Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (8 July 1647 – 15 October 1702) was a prominent member of the Court of the Restoration 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 King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

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

Britannia The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...

. She is one of the Windsor Beauties painted by

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 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. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

Biography

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

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, but was sent to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1663 after the restoration by Charles I'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. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

(a court appointment) and subsequently as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

to Charles II's new bride,

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza (; 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, King Charles II, which la ...

. The great diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

recorded that she was the greatest beauty he ever saw. She had numerous suitors, including the Duke of Buckingham and Francis Digby, son of the Earl of Bristol, whose unrequited love for her was celebrated by Dryden. 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 Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, 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 (W ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and then to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

as ambassador, where he died in 1672. It is however speculated that the duchess and the King may have had an affair. Samuel Pepys recorded in May 1668: Some evidence appeared in the Dutch television series "Verborgen Verleden" that she and Charles had an illegitimate daughter named Rebecca, who was kept hidden to preserve Frances' reputation 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 (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...

("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; it was renamed from Lethington to Lennoxlove after her.

Britannia

Following the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda (1667), Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was one in a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars, naval wars between Kingdom of England, England and the D ...

, Charles had a commemorative medal cast celebrating the 1667 Peace of Breda. According to

, it was her face that was used by the artist John Roettiers 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. In the first personifications in the Western World, warrior deities or figures symboliz ...

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 t ...

In fiction

* '' Forever Amber'' Kathleen Winsor (1944) * ''A Health Unto His Majesty (1956)'' Jean Plaidy * ''The Lady on the Coin,'' by Margaret Campbell Barnes & Hebe Elsna, pub. 1963. * ''The Sceptre and the Rose'' Doris Leslie (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''

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 People of the Second Anglo-Dutch War