Peerages held by the Villiers family include the dukedoms of Buckingham (1623–1687) and Cleveland (1670–1709), as well as the earldoms of Anglesey (1623–1661), Jersey (since 1697), and Clarendon (since 1776).

Perhaps the most prominent members of the family were those who received the two dukedoms: George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628) rose to fame and influence as favourite of King James I of England, while Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (1640–1709) became a mistress of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children.

[1] In the early 13th century, the tenant of Brooksby, Gilbert de Seis, married a member of the Villiers family, a line of minor gentry of Norman descent.

According to Thomson,[5] Sir George Villiers is an ancestor of sixteen British prime ministers, from the 3rd Duke of Grafton to David Cameron.

As a royal favourite during the reigns of James I and Charles I, Buckingham used his enormous political influence to prodigiously enrich his relatives and advance their social positions, which soured public opinion towards him.

He was the father of Barbara Villiers († 1709), one of the mistresses of King Charles II, by whom she had five children, and who was created Duchess of Cleveland in 1670.

The 1st Earl of Jersey's sister, Elizabeth Villiers († 1733), was the presumed mistress of King William III of England from 1680 until 1695.

Upon his death in 1766, the earldom became extinct while the viscountcy passed to his second cousin William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey, who became the 6th Viscount Grandison.