Emily Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness Of Lansdowne

Emily Jane Mercer Elphinstone Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne and 8th Lady Nairne (née de Flahaut), was born on 16 May 1819 in Edinburgh. She was the eldest daughter of Charles, Comte de Flahaut—a French general and statesman—and his wife, Margaret. Her family connections included her half-brother, Charles, Duc de Morny, who was the half-brother of Emperor Napoleon III through her stepmother, Hortense de Beauharnais. She was also a granddaughter of the Prince de Talleyrand.

In 1834, when she was approximately 15 years old, the composer Frédéric Chopin dedicated his Boléro, Op. 19, to her.

On 1 November 1843, she married Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice at the British embassy in Vienna. At the time of their marriage, Henry was the Earl of Shelburne. The couple had three children: Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (born in 1845, died in 1927), who later became the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne; Edmond George Petty-Fitzmaurice (born in 1846, died in 1935), who later became the 1st Baron Fitzmaurice; and Lady Emily Louisa Anne Petty-Fitzmaurice (born in 1855, died in 1939).

Her husband inherited his father's marquessate in 1863, shaping her title as Marchioness of Lansdowne. Although she was unable to inherit her mother's Keith barony due to the title's remainder restricted to male heirs, she was recognized by the House of Lords as the 8th Lady Nairne in 1874, a title her mother had inherited in 1837. She did not pursue a claim to this title during her lifetime. Upon her death at Meikleour House in 1895, the Nairne title was passed to her eldest son.