Fitzherbert, Maria Anne (1756–1837)

Illegal wife of King George IV of England. Name variations: Mary Ann; Mrs. Fitzherbert. Born Maria Anne Smythe in Hampshire, England, on July 26, 1756; died on March 27, 1837, in Brighton, Sussex; daughter of Walter Smythe and Mary (Errington) Smythe; married Edward Weld of Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in 1775 (died 1776); married Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton, Staffordshire, in 1778 (died 1781); married George IV (1762–1821), king of England (r.1820–1830), on December 21, 1785 (marriage declared illegal in 1787); children: (with George IV) ten.

Two early marriages and two early deaths left Maria Anne Fitzherbert well provided for by the time she met George (IV), the prince of Wales, in early 1785. Six years her junior, the 23-year-old prince fell head over royal heels and attempted to convey his passion by stabbing himself, presumably in a suicide attempt. Fitzherbert, a deeply religious Catholic, was terrified by George's demands that she become his mistress and fled to the Continent. Crazed with grief, the prince offered to marry her. With that, she returned to London, and they were wed secretly by an Anglican minister on December 21, 1785. Since the 1772 Royal Marriage Act prevented any of the royal family under the age of 25 from marrying without the king's permission, specifically the prince's father George III, theirs was a sham wedding performed by a cleric who had been bailed out of debtor's prison and promised a bishopric. The prince did not quarrel when Parliament declared the marriage illegal in 1787.

Nonetheless, for the decade after their wedding, the prince and Maria Fitzherbert lived as man and wife in the eyes of their friends. Eventually, as she gave birth to each of their ten children, she also added poundage, and the prince began to stray. Worse, he would arrive home an angry drunk, once chasing her with a drawn sword. Deeply in debt, he fell behind in her allowance. King George III offered to retire his son's debt if the prince assented to an arranged marriage to Caroline of Brunswick , and the prince, though he despised Caroline, agreed.

The royal marriage took place on April 8, 1795; if anything, the nuptials pushed the prince back into the arms of Maria Fitzherbert, and he continued with his retinue of mistresses while privately settling miscellaneous paternity suits. In an early will, written in 1796, he described Fitzherbert as "his true and real wife," adding, to Caroline, "who is called the Princess of Wales, I leave one shilling." It was not until George had finally progressed to the station of prince regent in 1811 and had become infatuated with Lady Hertford that he left Fitzherbert, dismissing her with a final, "Madam, you have no place."

At the time of King George IV's death in 1830, Maria Fitzherbert was among the few who mourned. The late king obviously had shared the same affection, having requested that Fitzherbert's miniature portrait be hung round his neck and buried with him. She died seven years later, at age 81.