The Duchess of Cleveland | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Castlemaine | |
 Portrait attributed to John Greenhill. Dated to no later than 1676. | |
| Born | Barbara Villiers 27 November 1640 (17 November Old Style) Parish of St. Margaret's, City and Liberty of Westminster, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 9 October 1709 (aged 68) Chiswick Mall, Middlesex, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) | Roger Palmer, 1st Earl of Castlemaine Robert Fielding |
| Issue | Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland Barbara FitzRoy |
| Parents | William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison Mary Bayning |
| Occupation | Lady of the Bedchamber |
Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers /ˈvɪlərz/ VIL-ərz; 27 November [O.S. 17 November] 1640[2] – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children, all of them acknowledged and subsequently ennobled. Barbara was the subject of many portraits, in particular by court painter Sir Peter Lely.
Barbara's first cousin, Elizabeth Villiers (later 1st Countess of Orkney 1657–1733), was the presumed mistress of King William III.
- ^ Burke, Bernard (1884–1969). The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales: comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0806349480.
- ^ The Complete Peerage