Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans

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Godfrey Kneller : Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans, 1694

Lady Diana de Vere , better known as Diana Beauclerk (* around 1679, † 15. January 1742 in Burford House near Windsor Castle ) was Mistress ( Mistress of the Robes ) and close confidant of the German-born Princess Caroline von Brandenburg-Ansbach , Princess of Wales and later Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Electress of Hanover.

Life

Lady Diana de Vere was the only child of the politician and aristocrat Aubrey de Vere, 20th Earl of Oxford (1627-1703) and his second wife, Lady Diana Kirke. She was considered precocious and extremely intelligent - later the heiress of larger estates in Ireland and England was one of the most beautiful women of her time.

Godfrey Kneller: Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, oil on canvas, around 1690

On April 17, 1694 Lady Diana was married to the politician and Chief Ranger of Enfield Chace Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans (1670-1726), the illegitimate son of King Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwyn . The marriage, which all reports said was harmonious, had ten children:

  • Charles (1696–1751), 2nd Duke of St Albans ⚭ 1722 Lady Lucy Werden
  • Diana (1697–1717), unmarried
  • William (1698–1732) ⚭ 1722 Lady Charlotte Werden
  • Vere (1699–1781), 1st Baron Vere of Hanwort and Admiral ⚭ 1736 Mary Chambers
  • Henry (1701-1761) Colonel
⚭ 1729 Lady Philips
⚭ 1739 Hon. Martha Lovelace
  • Sydney (1703–1744) ⚭ 1736 Mary Norris
  • George (1704–1768)
  • Seymour (1708-1710)
  • James (1709–1787) later Bishop of Hereford (1746–1787)
  • Aubrey (1711–1740) Captain and later Admiral in the Royal Navy

Name in different phases of life

  • 1679–1694 Lady Diana de Vere
  • 1694–1742 Diana Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans

literature

  • Peter Cunningham: The Story of Nell Gwyn and the sayings of Charles II. , WW Gibbings, London 1892, ISBN 1-4179-5888-X
  • Eleanor Herman: Love in the Shadow of the Crown. The history of the royal mistresses , Fischer, Frankfurt / Main (2004) ISBN 3-596-15987-3

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Beauclerk, Diana, Duchess of St Albans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vere, Diana de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chief Chamberlain of Caroline, Princess of Wales
DATE OF BIRTH around 1679
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 1742
Place of death Burford House at Windsor Castle