Maria Fitzherbert (Maria Anne Fitzherbert, born Smythe; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837), was the first woman with whom the future
George IVGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
undertook a wedding ceremony, and his companion for a large part of his adult life. However the marriage in the UK was invalid under
English civil lawsCivil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
concerning royal marriages and she never became queen or acquired any other title. Pope Pius VII, nevertheless, declared the marriage valid.
Maria Anne was the eldest child of William Smythe of
BrambridgeBrambridge is a village in the parish of Colden Common in the Winchester District in Hampshire, England, north east of Eastleigh and close to the River Itchen. It lies in the south of Twyford civil parish....
,
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, and Mary Ann Errington.
Maria Fitzherbert (Maria Anne Fitzherbert, born Smythe; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837), was the first woman with whom the future
George IVGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
undertook a wedding ceremony, and his companion for a large part of his adult life. However the marriage in the UK was invalid under
English civil lawsCivil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
concerning royal marriages and she never became queen or acquired any other title. Pope Pius VII, nevertheless, declared the marriage valid.
Early life
Maria Anne was the eldest child of William Smythe of
BrambridgeBrambridge is a village in the parish of Colden Common in the Winchester District in Hampshire, England, north east of Eastleigh and close to the River Itchen. It lies in the south of Twyford civil parish....
,
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, and Mary Ann Errington. Her paternal grandparents were Sir John
SmytheThere has been one creation of Baronet with the surname Smythe . It was created in the Baronetage of England for Edward Smythe on 23 February 1661....
, 3rd
BaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown known as a baronetcy...
, of
Acton BurnellActon Burnell is a village in the English county of Shropshire. It lies at 110m above sea level and is near to Park Wood.- Attractions :There are the remains of Acton Burnell Castle – not truly a castle but a fortified manor house created by Robert Burnell and dating to the 13th century...
,
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
, and Constantia Blount. Her maternal grandparents were John Errington of Beaufront,
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
, and Maria Levery (Maria was also mother to Charles William Molyneux, 1st Earl of Sefton by her third marriage). She was educated in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Marriages
She was married to Edward Weld, 16 years her senior, a rich Catholic landowner of
Lulworth CastleLulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....
in July 1775. Maria Anne soon became a
widowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died. A man whose spouse has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity. The adjective is widowed.-Economic position of widows:...
, as Weld died just three months later after falling from his horse.
She was married a second time, three years later, to Thomas Fitzherbert of
SwynnertonSwynnerton is a village in Staffordshire, England.The name is said to be a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon Seolfur - ton, or "silver town" referring to local outcrops of pale limestone....
,
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. She was ten years younger than he. They had a son who died young. She became a widow for a second time on 7 May 1781, inheriting a residence in
MayfairMayfair is an area of central London, England, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
and an annual income of £2,500.
The young widow
Mrs Fitzherbert soon entered
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
high society. In spring, 1784, Maria was introduced to a youthful admirer:
George, Prince of WalesGeorge IV was the king of Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
. She became the most notable
royal mistressA royal mistress is the historical position of a mistress to a monarch or senior Royal. Some mistresses have had considerable power. The prevalence of the institution can be attributed to the fact that Royal marriages were until recent times conducted solely on the basis of political and dynastic...
to the future George IV of the United Kingdom by marrying him on 15 December 1785, in the drawing room of her house in Park Street, London. Her uncle, Henry Errington, and her brother, Jack Smythe, were the witnesses.
The marriage was considered invalid under the
Royal Marriages Act 1772The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribes the conditions under which members of the British royal family can contract a valid marriage and provides very stringent safeguards against undesirable marriages that might affect the succession to the...
because it had not been approved by
King George IIIGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and the
Privy CouncilHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
. Had permission been asked, it would probably not have been granted, as Mrs. Fitzherbert was a
Roman CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
. Had the marriage occurred validly under the Royal Marriages Act, the Prince of Wales would have been disqualified to inherit the Crown under the provisions of the
British Bill of RightsThe British Bill of Rights can refer to:* The Bill of Rights 1689 - An Act of the Parliament of England made following the Glorious Revolution, considered one of the fundamental parts of the British constitution....
and the
Act of Settlement 1701The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England, originally filed in 1700, and passed in 1701, to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover—a granddaughter of James I—and her Protestant heirs...
. However, since the marriage was legally null and void, the disqualification did not apply.
Relationship with Prince of Wales/George IV after his marriage
Maria and the Prince continued to see one another romantically even after the Prince's marriage to
Caroline of BrunswickCaroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was the wife of George IV of the United Kingdom from 1795, and his queen consort from 29 January 1820 until her death.-Early life:...
, and the Prince returned to live with Maria in about 1800, but their relationship had ended permanently by 1811. During this time he was also romantically involved with Royal
courtesanA courtesan was originally a woman courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person. In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
Frances Villiers, Countess of JerseyFrances Villiers, Countess of Jersey was one of the more notorious of the many mistresses of King George IV when he was Prince of Wales.- Early life :...
, but this affair apparently had no adverse effect on Maria's affair with him.
Following the death of George on 26 June 1830, it was discovered that he had kept all her letters, and steps were taken to destroy them. The new King,
William IVWilliam IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death on 20 June 1837...
, offered to make her a Duchess, a recompense for the difficulties she had suffered on his brother's behalf. Mrs Fitzherbert replied that ‘she had borne through life the name of Mrs Fitzherbert; that she had never disgraced it, and did not wish to change it’.
She is buried in St John the Baptist's Church,
Kemp TownKemp Town is a 19th Century residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. Kemp Town was conceived and financed by Thomas Read Kemp. It has given its name to the larger Kemptown region of Brighton....
,
BrightonBrighton is a town in the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex on the south coast of Great Britain...
.
An American genealogy researcher named Bruce Shattuck alleges that a son was born to George IV and Maria Fitzherbert. According to Shattuck, this son, who went by the name James Henry Adolph Fitzherbert, was paid by William IV in 1832 to go into exile in America.