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 court, but she had her revenge under the Hanoverians following Anne's death. She had famous subsequent disagreements with many important people, including her daughter the second Duchess of Marlborough; the architect of Blenheim Palace, John Vanbrugh; prime minister Robert Walpole; King George II; and his wife, Queen Caroline. The money she inherited from the Marlborough trust left her one of the richest women in Europe. She died in 1744 at the age of eighty-four. Sarah Jennings was born on 5 June 1660, probably at Holywell House, St Albans, Hertfordshire. She was the daughter of Richard Jennings (or Jenyns), a Member