Barbara Berkeley, Viscountess Fitzhardinge

Barbara Berkeley, Viscountess Fitzhardinge (née Villiers; c. 1654 – 19 September 1708) was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Great Britain and governess to Prince William, Duke of Gloucester.

[2] Her sister Elizabeth Villiers (later Countess of Orkney) was the acknowledged mistress of William III of England from 1680 to 1695.

Born to Colonel Sir Edward Villiers of Richmond and Lady Frances Howard (a descendant of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk), Barbara became a maid of honour to the princesses of York before Mary married William in 1677.

[1] Naturally ambitious like the rest of her family, Barbara mixed scintillating wit with devious deception in order to promote dissatisfaction against the Churchills, who came to abhor the reign of William III and Mary II (1689–1702).

They had two daughters, neither of whom inherited their father's title: Lady Fitzhardinge died in 1708 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.