Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (née Stanhope) (c.1510 – 16 April 1587) was the second wife of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c.1500–1552), who held the office of Lord Protector during the first part of the reign of his nephew King Edward VI, through whom Anne was briefly the most powerful woman in England. During her husband's time as Lord Protector she claimed precedence over the dowager queen Catherine. Anne Stanhope was likely born in 1510, the only child of Sir Edward Stanhope (1462 – 6 June 1511) by his wife Elizabeth Bourchier (b.
Duke of Somerset The only subsidiary title of the Duke of Somerset is Baron Seymour, which is used as a courtesy title by the eldest son and heir of the Duke. This courtesy title is the lowest in rank of all heirs to Dukedoms in the peerages of the British Isles, yet a Lord Seymour's precedence is higher than his title suggests, by virtue of the seniority of the Dukedom of Somerset (the only more senior non-royal duke is the Duke of Norfolk). Several other titles have been held by the Dukes of Somerset, but have become extinct. These include: Earl of Kendal