Which monarch is known to have had a secret marriage to a Catholic commoner who had outlived her previous two husbands?

TabbyTom

King George IV, when he was prince of Wales, married Maria Anne Fitzherbert on December 21, 1785. Her previous husbands were Edward Weld of Lulworth in Dorset, whom she married in 1775 and who died the same year, and Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton in Staffordshire, whom she married in 1778 and who died in 1781, (Source: Dictionary of National Biography) Jan 20 04, 2:56 AM

gmackematix

Yay TT. Prince George's love was vary prim and proper and insisted on marriage. As she was a Catholic, a commoner and twice widowed this was unthinkable but a ceremony did take place in Mrs Fitzherbert's drawing room officiated by Robert Burt, an Anglican clergyman. Maria's marriage to George was, of course, illegal, but her presence was an embarrassment to the Court. Therefore the ill-fated marriage to Caroline of Brunswick was arranged. George spent the first 24 hours of this marriage blind drunk and charmingly referred to Caroline as the "vilest wretch this world was ever cursed with". Jan 20 04, 7:23 PM