User:Ruby2010/Elizabeth Stuart, Baroness Stuart de Rothesay

Elizabeth Stuart, Baroness Stuart de Rothesay (née Yorke; 1789 – 23 June 1867) was a British society hostess. She was married to the diplomat Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay.

Early life and family
Born in 1789, Elizabeth Margaret Yorke was the third daughter of Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Lindsay. The historian Jennifer Mori describes the Yorke family as "service nobles" who fell into a lower rung of the British nobility, with professions including bureaucrats and court ministers. Continuing this tradition, the 3rd Earl of Hardwicke served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1801 to 1806.

Marriage
On 6 February 1816, Elizabeth married Sir Charles Stuart (1779–1845), a career diplomat then serving as the British ambassador to France. She thus immediately became the first British ambassadress to the Bourbon court since the fall of Napoleon. Elizabeth, twenty-seven at the time of her marriage, brought her mother to live with them for the first three months. Lady Hardwicke helped her daughter by acting as an informal assistant, planning social occasions for embassy guests.

Energetic and outgoing, Elizabeth loved the pomp and ceremony that came with her new role, though she frequently found her social duties irritating. Those of her acquaintance described her as astute and practical. Due to the social nature of her role, Elizabeth quickly understood the need to earn the support of the French, particularly elite women. She adopted French fashions and manners, and took pains to not offend them. Her husband provided her with an annual sum of £1,000 to spend on clothing.

While their marriage had been one of convenience, it seems to have been happy; they were loving parents of two daughters – Charlotte (later Countess Canning) and Louisa (later Marchioness of Waterford). While Elizabeth and Charles were both thought to be rather plain, their daughters were considered beautiful; both became known as keen watercolourists.

In 1828 her husband was granted a barony, becoming Baron Stuart de Rothesay. He died in November 1845 at Highcliffe Castle, their estate in Dorset. His widow died on 23 June 1867.