 Bess has been an ancestor of the royal line since 1952; Queen Elizabeth II being Bess's descendant through the Dukes of Portland, in whose family was Elizabeth II's maternal grandmother, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck.Bess of Hardwick died at 5 pm on Saturday 13 February 1608, aged 81.At the time of her death she remained "one of the richest, and most powerful women in the kingdom".