Mary Anne Fitzherbert

1756 - 1837. Mistress of the Prince of Wales (the future George IV), whom she married in 1785. The marriage was considered invalid because George lacked the consent of the sovereign (his father, George III), as required by the Royal Marriages Act. Since Maria Fitzherbert was a Catholic, the marriage would have led to George's exclusion from the succession to the throne (under the provisions of the Act of Settlement).