Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham

Her Grace The Duchess of Buckingham
Katherine, Duchess of Buckingham, with her son George, 1628 (detail of larger portrait).
Personal details
Born	Lady Katherine Manners
Died	1649 Waterford, Ireland
Spouse(s)	George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim
Children	Mary Stewart, Duchess of Richmond George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Parents	Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland Frances Knyvet
Religion	Roman Catholic

Katherine Manners, Duchess of Buckingham, Marchioness of Antrim, 19th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley (died 1649) was the daughter and heir of Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland. She was known as the richest woman in Britain, apart from royalty. She married George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, the favourite, and possibly lover, of King James I of England; and secondly, she married the Irish peer Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim.

Lady Katherine Manners was the only daughter of Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, by his first wife, Frances Knyvet (d. before 26 November 1605), widow of Sir William Bevill of Killigarth or Kilkhampton, Cornwall, and third daughter and coheir of Sir Henry Knyvet of Charlton, Wiltshire, by Elizabeth Stumpe, the daughter of Sir James Stumpe of Bromham, Wiltshire.

Katherine Manners was selected by the Countess of Buckingham to marry her son, George Villiers. However, Manners was a strict Roman Catholic, and the King refused to allow Villiers to marry her. In addition to this, the Earl of Rutland refused to accept the Countess of Buckingham’s demands for his daughter’s dowry. Manners converted to Protestantism, to satisfy the Villiers family, which almost caused her father to call off the marriage. Invited to visit the Countess of Buckingham, Katherine was forced to spend the night due to an attack of illness. Believing his daughter’s honor to be compromised, the Earl of Rutland refused to receive her back, and demanded that George Villiers marry her immediately. At this Villiers refused to marry her, but did a few weeks later, on 16 May 1620.