A cousin of the
1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, Powis was, together with his wife, one of the leaders of the
Roman Catholic party. He was one of the "Five Catholic Lords" falsely accused by
Titus Oates in the
Popish Plot of conspiring to kill the King and as a result spent six years in the
Tower of London awaiting trial; his wife's desperate efforts to free him led her to fabricate the "
Meal-Tub plot" for which she narrowly escaped being convicted for treason herself. Powis was finally freed in 1684. He remained faithful to the deposed King James after the
Glorious Revolution of 1688. It was he who spirited away
Queen Mary and the infant
James, Prince of Wales, and took them into their French exile. As a reward, he was created "Duke of Powis" and "Marquess of Montgomery" in the
Jacobite Peerage by King James. In 1690, Powis landed in Ireland with James, where he acted as one of his principal advisers. James appointed him to his Irish
Privy Council and made him
Lord Chamberlain. He remained in Ireland until the king's flight back to France after the
Battle of the Boyne, and settled again at the exiled Jacobite Court at
St Germain. Powis was a prominent figure in the Jacobite Court, serving as
Lord Steward and
Lord Chamberlain of the household, but he seems to have been rather marginal in the king's counsels. His wife continued as Principal
Lady of the Bedchamber to
Queen Mary of Modena and Royal Governess to
James, Prince of Wales until her death on 11 March 1691. James made Powis a
Knight of the Garter in April 1692. Nevertheless, others exercised more influence at Court as Powis struggled to maintain the dignity of a royal household on an insufficient income. Having lost estates valued at £10,000 a year, he had given up more than most for the Jacobite cause. ==Personal life==