Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset numerous descendants include Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (and therefore The Queen and all of her blood descendants), Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York. Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset ("née" Devereux; 30 September 1599 – 24 April 1674), was an English noblewoman who lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Her father was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, Elizabeth I's favourite who was executed for treason in 1601. She was the second wife of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and the mother of
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough Duchess of Marlborough, Abigail soon became Sarah’s enemy, and supplanted her in Anne’s affections. During her lifetime, Sarah drafted twenty-six wills, the last of which was only written a few months before her death; and had purchased twenty-seven estates. With a wealth of over £4 million in land; £17,000 in rent rolls; and a further £12,500 in annuities, she made financial bequests to rising Whig ministers such as William Pitt, later the first Earl of Chatham, and Philip Stanhope, the fourth Earl of Chesterfield. Although she left little to the poor and even less to charity, she left her servants