Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough John chose Sarah over Catherine Sedley, but both John's and Sarah's families disapproved of the match, therefore they married secretly in the winter of 1677–78. John and Sarah were both Protestants in a predominantly Catholic court, a circumstance that would influence their political allegiances. Although no date was recorded, the marriage was announced only to the Duchess of York, and a small circle of friends, so that Sarah could keep her court position as Maid of Honour. When Sarah became pregnant, her marriage was announced publicly (on 1 October 1678), and she retired from the court to give birth to
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough independence. Sarah continued to appeal against court decisions which ruled that funding for Blenheim should come from the Marlboroughs' personal estate, and not the government. This made her unpopular; as a trustee of her family's estate, she could easily have afforded the payments herself. She was surprised by the grief she felt following the death of her eldest living daughter in 1733. Sarah lived to see her enemy Robert Walpole fall in 1742, and in the same year attempted to improve her reputation by approving a biographical publication titled "An Account of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough from her first