Fitzgerbert, Mary Anna

Born in Tonga, Shropshire, she was the eldest child in the family of Baronet John Smith. Educated in Paris at the monastery. In 1775 she married the rich Catholic Uelda, who died as a result of falling from a horse just three months after the wedding, without having had time to make a will. Lacking livelihoods, Fitzgerbert was forced to seek a new marriage, and three years later she married James Fitzgerbert. In 1781, widowed. Soon she managed to get into the high society of London, and in 1784 she was introduced to Prince George, who was six years younger.

Having fallen in love with her, the prince secretly married her in 1785, disregarding Fox's advice, which pointed to the illegality and inconvenience of this marriage for the heir to the throne, especially since Fitzgerbert was a Catholic. When the question of this marriage arose in parliament, George, through Fox, denied its existence and, inferior to the requirements of his father, married Caroline of Brunswick (1795), with whom he soon dispersed and spent another 10 years living with Fitzgerbert; finally broke with her in 1806. After his death, she since 1804 lived at the church of St.. John in Kemptown and received a pension from Wilhelm IV, who greatly respected her. According to some reports, she bore two children from the king, but this was never proven.

• The Madness of King George (1994)

• Fitzgerbert, Mary-Anna // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• An article in the Encyclopedia Britannica (English)