"Mrs. Fitzherbert" redirects here. For other uses, see Mrs. Fitzherbert (disambiguation).
Maria Fitzherbert
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1788
Born
Maria Anne Smythe
(1756-07-26)26 July 1756
Tong Castle, England
Died
27 March 1837(1837-03-27) (aged 80)
Steine House, Brighton, England
Resting place
St John the Baptist's Church, Kemptown, Brighton
Spouses
Edward Weld
(m. 1775; died 1775)
Thomas Fitzherbert
(m. 1778; died 1781)
Children
at least 1 (with Thomas Fitzherbert)
Parents
Walter Smythe (father)
Mary Ann Errington (mother)
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (néeSmythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was invalid under English civil law because his father, King George III, had not consented to it. Fitzherbert was a Catholic and the law at the time forbade Catholics or spouses of Catholics from becoming monarch, so had the marriage been approved and valid, the Prince of Wales would have lost his place in the line of succession. Before marrying George, Fitzherbert had been twice widowed. Her nephew from her first marriage, Cardinal Weld, persuaded Pope Pius VII to declare the marriage sacramentally valid.[1]
^Abbot, Richard (1 September 2007). "Brighton's unofficial queen". The Tablet. The Tablet Publishing Company. p. 12.
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (née Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George...
Prince of Wales (later George IV) felt the need to send the widow MariaFitzherbert a token of his love. This gesture and the romance that went with it...
after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with MariaFitzherbert. She was a commoner (though granddaughter of a baronet), six years...
Wales, whom she had never met. He was already illegally married to MariaFitzherbert. George and Caroline married the following year but separated shortly...
remained unresolved. The marriage of George IV as Prince of Wales to MariaFitzherbert in 1785 is frequently referred to as morganatic: it was in fact doubly...
Davy John Disney David Douglas Maria Edgeworth Pierce Egan Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin Grace Elliott MariaFitzherbert Elizabeth Fry David Garrick George...
in British television series, including Prince Regent (1979), as MariaFitzherbert, the clandestine wife of the future George IV, and We'll Meet Again...
the prince to enjoy private liaisons with his long-time companion, MariaFitzherbert. The prince had wished to marry her, and did so in secrecy as her...
the rumoured clandestine marriage between the Prince Regent and MariaFitzherbert is cited in a satirical song in The Times: "Their way to consummation...
biographer. He served as Whig Member of Parliament, wrote the memoirs of MariaFitzherbert, and was a leading Roman Catholic figure during the 19th century....
Prince of Wales, who was at the time, albeit not legally, married to MariaFitzherbert, regarded it unnecessary for him to enter a dynastic marriage, because...
affairs, or even his scandalous and unlawful previous marriage to MariaFitzherbert, could destabilise the Tory government led by Lord Liverpool. In an...
North Americans. Holly Bush House – later 'East End', tenancy of MariaFitzherbert, demolished 1884 Belfield House – home of Mrs Jordan, later part of...
Catholic aristocracy and squirearchy. Finally, the famous recusant MariaFitzherbert, who during this period secretly married the Prince of Wales, prince...
Thus when the future George IV attempted to marry the Roman Catholic MariaFitzherbert in 1785 without obtaining permission from George III he did not disqualify...
James Ord the illegitimate son of George IV of the United Kingdom and MariaFitzherbert but, instead, he may have been the son of Ralph Ord, who was baptised...
Camilla Shand, mistress, and later wife and queen, of Charles III MariaFitzherbert Mary Robinson Frances Twysden Grace Elliott Isabella Seymour-Conway...
expected of a duke; accepted the Marquessate of Milford Haven instead. MariaFitzherbert, mistress and wife (in a marriage never considered valid in England)...
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