page_title: Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington
section_title: Marriage
hierarchical_section_title: Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington / Marriage
context_page_description: Jane Stanhope, Countess of Harrington, was a society hostess and heiress who served as a lady of the Bedchamber to the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
context_section_description: The new Countess of Harrington was soon praised for generosity, as she immediately settled the debts her husband had inherited from her father-in-law and funded the re-purchase of Stable Yard House in St James's. The money she brought into the marriage also enabled Lord Harrington to raise an infantry regiment, with which the couple departed for Jamaica in 1780. When they returned the next year, Lady Harrington became noted for her fashion sense and physical attractiveness; she and Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, were singled out as "the best dressed ladies" at an all-night party held by the Duchess in September 1782.
  Although she became a gambler like many of her class, Lady Harrington was "blessed with domestic happiness, a lovely progeny, and every endearment that can make life desirable." Surrounded by aristocracy of generally loose morals, she was considered an epitome of virtue, while her younger sister scandalised the society by reportedly having sexual relations with 27 men other than her husband. She was often contrasted with her mother-in-law, Caroline Stanhope, Countess of Harrington, who was seen as a "fallen woman". A somewhat talented painter, Lady Harrington helped establish John Glover's career as art instructor in the early 1790s, and may have taken lessons from him. She was well acquainted with Sir Joshua Reynolds, who painted two famous portraits of her, as well as portraits of her mother, sister and brother-in-law Sir Richard Worsley. In 1794, she became a lady of the Bedchamber to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III. Much favoured by Queen Charlotte, Lady Harrington served as lady of the Bedchamber until the Queen's death in 1818.
caption: The stylish Lady Harrington walking in pastoral nature; painted by Reynolds in 1775.[3]
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