Mary Fairfax was the daughter of Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and Anne Vere.[3] She was baptised in York at St Mary, Bishophill Junior on 1 August 1638.[1] During the 1650s, she was tutored by Andrew Marvell.[4]
Mary was to have married Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield, but developed a preference for Buckingham, whom she married on 15 September 1657 at Bolton Percy, following his return from exile.[5] It has been suggested that Buckingham's pursuit of Mary was part of a scheme to regain possession of his father's former London residence, York House; Fairfax, who had been given the house, went along with this.[6] Buckingham remained under suspicion by the government, and was placed under house arrest a few weeks later. After escaping, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London until his father-in-law, Fairfax, arranged his release in February 1659.[7]
The couple had no children. The duchess was made a Lady of the Bedchamber to Catherine of Braganza, queen of Charles II of England, and held the position from 1663 until 1679.[8] In the course of their marriage, Mary tolerated her husband's mistresses and was called "a most virtuous and pious lady, in a vicious age and Court".[9] In 1668, after fatally wounding Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, in a duel, Buckingham set up house with his widow, Anna, and Mary Villiers was obliged to return to live with her parents until the liaison ended in 1674.[4]
In October 1670 the duchess, with the queen, and her friend the Duchess of Richmond decided to go to a fair near Audley End disguised as country women for a "merry frolic", dressed in red petticoats and waistcoats. The costumes were outlandish rather than convincing, and they began to draw a crowd. When they tried to buy stockings and gloves, their speech was also conspicuous. A member of the crowd recognised the queen from a dinner she had attended. The party returned followed by as many people at the fair as had horses.[10]
The duke died in 1687. On her death, the dowager duchess was buried with her husband in the Buckingham vault at Westminster Abbey.[11]
