A portrait of of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison of Limerick (1618-99) by Sir Peter Lely comes up at Sotheby’s Old Masters day sale which runs from today until December 5. It is estimated at £10,000-15,000. Grandison was the uncle of two notable Royal mistresses: Barbara Villiers, later Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland (1640-1709), perhaps the most notorious of King Charles II’s many mistresses; and Elizabeth Villiers, Countess of Orkney (1657-1733), the presumed mistress of King William III. His eldest son, Brigadier-General the Hon. Edward Villiers, who married Katherine, the daughter of Sir John FitzGerald and changed his name to FitzGerald in order to inherit that family’s estates at Dromana, County Waterford, predeceased him and he was succeeded by his grandson, John Villiers, 5th Viscount and 1st Earl of Grandison (1684-1766), at whose death, without surviving male issue, the Earldom became extinct.
Portrait of George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison of Limerick UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £12,600