Villiers’s father was a younger brother of George Villiers†, duke of Buckingham, and as such an influential courtier at the early Stuart court. The date of his birth is unclear: his university matriculation suggests 1629, whereas his marriage licence suggests 1626/7. Anglesey was thus a very young child when he succeeded to the peerage and was unable to take his seat in the pre-Restoration House of Lords. On 26 Jan. 1647 he was given leave by the Lords to travel abroad with three servants.
At the Restoration, Anglesey was in a prime position to benefit from his connections at court. His cousin George Villiers 2nd duke of Buckingham, was a close friend of the king. Moreover, Anglesey’s wife was the mother, by her first marriage, of Barbara Villiers, countess of Castlemaine (later duchess of Cleveland), a favourite mistress of Charles II. Anglesey took his seat in the Lords on 15 June 1660 but attended only one other sitting of the House, on 5 July. He died of smallpox and was buried on 4 Feb. 1661 at St Martin-in-the-Fields.3 HMC 5th Rep. 151. As he died without issue, his peerage became extinct; it was revived on 20 Apr. 1661 for Arthur Annesley earl of Anglesey.