On 26 Dec 1613 Robert Carr 1st Earl Somerset (age 26) and Frances Howard Countess Essex and Somerset (age 23) were married. She by marriage Countess Somerset. She the daughter of Thomas Howard 1st Earl Suffolk (age 52) and Catherine Knyvet Countess Suffolk (age 49).

Her marriage with her first husband Robert Devereux 3rd Earl Essex (age 22) had been annulled on the grounds of his impotence three months before causing something of a scandal.