough House and Sandringham.

After ending her affair with the Prince of Wales, Daisy threw herself into philanthropic work. Getting involved with the Social Democratic Federation, she fought for better working conditions, salaries, and education for women and those less fortunate. Within several years, she had depleted much of the fortune she had inherited from her grandfather, however, she refused an offer to write her memoirs and discuss her relationship with the then-King Edward VII. But after he died in 1910, her debt continued to increase and she began to consider the possibility of publishing her private letters. Her threats to publish them in the hopes of getting a financial settlement from the new King George V were unsuccessful. The King’s lawyers took the matter to court where it was decided that the Crown held the copyright to those letters and they could not be published in the United Kingdom. A subsequent threat to publish the letters in the United States was more successful. British politician Arthur Du Cros paid off a large amount of Daisy’s debt in exchange for the letters.

Daisy, Countess of Warwick in her later years. source: The Peerage

Having survived her husband for 24 years, The Dowager Countess of Warwick died at Easton Lodge on July 26, 1938, at the age of 76. She is buried at the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary in Warwick, England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Nell Gwyn; Credit – Wikipedia

Nell Gwyn’s beginnings are uncertain. Generally, her birth is given as February 2, 1650. A horoscope done for Nell Gwyn by antiquarian and astrologer Elias Ashmole at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford bears that date. Three cities claim to be Nell’s birthplace: Hereford, London, and Oxford in England. Thomas Gwyn, an army captain who died or disappeared, is thought to be Nell’s father. Nell’s mother was born Helena Smith, known as Madam Gwyn, in the civil parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, England, and lived there all her life. Nell had an older sister Rose and the two girls were brought up in one of the streets off Drury Lane, on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London. At that time, the area of Drury Lane was almost exclusively brothels and pubs and was considered the center of London prostitution. Nell’s mother worked as a tapwoman at the Rose Tavern on Russell Street and it can be assumed that she also worked as a prostitute and that Nell probably worked as a child prostitute.

When King Charles II was restored to the English throne in 1660 after ten years of protectorate rule by Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard Cromwell, he quickly reinstated the theater that the Cromwells had banned. In 1663, the King’s Company, led by Thomas Killigrew, opened a new playhouse, the Theatre in Bridges Street, which was later rebuilt and renamed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Mary Meggs, a former prostitute nicknamed “Orange Moll” and a friend of Madam Gwyn’s, was granted a license to sell fruit and sweetmeats within the theater. Orange Moll hired Nell and her older sister Rose as scantily clad “orange-girls” to sell her wares to the audience inside the theater. The orange-girls were exposed to aspects of theater life and London’s higher society. The actors at the theater were the King’s Company and King Charles II frequently attended performances. The orange-girls also served as messengers between men in the audience and actresses backstage. They received monetary tips for this role and some of these messages would end in sexual assignations.

Previously in England, women’s roles had been played by boys or men. The new theatres were the first in England to feature actresses. Less than a year after becoming an orange-girl, fourteen-year-old Nell became an actress with the King’s Company. Nell could not read or write and had to learn her lines by having them read to her. Charles Hart, one of the fine male actors of the time, taught her the basics of acting, and John Lacy, a comic actor, and playwright, taught her dancing. Nell became the mistress of both John Lacy and Charles Hart.

Nell first appeared in smaller parts during the 1664–65 season but by 1665, she had become a more prominent actress. She was first mentioned in Samuel Pepys‘ famous diary on Monday, April 3, 1665, when Pepys had attended a play and mentioned “pretty, witty Nell”. This unusual use of only her first name would imply that Nell had made herself known both on the stage and off. Her first recorded appearance on-stage was in March 1665, in John Dryden‘s heroic drama The Indian Emperor, playing opposite Charles Hart. However, it was in the new form of restoration comedy that Nell would become a star. In May 1665, she appeared opposite Charles Hart in James Howard’s comedy All Mistaken, or the Mad Couple. This was the first of many appearances in which Nell Gwyn and Charles Hart played the “gay couple”, a pair of witty, antagonistic lovers, the man generally a rake fearing marriage and the woman pretending to do the same to keep her lover at arm’s length.

King Charles II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The affair between Nell and King Charles II began in April 1668 when Nell was attending a performance at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theater. Charles II was in the next box and was more interested in flirting with Nell than watching the play. Charles II invited Nell and her escort to supper, along with his brother the Duke of York. After supper, so the story goes, Charles II discovered that he had no money on him and neither did his brother, resulting in Nell having to cover the cost of the supper. “Od’s fish!” she exclaimed, in imitation of Charles II’s manner of speaking, “but this is the poorest company I ever was in!”

Between September 1668 and the spring of 1669, Charles II and Nell spent much time together. Nell would joke with Charles II, that he was “my Charles the Third”, referring to two former lovers named Charles. When Charles’ sister Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orléans, came to England on a visit in 1670, she met Nell and gave her gifts. Shortly afterward Louise de Kérouaille, one of Henrietta Anne’s ladies-in-waiting also became a mistress of Charles II, however, Nell did not show any signs of jealousy. Unlike Barbara Palmer or Louise de Kérouaille, Nell did not insist on an apartment in the Palace of Whitehall either.

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, son of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn, circa 1690; Credit – Wikipedia

Nell had two children with King Charles II:

• Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670 – 1726), married Lady Diana de Vere, had 12 children, the descendants of Nell Gwynn and King Charles II have continued the line of the Dukes of St. Albans through the centuries
• Lord James Beauclerk (1671 – 1680), died young

Nell was famous for her wit and bawdiness. Some examples follow.

• Because of the general mistrust between England and France in the 17th century, Charles II’s French Catholic mistress Louise de Kérouaille was unpopular with the English people. Instead, most of the public adored the bawdy actress Nell Gwyn. One day, Nell was out for a carriage ride when she heard a crowd shouting at her about her supposed Catholic faith. Nell realized the crowd had mixed her up with Louise. She opened the carriage window and said, “Good people, you are mistaken. I am the Protestant whore.”
• When Charles II asked Nell to invite Anna Maria Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury to a party which Nell gave in his honor, Nell is said to have replied: “One whore at a time should be enough for you, sir.”
• In public, Nell is said to have asked the king several times and very directly whether he would come to her in the evening or not, “I hope I shall have your company at night, shall I?” As might be expected, Nell never hoped in vain to see the king at night.
• Charles II was careful about inviting Nell to the Palace of Whitehall, and Nell never asked for such invitations. She had no desire to act like a lady she was not and that she preferred to meet Charles in her own house in a far more informal atmosphere. Louise de Kérouaille, in contrast, was of French noble descent and moved into apartments in Whitehall in 1671. Both women seldom met in Whitehall, however, Charles loved to arrange day trips and picnics with all his mistresses and children. On one of these occasions, Louise is said to have congratulated Nell on her social rise by saying she was as rich as a queen. Referring to Louise’s new title Duchess of Portsmouth after the birth of her first and only son with Charles, Nell is said to have responded, “You are right, madam. And I am whore enough to be a duchess. “
• When Louise de Kérouaille ‘s son Charles Lennox was made Duke of Richmond, Nell was upset. Her two sons had not yet been given titles and lands like Charles II’s other illegitimate sons. So when Charles II visited her in her house, Nell is said to have called to her son, “Come here, you little bastard, and say hello to your father!” When Charles reprimanded her not to insult the child with the label “bastard,” Nell replied, “Why, Sire, Your Majesty has given me no other name to call him by.” Soon thereafter, Nell’s firstborn son received the titles Duke of St. Albans, Earl of Burford, and Baron Headington.

Nell Gwyn, circa 1680; Credit – Wikipedia

Nell never received a title for “services to the king” or was showered with fortune and jewels like Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland or Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. Charles II did give her an annual pension of £2,000 and several houses where she was famous for giving dinner parties. Despite many offers, she never returned to the theater. Nell never dared meddle in Charles’ personal or political issues, as Louise and Barbara did. She knew such discussions would only cause trouble and avoided these topics.

In July 1679, Nell’s mother, a well-known alcoholic at the end of her life, died. During a night walk, she is said to have fallen into a stream, passed out, and drowned. Nell had supported her mother financially and arranged a lavish funeral for her mother and burial in St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London. When her youngest son Lord James Beauclerk died in Paris, France in 1680, Nell was very distressed and accused herself of being responsible for his death. She had sent him to Paris for upbringing and training for a year, accompanied by his tutor. James is said to have died of an “open leg,” likely an infected wound after an accident.

When Nell learned of King Charles II’s serious illness at the beginning of February 1685, she wanted to see him, but she was not admitted to his bedchamber. Charles’ brother James, who would succeed his brother as King James II, let her know that she was not a member of the royal family. After Charles’ death, Nell was forbidden to wear mourning clothes and was not allowed to attend his funeral. However, on his deathbed, Charles remembered Nell when he told his brother James to look after his mistresses: “let not poor Nelly starve.” King James II eventually paid most of Nell’s debts and gave her an annual pension of £1,500. He also paid off the mortgage on Nell’s home in Bestwood, Nottinghamshire which remained in the Beauclerk family until 1940.

St. Martin-in-the-Field-Church where Nell Gwyn is buried; Credit – By Robert Cutts – Flickr: St Martin in the Fields, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31207964

In March 1687, Nell suffered a stroke, probably due to the effects of syphilis, that left her paralyzed on one side. Two months later, a second stroke left her confined to her bed at her Pall Mall, London house. On November 14, 1687, Nell Gwyn, aged 37, died from another stroke. Her funeral took place on November 17, 1687, in a packed St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London, where she was also buried, with many more mourners lining the streets outside the church. Fulfilling one of Nell’s last requests, Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, preached a sermon from the text of Luke 15:7 “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Beauclerk, Charles, 2005. Nell Gwyn: Mistress To A King. New York: Grove Press.
• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nell Gwyn. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn> [Accessed 4 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nell Gwyn. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn> [Accessed 4 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.
• Williamson, D., 1996. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

“The Crown” shared photos of Katherine and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon at the end of Season 4, Episode 7; Credit – Netflix/The Crown

In the Netflix series The Crown Series 4, Episode 7, The Hereditary Principle, Princess Margaret discovers from her therapist that she has two severely mentally disabled maternal cousins who were institutionalized and further learns that they are still alive although they have been listed as dead in Burke’s Peerage. Princess Margaret confronts her mother, the aunt of the two severely mentally disabled women. The Queen Mother responds as if she was part of a royal cover-up. She explains that her nieces were institutionalized because of fears that evidence of mental instability in the royal family could threaten the security of their claim to the throne after the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII.  While it is true that Princess Margaret was unaware that she had two severely mentally disabled cousins and that they were listed as dead in Burke’s Peerage, the rest of the scenario is complete fiction, made up by the series’ creators. The Queen Mother believed her nieces were deceased and she was not aware of their situation until 1982.  Her nieces were institutionalized in 1941, five years after the abdication of King Edward VIII. It seems unlikely that after five years, the decision to institutionalize the Queen Mother’s two nieces was taken in reaction to the Bowes-Lyon family’s new close ties to the British throne.

John Bowes-Lyon; Credit – www.geni.com

In reality, in 1987, The Sun broke the news that two supposedly deceased first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II had been alive and secretly institutionalized. The two sisters, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, were the daughters of The Honorable John Bowes-Lyon (1886 – 1930), the second son of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore (1855 – 1944), and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900 – 2002), and his wife Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck (1862 – 1938). Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and his wife Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck had ten children and twenty-six grandchildren. Two of their grandchildren were Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret. From their mother’s side of the family, Elizabeth and Margaret had 24 first cousins.

Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis; Credit – https://theroyalhistory.tumblr.com/

Nerissa and Katherine’s mother was The Honorable Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (1889 – 1966), daughter of Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863 – 1957) and Lady Jane McDonnell (1863 – 1953), daughter of Mark McDonnell, 5th Earl of Antrim. Fenella had one sibling Harriet Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis (1887 – 1958) who married Henry Fane (1883 – 1947) and had seven children. Interestingly, three of their daughters had severe developmental disabilities similar to those of Nerissa and Katherine.

John Bowes-Lyon and his wife Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis had five daughters:

• Patricia Bowes-Lyon (1916 – 1917), died in infancy
• Anne Bowes-Lyon (1917 – 1980), married (1) Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson, son of Thomas Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield, had one son and one daughter, divorced (2) Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, no children
• Nerissa Bowes-Lyon (1919 – 1986)
• Diana Bowes-Lyon (1923 – 1986), married Peter Somervell, had one daughter
• Katherine Bowes-Lyon (1926 – 2014)

John Bowes-Lyon died in 1930 of pneumonia, aged 44, leaving his widow Fenella to care for their four young children, including Nerissa and Katherine who were severely mentally disabled. Nerissa and Katherine had a mental age of about three-years-old and never learned to talk. In 1941, when Nerissa was 22-years-old and Katherine was 15-years-old, they were sent to Royal Earlswood Hospital in Redhill, Surrey, England. There is no information on why this decision was made. Perhaps, the sisters needed more care than could be given at home.

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The Royal Earlswood Hospital in Redhill, Surrey, England

Three of Nerissa and Katherine’s maternal first cousins with similar developmental disabilities were placed at Royal Earlswood Hospital, a facility for  230 mentally disabled men and women,  on the very same day as Nerissa and Katherine. The three maternal cousins were the sisters Idonea Fane (1912 – 2002), Rosemary Fane (1914 – 1972), and Etheldreda Fane (1922 – 1996), the daughters of Harriet Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis and Henry Fane. The five cousins were placed in Asylum Arch Road, Earlswood Common area of the hospital. In 1997, when Royal Earlswood Hospital closed, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and her cousin Idonea Fane, who were the only ones among the five cousins still living, were moved to Ketwin House Care Home in Surrey, England, and then when it closed in 2001, they were moved to another care home in Surrey. The mental disability the five cousins had probably was a genetic disorder and it originated not in the Bowes-Lyon family but rather in the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family. Idonea, Etheldreda, and Rosemary Fane were the children of Fenella’s sister Harriet, her only sibling. There was never any risk of that genetic disorder occurring in the British royal family descended from The Queen Mother, born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, because it did not originate in the Bowes-Lyon family.

In 1987, it was discovered by The Sun that Burke’s Peerage, which publishes books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage, and landed gentry of the United Kingdom, had listed Nerissa and Katherine as having died in 1940 and 1961. Nerissa had died in 1986 and Katherine lived until 2014. Burke’s Peerage prides itself on its accuracy and insisted that was the information given to them by the Bowes-Lyon family.

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Nerissa and Katherine’s aunt, in 1986; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1987, there was much criticism for the British royal family about how Nerissa and Katherine had been treated and there were even rumors that there had been a royal coverup although there is no evidence.  In 1982, after thinking her nieces had died, the Queen Mother learned that they were still alive and in the Royal Earlswood Hospital when the hospital’s League of Friends wrote to her. After that, she sent them money for their birthdays and for Christmas which was used to buy candy and toys. We do not know if the Queen Mother told anyone about her nieces after she learned they were alive in 1982. While today our attitudes regarding the care of mentally disabled people are different, an argument could be made that the sisters received the care that they needed as was understood during the years they were institutionalized. Previously, there was a huge amount of shame and lack of knowledge associated with mental disability.

What, if any, responsibility the British royal family had for Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon can be debated. In 1987, Buckingham Palace said, “It is a matter for the Bowes-Lyon family” and in reality, it was and there were plenty of members of the Bowes-Lyon family to deal with the matter. The members of the Bowes-Lyon family had the means and the familial responsibility to make the decisions regarding Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon as did the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family, the family of their mother.

Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore, the paternal grandfather of Nerissa and Katherine; Credit – Wikipedia

The Earl of Strathmore is the head of the Bowes-Lyon family and is also Chief of the Scottish Clan Lyon. Nerissa and Katherine’s grandfather Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore lived until 1944, three years after his two granddaughters were placed at Royal Earlswood Hospital. His son and the uncle of Nerissa and Katherine, Patrick Bowes-Lyon, 15th Earl of Strathmore (1884 – 1949) succeeded him and died in 1949. Then the 15th Earl’s son and Nerissa and Katherine’s first cousin Timothy Bowes-Lyon, 16th Earl of Strathmore (1918 – 1972) held the peerage title until 1972 when he was succeeded by his first cousin, and the first cousin of Nerissa and Katherine, Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore (1928 – 1987). Upon the death of the 17th Earl in 1987, he was succeeded by his son Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore (1957 – 2016) who died in 2016, two years after the death of Katherine Bowes-Lyon. These Earls, as head of the Bowes-Lyon family, presumably bore some responsibility for family matters.

Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton, the maternal grandfather of Nerissa and Katherine; Credit – www.geni.com

Not only were there plenty of members of the Bowes-Lyon family to take responsibility but there were also members of the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family, Nerissa and Katherine’s maternal family. In 1987, it was revealed that Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (1863 – 1957) had paid funds to Royal Earlswood Hospital for the care of his five granddaughters. This would indicate that he played a role in the decisions regarding his five severely mentally disabled granddaughters.  In 1987, Gerard Fane-Trefusis, 22nd Baron Clinton, the great-grandson of the 21st Baron Clinton, rejected the idea of any kind of cover-up. Regarding the errors in the death dates in Burke’s Peerage, he said of his great-aunt Fenella, the mother of Nerissa and Katherine, “She was an elderly lady at that time. These forms (from Burke’s Peerage) come in every year or so and I imagine it was filled in wrongly or wasn’t filled in at all.” However, a spokesperson for Burke’s Peerage said, “If this is what the Bowes-Lyon family told us, then we would have included it in the book.”

Nerissa and Katherine’s sister Anne Bowes-Lyon, Princess of Denmark; Credit – www.thepeerage.com

Nerissa and Katherine’s mother, born Fenella Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, who was their next of kin, lived until 1966. After the death of their mother, their sister Anne (1917 – 1980), would have been the next of kin. After divorcing her first husband Thomas Anson, Viscount Anson (1913 – 1958), son of Thomas Anson, 4th Earl of Lichfield (1883 – 1960) Anne married Prince George Valdemar of Denmark, a great-grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark, and a second cousin of King George VI of the United Kingdom who was the father of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Nerissa and Katherine’s sister Diana Bowes-Lyon

Anne died in 1980 and then her younger sister Diana (1923 – 1986), would have been the next of kin. Presumably, after the death of Diana in 1986, the two children of her elder sister Anne, Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939 – 2005), a well-known professional photographer whose professional name was Patrick Lichfield, and his sister Elizabeth Anson (1941 – 2020), wife of Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, 6th Baronet, would have been the next of kin for their aunts Nerissa and Katherine. Diana’s only child Katherine Somervell (born 1961), a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II who married Robert Lagneau, also would have been able to play a role in the decisions regarding her aunts. As with the Bowes-Lyon family, there were members of the Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis who had the means and the familial responsibility to make the decisions regarding Nerissa and Katherine.

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The grave of Nerissa Bowes-Lyon at Redstone Cemetery, in the center, marked by a small plastic tag at the foot of the headstone

In 1987, many British people were outraged and blamed the British royal family after finding out that when Nerissa died in 1986, she was buried in a pauper’s plot at Redstone Cemetery in Redhill, Surrey, England. Her funeral was attended by only Royal Earlswood Hospital staff members. Where were her Bowes-Lyon and Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis family members? When Katherine Bowes-Lyon died, aged 87, on February 23, 2014, a private family funeral was held.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Coke, Hope, 2020. Behind The Crown: The True Story Of The Queen’S Cousins, Nerissa And Katherine Bowes-Lyon. [online] Tatler. Available at: <https://www.tatler.com/article/real-story-nerissa-and-katherine-bowes-lyon-the-queens-cousins-the-crown-season-4> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• Davison, Mark, 2014. Queen’s Cousin Dies After Spending 55 Years At Royal Earlswood Hospital. [online] SurreyLive. Available at: <https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/queens-cousin-dies-after-spending-13642685> [Accessed 27 November 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Nerissa And Katherine Bowes-Lyon. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerissa_and_Katherine_Bowes-Lyon> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• Esquire. 2020. The Queen’s Hidden Cousins Are Part Of A Shameful Chapter In Royal History. [online] Available at: <https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a34728377/queen-elizabeth-cousins-katherine-nerissa-bowes-lyon-asylum-true-story-the-crown-season-4/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• Genealogics.org. 2020. Leo’s Genealogics. [online] Available at: <https://www.genealogics.org/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• News.google.com. 1987. Royal Nieces Cover-Up Denied By Lord Clinton. [online] Available at: <https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SxA1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=sKULAAAAIBAJ&dq=nerissa%20bowes-lyon&pg=2382%2C1684307> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• Radio Times. 2020. The Crown Fact-Check: Did The Queen And Margaret Really Have Two Secret Cousins With Developmental Disabilities?. [online] Available at: <https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2020-11-15/queen-cousins-katherine-nerissa-bowes-lyon-the-crown/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].
• W Magazine | Women’s Fashion & Celebrity News. 2020. ‘The Crown’ Fact Check: Were The Queen’s Cousins Hidden In An Asylum?. [online] Available at: <https://www.wmagazine.com/story/queen-cousins-asylum-nerissa-katherine-bowes-lyon/> [Accessed 26 November 2020].

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Jennie Jerome was an American socialite who was briefly the mistress of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, among others. Through her first marriage, she was the mother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. She is also reported to have had affairs with King Milan I of Serbia, Prince Karl Kinsky, and Herbert von Bismark.

Jennie Jerome – source: Wikipedia

Jeanette “Jennie” Jerome was born in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York on January 9, 1854, one of four daughters of Leonard Jerome and Clarissa “Clara” Hall. Leonard Jerome had become a very wealthy and prominent financier and stock speculator, earning the nickname “King of Wall Street” for the number of fortunes he made and lost through the years. Despite his losses, he always managed to recover and earn even more, providing his family with a very lavish lifestyle. The family’s home in New York City, the Jerome Mansion, was one of the prominent homes in the area and included a theatre that could seat 600 people.

Jennie had three sisters:

• Clarita “Clara” Jerome (1851) – married Moreton Frewen, had issue
• Camille Jerome (1855) – died in childhood
• Leonie Jerome (1859) – married Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet, had issue. Leonie also had a long-term affair with Prince Arthur, The Duke of Connaught, a younger brother of King Edward VII.

As was common at the time, Jennie’s mother took Jennie and her sisters to Europe, settling for some time in Paris before moving on to London in 1870 after the German invasion of France. In London, Jennie first met The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and began a passionate affair that lasted for about two years. Jennie and The Prince of Wales remained close for the rest of his life and continued to see each other on occasion. She would be one of three former mistresses of The Prince of Wales to be invited to attend his coronation, joining Lillie Langtry and Sarah Bernhardt in a box at Westminster Abbey to view the ceremony.

Lord Randolph Churchill. source: Wikipedia

While attending a sailing regatta on the Isle of Wight in August 1873, Jennie was introduced (by The Prince of Wales) to her future first husband. Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill was a younger son of John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Frances Anne Vane. The couple was engaged within just three days, but it took several months for their parents to agree to a financial settlement. The Spencer-Churchills opposed the marriage, but after a $250,000 (several million dollars today) dowry was offered,  they quickly agreed to the marriage. The couple was married at the British Embassy in Paris on April 15, 1874, and Jennie became Jennie Jerome. The family surname was Spencer-Churchill, but they were known simply as Churchill.

Jennie with her two sons, c1889. source: Wikipedia

The couple had two sons:

• Sir Winston Leonard Churchill (1874-1865) – married Clementine Hozier, had issue. Sir Winston served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.
• John “Jack” Strange Churchill (1880-1847) – married Lady Gwendoline Bertie, a daughter of the 7th Earl of Abingdon, had issue

George Cornwallis-West. source: Wikipedia

Lord Randolph Churchill died in 1895 and within a few years, Jennie met her next husband. She was introduced to George Cornwallis-West while attending a party held by The Countess of Warwick (another of Edward VII’s mistresses). Cornwallis-West, a member of the Scots Guards,  was just two weeks older than Jennie’s elder son, but the two quickly began a relationship. He was the son of William Cornwallis-West, a prominent politician, and Mary “Patsy” FitzPatrick, an Irish aristocrat who had once been the lover of the future King Edward VII in the early 1870s. George had two sisters. His elder sister, Daisy, married Prince Hans Heinrich XV von Hochberg, Prince of Pless. His younger sister, Constance (born in 1876) was the first wife of Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster.

Jennie and George were married on July 28, 1900, at St. Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, London. At first, the marriage was happy but within about ten years the marriage began to show signs of strain. Jennie and George separated in 1912 and were divorced on April 1, 1914. Jennie returned to her former name, Lady Randolph Churchill and George Cornwallis-West married Stella Campbell, a noted stage actress.

Montagu Porch in later life. photo: By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64490806

Four years later, on June 1, 1918, Jennie married a third time. Her new husband was Montagu Phippen Porch. Porch, a former member of the British Army, had served with the Colonial Service since 1906 and was three years younger than Jennie’s son Winston. Porch continued to serve in the British Army until the end of World War I, devoting his time to several successful ventures in Africa. Following Jennie’s death, Porch returned to Africa for some time and remarried in 1926 to Donna Guilia Patrizi, the daughter of the Marchese Patrizi della Rocco. After being widowed again in 1938, he returned to England until he died in 1964.

Lady Randolph Churchill, c1899. source: Wikipedia

After breaking her ankle in May 1921, Jennie suffered from gangrene and had to have her lower leg amputated in June 1921. Two weeks later, on June 29, 1921, she died at her home in London as a result of a hemorrhage in her thigh. Jennie is buried in the Spencer-Churchill family plot at St. Martin’s Church, Bladon, alongside her first husband, her two sons, and their families.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise Renée de Penancoet de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and King Charles II of England are the ancestors of Queen Camilla, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York. Louise was born on September 5, 1649, at her family home, the Manoir de Keroual (link in French) in Brest, Brittany, France. She was the second of the three children and the eldest of the two daughters of Guillaume de Penancoët de Kérouaille, from a noble family of Brittany, (died 1690) and Marie de Ploeuc de Timeur (died 1709). The income of Louise’s family was not commensurate with their rank and they lived modestly. Louise was educated at the Convent of the Ursulines in Lesneven, Brittany, France where her aunt was one of the nuns who oversaw the education of young girls.

Louise had two siblings:

• Sébastien de Penancoët, Lord of Chefdubois (1646 – 1669), unmarried
• Henriette Mauricette de Penancoët de Kérouaille (1650 – 1728), married (1) Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke, had one daughter (2) Jean-Timoleon Gouffier, Marquis de Thois, had nine children

Henriette-Anne, Duchess of Orléans; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise’s marriage prospects were dim as the relative poverty of her parents did not allow for a dowry. Instead, in 1669, her parents arranged for her to be placed in the household of Henriette-Anne, Duchess of Orléans, at the Palace of Versailles, hoping Louise would catch the eye of King Louis XIV of France and become a royal mistress. Henriette-Anne was born an English princess, the youngest child of the beheaded King Charles I of England and Henrietta Maria of France, the daughter of the assassinated King Henri IV of France. Henriette-Anne’s husband was Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France, and her brother was King Charles II of England. King Charles II and Henriette-Anne were the first cousins of King Louis XIV and his brother Philippe.

King Louis XIV of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise was noticed by King Louis XIV but at that time, his official mistress was Louise de La Vallière and his unofficial favorite was Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, and he thought Louise might be more useful to him diplomatically. Henriette-Anne’s marriage was unhappy. She had an early affair with King Louis XIV and she and her husband both had affairs throughout their marriage. Louise quickly learned the customs and habits of the French court from Henriette-Anne.

In January 1670, Louise accompanied Henriette-Anne on a diplomatic mission to King Charles II at Dover Castle in England. King Louis XIV hoped Louise would catch the eye of his cousin King Charles II and then there would be a French mistress at the English court. When the diplomatic mission was completed, Henriette-Anne offered her brother his choice of jewelry from her jewelry box which Louise handed to her. Placing his hand on Louise’s hand, Charles is reputed to have said: “This is the only jewel I want!”

King Charles II of England; Credit – Wikipedia

In June 1670, Henriette-Anne suddenly died, probably from poison. The sudden death of Henriette-Anne left Louise without a position. An arrangement for Louise in which King Charles II would “show her favor” was made by the French ambassador Charles Colbert, Marquis de Croissy aided by the English secretary of state Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, and his wife. Louise was housed in an apartment at Whitehall Palace in London and Charles came to pay her court every evening

In October 1671, Louise was invited to Euston Hall, the home of Henry and Elisabeth Bennet, the Earl and Countess of Arlington, along with King Charles II, without his wife, and many guests. A mock wedding was held with Louise and Charles playing the bride and groom, followed by a wedding night. Thus, Louise became the mistress of King Charles II. Louise was officially named a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Braganza, Charles II’s childless wife. King Charles II could visit his wife and also see his mistress. Another mistress, Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland, had been appointed Queen Catherine’s Lady of the Bedchamber but Queen Catherine despised Barbara’s insulting manner. Louise decided to flatter Queen Catherine, quickly making herself the queen’s favorite lady.

Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox; Credit – Wikipedia

On July 29, 1672, nine months after the mock marriage, Louise gave birth to her only child:

• Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (1672 – 1723), married Anne Brudenell, had one son and two daughters

Once Louise had given Charles II a son, she set out to reap rewards. On August 9, 1675, King Charles II granted Louise the titles Duchess of Portsmouth, Countess of Fareham, and Baroness Petersfield. On the same day, King Charles II’s illegitimate son by Louise, who had been given the surname Lennox, was created Duke of Richmond, Earl of March, and Baron Settrington in the Peerage of England. A month later, on September 9, 1675, he was created Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley, and Baron Methuen of Torbolten in the Peerage of Scotland. In addition, Louise received an annual pension and a suite of twenty-four rooms in Whitehall Palace, richer and grander than Queen Catherine’s chambers. More rewards came later. Louise’s son was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1681. In 1684 at the request of King Charles II, King Louis XIV created Louise Duchesse d’Aubigny in the Peerage of France.

Louise in 1682; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise was unpopular with the English people because of the general mistrust between England and France in the 17th century. Instead, most of the public adored another of Charles’ mistresses, the bawdy actress Nell Gwynn. One day, Nell Gwynn was out for a carriage ride when she heard a crowd shouting at her about her supposed Catholic faith. Nell realized the crowd had mixed her up with Louise. She opened the carriage window and said, “Good people, you are mistaken. I am the Protestant whore.”

Louise de Kerouaille held on to the title of official mistress until the end of King Charles II’s life. On February 2, 1685, King Charles II suffered an apparent stroke, although modern analysis of his symptoms seems to indicate he may have died from uremia, a symptom of kidney failure. Louise assisted in the measures to see that Charles II was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed. As he lay dying, Charles asked his brother, who would succeed him as King James II, to look after his mistresses: “…be well to Portsmouth, and let not poor Nelly starve,” referring to Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth and Nell Gwyn.

Château de la Verrerie in Aubigny-sur-Nère, France, where Louise lived out her life; Credit – By Dmitry Gurtovoy – Archive.org, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4846299

After Charles’ death, Louise left England with two shiploads of magnificent paintings and furniture from her apartment at Whitehall Palace given to her by King Charles II. Louise spent her last years in Aubigny-sur-Nère, France at the Château de la Verrerie, given to her in 1673 by King Louis XIV at the request of King Charles II. She returned to England twice – during the short reign of King James II and to attend King George I’s coronation.

The generous pension that Charles II had given Nell was rescinded in 1688 following the Glorious Revolution that deposed King James II and placed his daughter Queen Mary II and his nephew and Mary’s husband King William III upon the throne. Until he died in 1715, King Louis XIV of France and then his nephew Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France during the minority of King Louis XV, great-grandson of King Louis XIV and his successor, provided Louise with a pension and protected her against her creditors. Louise died in Paris, France on November 14, 1734, aged 85, and was buried at the Church of the Carmelite Convent in Paris, France.

Louise’s son had predeceased her so upon her death, her estate and French title were inherited by her grandson Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of  Aubigny (1701-1750). The French estate, Château de la Verrerie, was retained by his descendants until 1842 when it was sold by Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox, 5th Duke of Aubigny. Much of the collection of paintings and furniture is now at Goodwood House in Chichester, West Sussex, England, the seat of the Duke of Richmond and Lennox, originated in the collection of his ancestor Louise de Kérouaille.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Château De La Verrerie (Cher). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_la_Verrerie_(Cher)> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louise De Kérouaille, Duchess Of Portsmouth. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_K%C3%A9rouaille,_Duchess_of_Portsmouth> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louise Renée De Penancoët De Keroual. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Ren%C3%A9e_de_Penanco%C3%ABt_de_Keroual> [Accessed 14 September 2020].
• Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Lillie Langtry was the mistress of the future King Edward VII (while he was Prince of Wales) from 1877-1880. A married socialite at the time, she later embarked on a career in the theatre, with the encouragement and support of the Prince. She also took several other lovers, including Prince Louis of Battenberg, the Prince of Wales’s future nephew-by-marriage, who possibly fathered her only child.

Lillie Langtry; Credit – Wikipedia

Lillie Langtry was born Emilie Charlotte “Lillie” Le Breton on October 13, 1853, at the Old Rectory at St. Saviour Church on the Island of Jersey, part of the United Kingdom. She was the only daughter of the Very Reverend William Corbet Le Breton and his wife Emilie Martin Davis. Her father was the Rector at St. Saviour and also served as Dean of Jersey. Lillie had six brothers:

• Francis Corbet Le Breton (1843) – unmarried
• William Inglis Le Breton (1846) – married Elizabeth Price, had issue
• Trevor Alexander Le Breton (1847) – unmarried
• Maurice Vavasour Le Breton (1849) – unmarried
• Clement Martin Le Breton (1851) – married Alice Jones, had issue
• Reginald Le Breton (1855) – unmarried

On March 9, 1874, Lillie married Edward Langtry, a wealthy Irish landowner who had recently been widowed. They had known each other just six weeks but shared a love of sailing and bonded very quickly. Later in life, Lillie would jokingly say that “to become mistress of the yacht, I married the owner.” The couple moved to London, where Lillie soon became part of the London society scene. The couple remained married until 1897 but had been estranged for many years. Having become an American citizen in 1897, Lillie successfully filed for divorce from Langtry, who died several months later.

Upon her arrival in London, Lillie soon found herself amidst London’s high society. Her beauty caught the eye of the artist Frank Miles, who soon asked Lillie to sit for a portrait.   The portrait was purchased by Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany the younger brother of The Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. Lillie also sat for portraits by several other artists, leading to her quick entrance into the highest ranks of society.

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII. source: Wikipedia

In May 1877, Lillie attended a dinner party that was also attended by The Prince of Wales, who had arranged to be seated next to her.  Soon, the two began a relationship that would last until June 1880. However, she also had several other relationships during this time. One lover was The Earl of Shrewsbury, who she began seeing in July 1879. This relationship led to some media speculation that her husband was planning to divorce her, and name the Prince of Wales as one of the co-respondents. The Prince quickly sued the journalist who was later sentenced to prison for his allegations. Other lovers during this time were Prince Louis of Battenberg (who would later marry the Prince of Wales’s niece, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine), and Arthur Jones, the brother of Lilly’s sister-in-law. One of these affairs led to Lilly becoming pregnant in mid-1880. Lilly told Prince Louis that he was the father, and he was quickly dispatched to a warship with the Royal Navy. However, Lilly left for Paris – along with Arthur Jones – thanks to funding from The Prince of Wales. She gave birth to a daughter – Jeanne Marie – on March 8, 1881. It is most likely that Jones was the child’s father, but it was never confirmed. Prince Louis’s son Earl Mountbatten stated numerous times that he believed his father was the biological father.

Lillie’s pregnancy ended her affair with The Prince of Wales, but the two would remain in occasional contact and the Prince often used his influence to help her in her future career. In 1881, back in London, Lillie found herself in financial distress. A close friend, writer Oscar Wilde, suggested she try the theatre. She began with a local amateur theatre and soon made her debut at the Haymarket Theatre in London. Lillie quickly became a success, starting her own theatre company which toured throughout Europe and the United States over the next 26 years. She retired from the stage in 1917.

During her time in the United States, Lillie had a long-term affair with an American, Frederick Gebhard, who introduced Lillie to horse racing. Together the two bought a stable of horses which they trained and raced throughout the United States. She later became involved with George Alexander Baird, a very wealthy gentleman in the horse-racing world. After his death several years later, Lillie purchased several of his horses and some of his properties. By 1919, finding that horse racing was more of a financial drain than an income, Lillie sold all her horses and interests and moved to Monaco.

Lillie in 1915; Credit – Wikipedia

Two years after divorcing her first husband, Lillie married a second time. On July 27, 1899 at St. Saviour’s Church in Jersey, Lillie married Hugo Gerald de Bathe with just her daughter and the officials present. Eighteen years her junior, de Bathe had seven older siblings, but as he was the firstborn after his parents’ marriage, he was the heir to his father’s Baronetcy. He succeeded his father as 5th Baronet and inherited a large portfolio of properties in Sussex, Devon and Ireland. These in Sussex included Woodend, a 17-bedroom property on 71 acres, Hollandsfield, a 10-bedroom property on 52 acres, and Balsom’s Farm which consisted of 206 acres. The couple used Woodend as their primary residence. All of the properties were later sold, in 1919.

Lillie remained in close contact with The Prince of Wales and was a guest at his Coronation, sitting alongside Sarah Bernhardt and Lady Randolph Churchill. She was also a guest at his funeral in 1910.

In her later years, Lady de Bathe, as she was known after 1907, lived primarily in Monaco while her husband lived in nearby Vence, Alpes Maritimes. De Bathe later served as an ambulance driver with the French Red Cross during World War I. Instead of her husband, Lillie’s main companion was her dear friend Mathilde Marie Peat who inherited a large part of Langtry’s estate including a bequest of £10,000, her home in Monaco. Villa le Lys, and her car.

Emilie Charlotte “Lillie” Langtry, Lady de Bathe, died of pneumonia in Monaco in the early morning of February 12, 1929. She was 75 years old. Per her wishes, she was buried along with her parents at St. Saviour’s Church in Jersey.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland was born as Barbara Villiers in Westminster, London, England on November 27, 1640. She was the only child of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning. William Villiers was the son of Sir Edward Villiers, a half-brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham who was a court favorite during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I. William also had other relatives who had been courtiers at the English court. Barbara’s mother was the daughter of Paul Bayning, 1st Viscount Bayning. In 1643, Barbara’s father died in the First English Civil War, leaving his 18-year-old widow and his three-year-old daughter in financial difficulty. Barbara’s mother soon married Charles Villiers, 2nd Earl of Anglesey, her late husband’s cousin. The marriage resulted in no children and Barbara’s stepfather died from smallpox in 1660.

Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara was considered one of the most beautiful of the young Royalist women but her lack of a dowry did not help her marriage prospects. On April 14, 1659, Barbara married the Roman Catholic Roger Palmer (1634 – 1705), later 1st Earl of Castlemaine, against his family’s wishes. At the end of 1659, Roger and his new wife left with other supporters of the exiled Charles, Prince of Wales (the future King Charles II) joining him in the Netherlands. In 1660, Barbara became Charles’ mistress. After years of exile during the Commonwealth, on May 1, 1660, Parliament formally invited Charles, as King Charles II, to be the English monarch in what has become known as the Restoration. On May 23, 1660, Charles landed in Dover, England, and on his 30th birthday, May 29, 1660, King Charles II entered London in a procession.

King Charles II in Garter Robes; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 25, 1661, Barbara gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Anne. She was probably the daughter of Charles II, although some people believed she resembled Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield.  Charles II, the Earl of Chesterfield, and Roger Palmer all claimed to be the father of Anne. As a reward for Barbara’s services, Charles II created Roger Palmer Earl of Castlemaine in 1661. In 1662, Barbara gave birth to a son named Charles, most likely fathered by King Charles II. Roger Palmer insisted on treating the boy as his son and had him baptized as a Roman Catholic but six days later Charles II had him re-christened in the Church of England. Little Charles’ birth marked the separation of Barbara and Roger Palmer. Barbara had other children but Palmer claimed none of them. Through their children, Barbara Palmer and King Charles II are the ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, and their children Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie. They are also the ancestors of the Mitford sisters, philosopher Bertrand Russell, British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden, and Serena Armstrong-Jones, Countess of Snowdon.

Barbara Palmer with her son Charles FitzRoy as Madonna and Child; Credit – Wikipedia

Children of Barbara Palmer:

• Lady Anne FitzRoy (1661–1722), married Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex, had four children
• Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, 1st Duke of Southampton (1662–1730), married (1) Mary Wood, no issue, (2) Anne Pulteney, had six children
• Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690), married Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington, had one son
• Lady Charlotte FitzRoy (1664–1717), married Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield, had eighteen children
• George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1665–1716), married (1) Catherine Wheatley, no issue, (2) Mary Dutton, no issue
• Barbara FitzRoy (1672–1737), unmarried, became a nun taking the name Sister Benedicta; her mother claimed that she was Charles II’s daughter but she was probably the child of her mother’s second cousin and lover, John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough

In 1662, King Charles II married Catherine of Braganza. Charles insisted on making Barbara Palmer Catherine’s Lady of the Bedchamber, and Barbara served in that position from 1663–1673. Catherine declared she would return to Portugal rather than openly accept the arrangement with Barbara. Charles then dismissed nearly all the members of Catherine’s Portuguese retinue, after which she stopped actively resisting, which pleased Charles, however, she participated very little in court life and activities. Despite fathering at least 16 illegitimate children with his mistresses, Charles had no children with Catherine.

In December 1663, Barbara converted from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism. Some historians believe it was an attempt to strengthen her position with King Charles II, and some believe it was a way of restoring her ties with her Catholic husband Roger Palmer. Upon hearing of Barbara’s conversion King Charles II said he was interested in ladies’ bodies, not their souls.

Barbara Palmer, circa 1666; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1670, Barbara was created Duchess of Cleveland in her own right. The dukedom was created with a special remainder allowing it to be inherited by her first son, Charles FitzRoy, and his heirs male, despite her son being illegitimate.

Throughout their relationship, King Charles II had taken other mistresses and Barbara also had other lovers. King Charles II was displeased that Barbara’s promiscuity and extravagant spending made her a target for satirists to use to ridicule him and his court. The 1673 Test Act banned Catholics from holding office and Barbara lost her position as Lady of the Bedchamber. King Charles II cast her aside and took Louise de Kérouaille as his newest favorite mistress. Barbara eventually reconciled with King Charles II and he enjoyed an evening in her company a week before he died in February 1685.

Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland in 1705; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her husband Roger Palmer in 1705, 64-year-old Barbara married Robert Fielding. Six months later, she discovered Fielding was a fortune hunter and a bigamist. She divorced Fielding and had him prosecuted for bigamy. Barbara then retired to Walpole House in Chiswick Mall, Chiswick, London, England, supported by her grandson Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton. She died at Walpole House on October 9, 1709, aged 68, of dropsy (edema), and was buried at the Old Chiswick Cemetery at St. Nicholas Church in Chiswick, London, England.

Old Chiswick Cemetery; Credit – https://www.findagrave.com/

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Barbara Palmer, 1St Duchess Of Cleveland. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Palmer,_1st_Duchess_of_Cleveland> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Roger Palmer, 1St Earl Of Castlemaine. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Palmer,_1st_Earl_of_Castlemaine> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. William Villiers, 2Nd Viscount Grandison. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Villiers,_2nd_Viscount_Grandison> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. 2020. Barbara Palmer. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Palmer> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Lucy Walter, as a Shepherdess by Peter Lely; Credit: Abbotsford, The Home of Sir Walter Scott

Lucy Walter was born around 1630 at Roch Castle near Haverfordwest, Wales to William Walter and Elizabeth Prothero, from landed gentry families. During the English Civil War, the Walter family supported the royalist forces and in 1644, Roch Castle was captured by the parliamentary forces and burned. The Walter family fled and Lucy found herself in London and soon set sail for The Hague, now in the Netherlands, then the capital of the States of Holland and West Friesland as well as the seat of power of States-General of the Dutch Republic, the government of the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. There Lucy Walter met Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles II of England.

Charles, Prince of Wales, had traveled to The Hague, where his sister Mary, Princess Royal and her husband Willem II, Prince of Orange and Stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands lived. Charles hoped to persuade them to contribute financially to the royalist cause in the Second English Civil War which ultimately ended with the beheading of King Charles I of England. While in The Hague, the 18-year-old Charles began an affair with Lucy Walter.

Lucy and Charles’ son James, the future Duke of Monmouth; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On April 9, 1649, Lucy gave birth in Rotterdam, to a son named James, originally called James Fitzroy, a surname often used by an illegitimate child of a king. Charles did acknowledge the child, but some thought that Colonel Robert Sidney, a younger son of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, was the father. A DNA test in 2012 concluded that James’ descendant Richard Montagu Douglas Scott, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch, shared patrilineal DNA with a descendant of the royal Stuarts, proving that Lucy Walters’ son, later James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, was the son of King Charles II of England. There was also a controversy over whether Charles had secretly married Lucy Walter. Their son claimed that his parents had married, but King Charles II said the only woman he had ever married was his queen, Catherine of Braganza. Charles and Catherine’s marriage was childless, but Charles had at least 15 illegitimate children with his mistresses, and James was the eldest of Charles’ children.

Charles, Prince of Wales, the future King Charles II, in exile; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1649, Lucy and Charles spent some time in Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France where Charles’ first cousin King Louis XIV reigned and had arranged a court in exile for his cousin. During Charles’ absences, Lucy had relationships with other men, including an Irish nobleman Theobald Taaffe, 2nd Viscount Taaffe who is likely the father of Lucy Walter’s second child Mary, born in Paris in 1651. Charles ended his affair with Lucy in 1651 but Lucy refused to accept this and even claimed that she was married to him.

For the next several years, Lucy was involved in one scandal after another, causing embarrassment to the English royal court in exile in France. In 1656, friends of Charles successfully persuaded Lucy to return to England with the promise of a pension of £400 a year. Her stay in England was brief. The intelligence department of Oliver Cromwell, The Lord Protector reported her as a suspected spy and ordered to be deported back to the United Provinces of the Netherlands.

Lucy resumed her extravagant lifestyle and her attempts to use her son James as a means of influencing Charles failed. In March 1658, after a failed attempt to kidnap James Fitzroy by supporters of Charles, Lucy was persuaded to give up her custody of her son. James was brought to Paris and placed in the care of his paternal grandmother Henrietta Maria of France, who had returned to her home country during the English Civil War. James lived in the household of William Crofts, 1st Baron Crofts who had followed Charles into exile after the execution of King Charles I of England. While living in the Crofts household, James took the surname Crofts. In September 1658, Lucy Walter died in Paris, France, probably of venereal disease, and was buried in Paris.

King Charles II; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1662, two years after his father King Charles II was restored to the English throne, James was brought to England. In 1663, 14-year-old James was created Duke of Monmouth, Earl of Doncaster, and Baron Scott of Tinsdale. On April 20, 1663, James married Anne Scott who was the 4th Countess of Buccleuch in her own right. On their wedding day, the couple was created Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. Thereafter, James used Scott as his surname but was usually called Monmouth. The couple had seven children and Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester are among their descendants.

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, circa 1683; Credit – Wikipedia

Because King Charles II had no legitimate children, upon his in 1685, his younger brother succeeded him as King James II of England. However, James asserted his claim to the throne and planned an invasion of England and Scotland. He landed at Lyme Regis, Dorset, England on June 11, 1685, and proclaimed himself king on June 20, 1685. On July 6, 1685, the armies of uncle and nephew met at the Battle of Sedgemoor where the army of James was defeated. James had left the battlefield disguised as a peasant and was discovered hiding in a ditch three days later.

James had previously been attainted of treason by Parliament on June 16, 1685, and was to “suffer Paines of Death and Incurr all Forfeitures as a Traitor Convicted and Attainted of High Treason.” Apparently, he groveled at the feet of his uncle King James II, begging for his life. James was sent to the Tower of London and beheaded on Tower Hill on July 15, 1685. It took several blows of the ax to behead him. 36-year-old James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lucy Walter. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Walter> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2014. James Scott, 1St Duke Of Monmouth. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/april-9-1649-birth-of-james-scott-1st-duke-of-monmouth-illegitimate-son-of-king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. King Charles II Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-charles-ii-of-england/> [Accessed 12 September 2020].
• Fraser, Antonia, 1979. King Charles II. London: Phoenix.
• Nl.wikipedia.org. 2020. Lucy Walter. [online] Available at: <https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Walter> [Accessed 12 September 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

Mary Boleyn was the elder sister of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, King Henry VIII’s ill-fated, second wife. The date and place of Mary’s birth are uncertain. She was born sometime between 1499-1500, either at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, England or Hever Castle in Kent, England. Anne’s father was Thomas Boleyn (later 1st Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford), a diplomat for King Henry VII and King Henry VIII. He was descended from Eustace II, Count of Boulogne who fought for William the Conqueror during the Battle of Hastings. “Boulogne” eventually was anglicized to “Boleyn.” Mary’s mother was Lady Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth’s eldest brother was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, a prominent Tudor politician, and one of her other brothers was Lord Edmund Howard, the father of Catherine Howard, King Henry VIII’s fifth wife. Through her mother, Mary was a descendant of King Edward I of England.

Mary had four siblings but only two survived childhood:

• Anne Boleyn, Queen of England (circa 1501-1507 – 1536), married King Henry VIII of England, had one surviving child, Queen Elizabeth I of England
• George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford (c. 1504 – 1536), married Jane Parker, no children; George was executed as one of his sister Anne’s supposed lovers and his wife Jane was executed with Henry VIII’s fifth wife Catherine Howard

Hever Castle where Mary grew up with her siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary was most likely educated with her brother George and her sister Anne at Hever Castle in Kent. In 1514, when Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII’s 18-year-old younger sister, left for France to become the third wife of the 52-year-old King Louis XII of France, Mary Boleyn accompanied her as a maid-of-honor. Within a few weeks, most of Mary Tudor’s English ladies were ordered to return home. However, Mary Boleyn was allowed to stay most likely due to her father’s diplomatic influence.

King François I of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Louis XII of France died on January 1, 1515, just three months after his wedding to Mary Tudor. As he had no son, he was succeeded by the next in line of succession, his son-in-law François d’Angoulême from the House of Valois-Angoulême as King François I of France. Shortly after King Louis XII’s death, Mary Tudor secretly married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, the best friend of Mary Tudor’s brother King Henry VIII. When Mary Tudor and Brandon returned to England to face the wrath of her brother, Thomas Boleyn removed his daughter Mary from the service of Mary Tudor and placed her in the household of Claude of France, Duchess of Brittany, Queen of France, the wife of the new king, François I. During Mary’s time at the French court, there were rumors that she was having an affair with King François I. Some historians believe the rumors were exaggerated, however, there is documentation that François referred to Mary as “the English mare” and “a very great whore, the most infamous of all.”

Sir William Carey, Mary’s first husband; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1519, Mary was sent back to England where her father arranged for her to be a maid-of-honor to Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII’s first wife. On February 4, 1520, in the Chapel Royal at Greenwich Palace, Mary married Sir William Carey (circa 1500 – 1528), who served King Henry VIII as a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. King Henry VIII attended the wedding ceremony and gave the couple a monetary gift.

King Henry VIII of England in 1520; Credit – Wikipedia

At some point, perhaps even before her marriage, Mary became Henry VIII’s mistress, supplanting Elizabeth Blount, but the starting date and length of the relationship are unknown. Wiliam Carey profited from his wife’s affair as he was granted manors and estates by King Henry VIII. Two children were born during the marriage of Mary and William. Because of Mary’s affair with King Henry VIII, it has been suggested that one or both of the children may have been Henry VIII’s biological children and although there is no proof, this claim has been the continued subject of debate. On June 22, 1528, at the age of 28, William Carey died of the sweating sickness. By the time of William’s death, Mary’s sister Anne had already caught the attention of King Henry VIII.

Mary’s daughter Catherine Carey, circa 1562; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s son, Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, circa 1561-1563; Credit – Wikipedia

Children born during the marriage of Mary Boleyn and William Carey:

• Catherine Carey (1524 – 1569), married Sir Francis Knollys, had fifteen children including Lettice Knollys, the second wife of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, the favorite of Elizabeth I. Catherine was a maid-of-honor to Henry VIII’s fourth and fifth wives, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, and was the Chief Lady of the Bedchamber to her first cousin Queen Elizabeth I.
• Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (1526 – 1596), married Anne Morgan, had sixteen children. Henry was Lord Chamberlain of the Household of his first cousin Queen Elizabeth I and patron of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s company of actors.

Although Anne Boleyn refused to be Henry VIII’s mistress, she still wielded some power. William Carey had left Mary with considerable debts and so Anne decided to help out. Henry VIII granted Anne Boleyn the wardship of her nephew Henry Carey and Anne then arranged for him to be educated at a Cistercian monastery. Anne also interceded to secure her Mary an annual pension of £100.

In 1532, Mary was in the party of the 200 people who accompanied King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to France to meet with King François I of France so that the French king might show his public support and approval for the annulment of Henry’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Also among the party was William Stafford, a soldier and the younger son of Sir Humphrey Stafford, an Essex landowner.

With her connections to King Henry VIII’s court and being the eldest daughter of Thomas Boleyn, who was by then 1st Earl Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormonde, and 1st Viscount Rochford, Mary had excellent prospects for a second marriage. However, in 1534, Mary and William Stafford secretly married. When Mary became pregnant, the marriage was discovered. Mary’s sister, now Queen Anne, was furious, the Boleyn family disowned Mary, and the couple was banished from court. It is thought that Mary gave birth to a son sometime in 1535 and that he died in 1545. There may also have been a daughter named Anne.

Because Mary’s financial situation was so poor after she and her husband had been banished from court, she begged Thomas Cromwell, then Henry VIII’s principal secretary, to speak to Henry VIII and her sister Anne on her behalf. After Henry VIII showed no interest in her situation, Mary asked Cromwell to speak with her family but they remained steadfast in their prior decision to disown Mary. It was Anne who finally relented and provided her sister with some financial support but she refused to reinstate Mary to her position at court. It is thought Mary and Anne never met again.

Mary’s sister Anne Boleyn, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

The situation of Queen Anne herself quickly declined. When Anne gave birth in 1533 to her first child, a daughter Elizabeth, Henry VIII was greatly disappointed. By late 1535, Anne was pregnant again. However, during a tournament in January 1536, Henry fell from his horse and was unconscious for hours. The stress resulted in premature labor, and Anne miscarried a son. The loss of this son sealed Anne’s fate. Henry was determined to be rid of her, and her fall and execution were engineered by Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s chief minister. Many historians believe that the case charging Anne with adultery with her brother George Boleyn and four other men (Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton, and Mark Smeaton) was completely fabricated. Her trial, presided over by her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, occurred at the Tower of London on May 15, 1536, and she was found guilty of adultery, incest, and high treason. On May 18, 1536, Anne’s brother and the four other men were executed and Anne was executed the following day.

Very little is known about Mary’s life between 1534, when she was banished from court, and the executions of her brother George and sister Anne in May 1536. There is no record of Mary visiting or writing to her parents. She did not visit her sister or brother while they were imprisoned in the Tower of London and there is no evidence that she wrote to them. Like her uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Mary must have thought it wise to avoid any connection with her disgraced relatives.

Rochford Hall, now the clubhouse of the Rochford Hundred Golf Club; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her parents (mother in 1538 and father in 1539), Mary inherited some of the family’s estates in Essex, England including Rochford Hall. She lived there for the rest of her life, in better financial circumstances, with her husband William Stafford, who survived her and married again. Mary died of unknown causes, on July 19, 1543, in her early forties and her burial place is unknown.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mary Boleyn. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boleyn> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. William Stafford (Courtier). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stafford_(courtier)> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. William Carey (Courtier). [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carey_(courtier)> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Erickson, Carolly, 2004. Great Harry. London: Robson.
• Flantzer, Susan, 2016. Anne Boleyn, Queen Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/anne-boleyn-queen-of-england/> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2015. King Henry VIII Of England. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-henry-viii-of-england/> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• No.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mary Boleyn. [online] Available at: <https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Boleyn> [Accessed 2 August 2020].
• Weir, Alison, 2001. Henry VIII – The King And His Court. New York: Ballantine Books.
• Weir, Alison, 2012. The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. [United States]: Paw Prints.

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Dorothea Jordan was the mistress of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom from 1790 until 1811. William was the Duke of Clarence at the time.

Dorothea Jordan; Credit – Wikipedia

Dorothea Bland was born on November 21, 1761, in County Waterford, Ireland, the daughter of Francis Bland, a stagehand, and his mistress Grace Phillips, an actress. She had five siblings:

• George Bland (c.1758-1807) – married Maria Theresa Romanzini, had issue
• Hester Bland (1760-1848) – unmarried
• Lucy Bland (c.1763-1778) – unmarried
• Francis Bland (c.1765 – ?) – unmarried
• Nathaniel Phillips Bland (c.1766-1830) – married Phoebe James, no issue

In 1774, Dorothea’s father abandoned his family to marry someone else. He continued to support the family, on the condition that they didn’t use his surname, so Dorothea took her mother’s name, becoming known as Dorothea Phillips. Around this time, her mother encouraged Dorothea to enter the theater, and within just a few years, she began to draw large crowds for her performances. She left Ireland in 1782 while pregnant with her first child, and moved to Leeds. It was at this point that she took the name Jordan. She performed for three years with the York Company, before being lured away in 1785 to move to the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane in London. By then, Dorothea was becoming a very popular performer and could be counted on to bring large crowds every night. It was at Drury Lane that her life would come to the attention of The Duke of Clarence several years later.

During her stage career, and before meeting the Duke of Clarence, Dorothea had several relationships, resulting in at least four children. In the early 1780s, she became involved with Richard Daly, the married manager of the Theatre Royal in Cork, and had a daughter:

• Frances Daly (1782-1821) – married Thomas Alsop, no issue

Other lovers included an Army Lieutenant, Charles Doyne, who proposed to her but she declined. She went to work for a theater company run by Tate Wilkinson, with whom she also had a brief affair. It was then that she took on the stage name ‘Mrs. Jordan’. After that relationship ended, she fell in love with another actor, George Inchbald, but that relationship also ended in heartbreak.

In 1786, after leaving Inchbald, Dorothea began an affair with Sir Richard Ford, a magistrate and lawyer who promised that he would marry her. This relationship resulted in three children:

• Dorothea Maria Ford (1787) – married Frederick March
• unnamed son (1788) – died at birth
• Lucy Hester Ford (1789) – married General Sir Samuel Hawker, had issue

Dorothea realized that Ford would not marry her, and she ended their affair in 1790.  Soon after that, she began her relationship with The Duke of Clarence, the son of King George III. Her children moved in with her sister Hester, and Dorothea transferred much of her savings to provide for the children’s upbringing and education, in addition to providing them with an annual allowance.

The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV); source: Wikipedia

In 1790, Dorothea was first noticed by The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) while performing at Drury Lane. They quickly began an affair that would last for the next 21 years. Dorothea moved in with the Duke at his home, Clarence Lodge in Roehampton, and later they moved to Bushy House in Bushy Park, Richmond upon Thames.

King William IV and Dorothea Jordan had ten children. Nine of the ten children were named after nine of William’s fourteen siblings. The tenth child was given William’s middle name Henry. The children were given the surname FitzClarence.

• George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster (1794 – 1842), married Lady Mary Wyndham, had issue
• Henry FitzClarence (1795 – 1817), unmarried
• Sophia FitzClarence (1795 – 1837), married Philip Sidney, 1st Baron De L’Isle and Dudley, had issue
• Mary FitzClarence (1798 – 1864), married General Charles Richard Fox, no issue
• Frederick FitzClarence (1799 – 1854), married Lady Augusta Boyle, had issue
• Elizabeth FitzClarence (1801 – 1856), married William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll,  had issue, King Edward VII’s granddaughters Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife and Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk and British Prime Minister David Cameron descend from this marriage
• Adolphus FitzClarence (1802 – 1856), unmarried
• Augusta FitzClarence (1803 – 1865), married (1) The Honorable John Kennedy-Erskine, had issue; married (2) Admiral Lord Frederick Hallyburton, no issue
• Augustus FitzClarence (1805 – 1854), Sarah Elizabeth Catharine Gordon, had issue
• Amelia FitzClarence (1807 – 1858), married Lucius Bentinck Cary, 10th Viscount Falkland, had issue

The children of King William IV and Dorothea had an elder half-brother, William Henry Courtney, born around 1788 to an unknown mother, and named after his father whose given names were William Henry. Dorothea cared for William, and she was fond of him and he was fond of her. William served in the Royal Navy from 1803 until 1807 when his ship HMS Blenheim was lost in a gale off Madagascar. Despite an extensive search, no trace of the ship was ever found. 590 men were lost aboard HMS Blenheim, including King William IV’s eldest illegitimate son nineteen-year-old William Henry Courtney.

William ensured Dorothea was well taken care of, providing her with an annual allowance of £1,200 and allowing her to continue performing on the stage in London and around England. Aside from her career, Dorothea was very content to enjoy the family life she had always wanted and kept out of political matters completely.

William and Dorothea’s children married into the British aristocracy and their many descendants include these notable people:

• Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, a granddaughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1891 – 1959)
• Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk, a granddaughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (1893 – 1945)
• Violet Jacob, Scottish writer (1863 – 1946)
• Brigadier General Charles FitzClarence, recipient of the Victoria Cross (1865 – 1914)
• Sir Edward Bellingham, 5th Baronet, Brigadier General, Senator of the Irish Free State (1879 – 1956)
• Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, British diplomat, Cabinet member, author (1890 – 1954)
• Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, British publisher and literary editor (1907 – 1999)
• William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle, 15th Governor-General of Australia (1909-1991)
• Adam Hart-Davis, author, photographer, broadcaster (born 1943)
• Merlin Hay, 24th Earl of Erroll, member of the House of Lords (born 1948)
• John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute also known as Johnny Dumfries, former racing driver (1958 – 2021)
• David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1966)

By 1811, William was pressured by his family to find a suitable wife. At the time he was fourth in line for the throne following his elder brother, the future King George IV, George’s daughter, Princess Charlotte of Wales, and his next oldest brother, The Duke of York. William gave in to the pressure and ended his relationship with Dorothea, but again made sure she was very well provided for. He gave her an annual allowance of £4,400 (half of which was designated for the welfare of their children), and she kept custody of their daughters while he retained custody of their sons. The one condition he insisted upon was that to receive that money annually, she could not return to the theatre. This arrangement lasted just three years before Dorothea returned to the stage in 1814, to earn money to help settle the extensive debts of her son-in-law Thomas Alsop. Hearing this, William took back custody of their daughter and canceled her annual stipend.

Dorothea performed for just a year before retiring in 1815. Still in debt, she sold her house and moved to France to escape her creditors, settling in Saint-Cloud, just outside Paris. After losing much of her savings when her eldest daughter and her husband ran up large debts in Dorothea’s name, her health quickly began to decline. Virtually penniless, Dorothea Jordan died in Saint-Cloud, France on July 5, 1816, at the age of 54. She is buried in the local cemetery in Saint-Cloud.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.