Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset the pride of birth and rank amounted almost to a disease". Charles was the second son of Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge (died 1665), of Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire, by his wife Elizabeth Alington (1635–1692). The 2nd baron was (in a junior line) a great-great-grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (executed 1552), brother of Queen Jane Seymour, uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England. Charles was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where his portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland survives in the College's collection. In 1675, Charles's elder brother Francis Seymour, 5th
Duke of Somerset from England and his estates were seized. At the Restoration his estates were restored, and he claimed the dukedom of Somerset as promised to him by Charles I. However this claim was rejected by the House of Lords and so was the title of Earl of Glamorgan. This enabled King Charles II to grant the Ducal title to the fourth creation family, the Seymours, who descend from the country's effective Regent, the Lord Protector in 1547. Edward Seymour (1538–1621) was son and heir of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, from his second marriage. He was created the Earl of