[1][2][3] As her husband did not smoke and Lady de Grey preferred not to retire after dinner to a drawing room, she was deeply engaged with male after-dinner conversations about politics in the library.

She was opposed to Peel's invitations to her husband to become Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as she did not want to leave their new home at Wrest Park and the wider society in England.

Still interested in philanthropy, she suggested public works to boost employment in Ireland that were funded from royal estates, and schemes to encourage native industries in Dublin.

When he became ill in 1844, Lady de Grey took over his political correspondence, going on to negotiate his retirement and the selection of William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury as his successor.

She did have great reservations as to whether Ireland would benefit from the repeal of the corn laws, maintaining that the Irish famine was due to a "scarcity of money" rather than a lack of food.

[1] In early 1848, Lady de Grey's health began to decline, and she died at 4 St James's Square, London on 2 July 1848 from cancer.