#LOOK technically the family title is earl of sheffield but i didn't want to confuse matters w kate's maternal fam

[debreuil]

the dowager countess de winter, though she loathes being referred to as a dowager; she prefers anne, countess de winter or simply lady de winter as forms of address (it's still correct to address her as such, since her son is a child and thus has not married).

of french origin, though very reticent about her past and her upbringing, and much of her time in france in general. she sees through madame delacroix in a matter of days upon joining mayfair society.

big fan of high collars, chemisettes, ruffs, elaborate necklaces, etc. not terribly fashionable for a woman who is otherwise in vogue, but she gets away with it because of her widowhood + her being french + her friends in high places. for similar reasons (i.e. to hide her scars), she stays away from sleeveless gowns, and even cap sleeves.

twenty eight as of season one, though she married at twenty, and bore her first and only child (a boy, john francis) at twenty two. her husband died shortly thereafter of ~ unknown causes ~. her son is the spitting image of her in every sense of the word, and he is a massive mama's boy. the two are, especially unusually for the time period, joined at the hip.

she is considered to be a friend of some of the most notable men in english society; namely, robert jenkinson (the prime minister), the duke of wellington, and the prince regent. no-one is quite sure why or how she has friendships with these men who are between one and two decades her senior.

her son is the current earl de winter, but due to his being ... well, six years old, she is his guardian. her late husband's younger brother contested this at the time, but the late earl's will specified that his widow was to run the estate and the family affairs until their son came of age, and given anne's friends in high places, he quickly gave up his objections.