Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (8 July 1647Encyclopædia Britannica – 15 October 1702) was a prominent member of the Court of the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

and famous for refusing to become a mistress of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

. For her great beauty she was known as ''La Belle Stuart'' and served as the model for an idealised, female

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

. She is one of the

Windsor Beauties The Windsor Beauties are a set of portrait paintings, still in the Royal Collection, by Sir Peter Lely and his workshop, produced in the early to mid-1660s, that depict ladies of the court of King Charles II, some of whom were his mistresses. ...

painted by

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...

Biography

Frances was the daughter of Walter Stewart, or Stuart, a physician in Queen Henrietta Maria's court, and a distant relative of the royal family, and his wife, Sophia (née Carew). She was born on 8 July 1647 in exile in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, but was sent to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1663 after the restoration by

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

's widow, Henrietta Maria, as

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

(a court appointment) and subsequently as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to Charles II's new bride,

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, ...

. The great diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

recorded that she was the greatest beauty he ever saw. She had numerous suitors, including the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

and Francis Digby, son of the Earl of Bristol, whose unrequited love for her was celebrated by

Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the peri ...

. Her beauty appeared to her contemporaries to be equaled only by her childish silliness; but her letters to her husband, preserved in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, are not devoid of good sense and feeling. The Count de Gramont said of her that "it would be difficult to imagine less brain combined with more beauty." While a member of the royal court, she caught the eye of Charles II, who fell in love with her. The king's infatuation was so great that when the queen's life was despaired of in 1663, it was reported that he intended to marry Stewart, and four years later he was considering the possibility of obtaining a divorce to enable him to make her his wife because she had refused to become his mistress. Eventually, in March 1667, she married (as his third wife) Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox (1639–1672), a fourth cousin of King Charles II, but produced no issue. It is possible she had to elope, after being discovered with him by Lady Castlemaine, a rival for the king's affections. The now Duchess of Richmond, however, soon returned to court, where she remained for many years; and although she was disfigured by

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in 1669, she retained her hold on the king's affections. It is certain, at least, that Charles went on to post the Duke to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and then to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

as ambassador, where he died in 1672. The duchess was present in 1688 at the birth of

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...

("The Old Pretender"), son of James II, and was one of those who signed the certificate before the council. She attended the coronation of Queen Anne in April 1702, before dying in October aged 55, Much of her estate was left in trust to purchase a Scottish property that came to her relative

Alexander Stuart, 5th Lord Blantyre Alexander Stuart, 5th Lord Blantyre (or Stewart) (died 1704) was a Scottish nobleman, a soldier and politician. Life He was the son of Alexander Stewart, 4th Lord Blantyre, by Margaret, daughter of John Shaw of Greenock. At the Glorious Revolutio ...

; it was renamed from Lethington to

Lennoxlove Lennoxlove House is a historic house set in woodlands half a mile south of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. The house comprises a 15th-century tower, originally known as Lethington Castle, and has been extended several times, principally i ...

after her.

Britannia

Following the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between Kingdom of England, England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas a ...

, Charles had a commemorative medal cast celebrating the 1667

Peace of Breda The Peace of Breda, or Treaty of Breda was signed in the Dutch city of Breda, on 31 July 1667. It consisted of three separate treaties between England and each of its opponents in the Second Anglo-Dutch War: the Dutch Republic, France, and Denma ...

. According to

, it was her face that was used by the artist

John Roettiers John Roettiers (4 July 1631 – 1703) was a celebrated English engraver and medallist. Roettiers was the oldest son of Philip Roettiers, a goldsmith of Antwerp. He took up the profession of stonecutter and medallist, with his earliest known prod ...

as a model for

, and Roettiers adapted the image for reproduction on the reverse of the copper coins issued from 1672. This was the first time the

national personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations ...

had appeared on coinage since Roman times and began an ongoing tradition of Britannia depicted on the

coins of the pound sterling The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling ( symbol "£", commercial GBP), and ranges in value from one penny sterling ...

In fiction

* '' Forever Amber''

Kathleen Winsor Kathleen Winsor (October 16, 1919 – May 26, 2003) was an American author. She is best known for her first work, the 1944 historical novel '' Forever Amber''. The novel, racy for its time, became a runaway bestseller even as it drew criticism ...

(1944) * ''A Health Unto His Majesty (1956)''

Jean Plaidy Eleanor Alice Hibbert (née Burford; 1 September 1906 – 18 January 1993) was an English writer of historical romances. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in different literary genres, each genre under a different pen ...

* ''The Lady on the Coin,'' by

Margaret Campbell Barnes Margaret Campbell Barnes (27 February 1891 – 1 April 1963) was an English writer of short-stories and historical fiction. Biography Margaret Campbell Wood was born on 27 February 1891 in Rotherfield, England, UK. She was the youngest of ten ch ...

& Hebe Elsna, pub. 1963. * ''The Sceptre and the Rose''

Doris Leslie Doris Leslie (née Oppenheim, later Lady Fergusson Hannay) (9 March 1891 – 30 May 1982), was a British novelist and historical biographer. Her novel ''Peridot Flight'' (1956) was serialised in 10 episodes by BBC TV in October–December 1960. A ...

(1967) * ''The Painted Lady'' Maeve Haran (2011) * ''Girl on the Golden Coin'' Marci Jefferson (2014) * ''Dark Stars'' C.S. Quinn (2016) * '' The Great Fire (miniseries)'' played by ''

Antonia Clarke Antonia Sophia E. Clarke (born 24 May 1995) is an English actress and singer. Her films include ''Altar'' (2014) and ''All My Friends Hate Me'' (2021). On television, she is known for her roles as young Emmeline in the BBC Two film ''The Thirteen ...

Notes

References

* Attribution: * This work in turn cites: **Gilbert Burnet, ''History of my own Time'' (6 vols., Oxford, 1833) **Samuel Pepys, ''Diary'', 9 vols. (London, 1893–1899, and numerous editions) **Anthony Hamilton, ''Memoire of Grammont'', translated by Boyer, edited by Sir W. Scott (2 vols., London, 1885, 1890) **Anna Jameson, ''Memoirs of Beauties of the Court of Charles II, with their Portraits'' (2nd ed., London, 1838) **Jules J. Jusserand, ''A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II'' (London, 1892) **Edmund Ludlow, ''Memoirs, 1625–72'', edited by C. H. Firth (2 vols., Oxford, 1894)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond, Frances Stewart, Duchess of 1647 births 1702 deaths English duchesses by marriage English ladies-in-waiting Nobility from Paris 17th-century English women Court of Charles II of England Household of Catherine of Braganza Wives of knights