Maria Seymour-Conway, Marchioness of Hertford

Maria Emilia Fagnani (24 August 1771 2 March 1856) was the Marchioness of Hertford.

Family

Possible paternity

Maria was illegitimate. Born in the 1770s, most likely, she was the daughter of Costanza Brusati, the Italian Marchesa Fagnani, and of either -

Both Queensberry and Selwyn believed themselves to be her father and left her very large legacies.

Marriage

On 18 May 1798, Maria married Francis Seymour-Conway, Earl of Yarmouth (1777–1842), the son of the 2nd Marquess of Hertford and Isabella Ingram-Shepheard. The Marchioness was the daughter of the Viscount Irvine, and the mistress of the Prince of Wales.

By 1802 they were estranged, and she lived in Paris for the rest of her life.

Children

George III

When George III of the United Kingdom was insane, he announced that he was going to take Lady Yarmouth as his mistress.

Later life

The Marquess inherited his title in 1822. He died in 1842. The dowager Marchioness died in 1856 in Paris.

Vanity Fair

William Makepeace Thackery parodied her husband as the Marquess of Steyne in his masterpiece, Vanity Fair.

External links

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