Plaque at Maria Fitzherbert's burial place in Brighton
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (1756-1837), née Smythe, married George IV (then the Prince of Wales) in December 1785. The marriage was considered invalid under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 because it had not been approved by the King and the Privy Council. Had permission been asked, it would probably not have been granted, as Mrs. Fitzherbert was a Catholic. Their relationship continued after the Prince's marriage to Princess Caroline of Brunswick, but ended in 1811. Following the death of George in 1830, William IV offered to make her a royal duchess, but she declined.
Fitzherbert turned a deaf ear to the prince's solicitations, to get rid of which she withdrew to the Continent.
Fitzherbert off, at the same time continuing the pension of £3000 a year, which he had allowed her ever since their marriage.
Fitzherbert survived him seven years, dying at the age of eighty, at Brighton, where she was buried in the Catholic church of St. John the Baptist, to the erection of which she had largely contributed, and wherein a mural monument to her memory is still to be seen.
MariaFitzherbert was painted by the notable artists of the day - Gainsborough, Romney, Hoppner, Cosway - but their works do little to explain her effect on the volatile Prince.
Mrs Fitzherbert certainly acted as though she was married to the Prince, and as early as December 28 rumours that this was so were circulating.
Maria, 2nd Countess Waldegrave (who in her widowhood married the Duke of Gloucester) was the niece of Robert and Horace Walpole.
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