Caroline was born in a hostel ' little better than a house of ill - fame ' , as Bess described it , outside Naples , and Clifford in Rouen . Bess was relieved when he was born later than she expected because she had been worried about the dates . Bess had many affairs and her child might as easily have been the Duke of Richmond 's son as the Duke of Devonshire 's . The name Clifford , one of the Devonshire titles , was carefully selected to demonstrate his paternity . Georgiana lavished affection on all the duke 's children , but there was one other child she longed to have closer to her : Eliza Courtney , her daughter by Charles Grey , who was taken from Georgiana just after her birth .

Give answer the following question using evidence from the above passage: Why was there so much emphasis on paternity and lineage ?
Such topics are big among royals .