| Maria Anne Fitzherbert |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT MARIA ANNE FITZHERBERT | |
| 1756 births | |
| fitzherbert, maria anne | |
| 1837 deaths | |
| house of hanover | |
| mistresses of british royalty | |
| roman catholics | |
| regency london | |
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Maria Anne Fitzherbert, née Smythe ( 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837 ), was the first woman with whom the future King George IV Of The United Kingdom undertook a wedding ceremony and his companion for a large part of his adult life. However the marriage was invalid under English Civil Law s concerning royal marriages and she never became queen or acquired any other title. Maria Anne was the eldest child of Walter Smythe of Brambridge , Hampshire , and Mary Ann Errington. Her paternal grandparents were Sir John Smythe, 3rd Baronet Smythe and Constantia Blount. Her maternal grandparents were John Errington of Beaufront , Northumberland , and Maria Levery. Maria was also mother to Charles William Molyneux, 1st Earl Of Sefton by her third marriage. She was educated in Paris . She was married to Edward Weld, 16 years her senior, of Lulworth Castle in July, 1775. Maria Anne soon became a Widow , as Weld died just three months later. She was secondly married, three years later, to Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton, Staffordshire . She was ten years younger than him. They had a son who died young. She became a widow for a second time on 7 May , 1781 , inheriting a residence in Mayfair and an annual income of £2,500. The young widow soon entered . She became the most notable Royal Mistress to the future George IV of the United Kingdom by marrying him on December 15 , 1785 , at Red Rice House , Red Rice . The marriage was considered invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 because it had not been approved by George III Of The United Kingdom and the Privy Council . Had permission been asked, it would probably not have been granted, as Mrs. Fitzherbert was a Roman Catholic . They continued to see one another after the Prince's marriage to Caroline Of Brunswick , and the prince returned to live with Maria in about 1800, but their relationship had ended permanently by 1811. 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 IV , offered to make her a royal 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 Town , Brighton . REFERENCES
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