Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Cleveland, was the daughter of William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison (d.1643). She became Charles II’s favourite mistress after his return to England from exile in 1660. Barbara Villiers became a direct link between the Essex-based Barrett-Lennard family and Charles II (1630–1685) when Barbara’s first daughter, Lady Anne Palmer, or Fitzroy, (1661–1722) was married to Thomas Lennard, 15th Lord Dacre (1654–1715) in 1674 at Hampton Court. He was later made Earl of Sussex by Charles II. Sir Peter Lely (1618–1680), together with Anthony van Dyck, dominated the court portraiture of seventeenth-century England. His role as the Principal Court Painter began in 1660 with Charles II.