Marie Antoinette's

Marie Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon-Orléans was the first daughter of Philippe Charles, Duke of Orléans who was the Regent to Louis XV. Her mother was Madame Lucifer, and grandmother was Liselotte. She was born at Versailles on August 20, 1695.

Growing up she always had her own way and was a complete daddy's girl. She disliked her mother, as her father did. When she was only 9 she went on a hunt with her father, and their party noted her spoiled behavior.

When she was 15, her mother wanted her to marry the Duc de Berri, (the king's youngest grandson) however, her mother's sister the Princess of Condé wanted her daughter to be his wife. Although the Princess of Condé's daughter was very lovely, she was 2 years older than Louise Élisabeth and certain parties of the court preferred Louise. She knew she was in the running to marry such a prize as the duc de Berri. In the end things went Louise Élisabeth's way!

When her betrothal was announced, those against the marriage were quick to spread the worst rumors and gossip throughout Versailles and even Paris. The rumor that the duc d'Orleans and Louise Élisabeth had incestuous relations were talked about the most, a complete scandal to the family.

The wedding still happened, and the ceremony was lovely. Yet scandal continued to follow. After the wedding, as the new husband and wife were escorted to their residence, guests gathered to watch the lovely scene. Most of the fell victim to pick-pockets who mixed in by dressing as priest and ordinary invited guests!

The marriage to the duc was good for a few months, but before long the two were fighting in public, much to the displeasure of the king. Married in June, a scene in August left her husband very unhappy... She was at St. Cloud and had a little too much to drink. (Think Lindsay Lohan) She was so drunk that she blacked out and had to be driven back home before she could cause any harm to herself or expensive objects near her!

Sadly her husband did love her, but her progressive actions made the love cool over time. A catty girl, she picked a fight with her sister-in-law the Duchess of Burgundy. The fight cooled the relationship between her husband and his brother. This was fine until the Dauphin died making the Duchess of Burgundy the Dauphine and her husband Dauphin! Louise Élisabeth was totally loathed at court!

Louis XIV scolded her in a way that said 'he did not want to have this discussion again,' being the ultimate mortification anyone could receive. As a result many at court avoided her all together. Eventually she began to ignore her husband, and any love he had for her died. She mocked him publicly and made fun of his beliefs. He was so unhappy he even considered asking his grandfather (Louis XIV) for a separation! And all this was before he knew of her affair!

She had been sleeping with his first Chamberlain, and was trying to convince the man to steal her away to Holland! He was too cowardly to go through with it (someone had a head on their shoulders) but the scandal spread through the court and we can only assume the duc de Berri heard it too. Shortly after the scandal broke when a scene was reported, that in front of a large group of people the duc "took his wife by the neck and kicked her bottom repeatedly, threatening to shut her up in a convent for the rest of her life."

Elizabeth Charlotte was Marie Antoinette's great grandmother. She was chosen by Louis XIV to marry his brother, the Duc d'Orléans after his first wife passed away. The marriage made her the second lady at the court of Versailles next to the Queen.

She was whisked over to France to meet her future husband, Philippe Duc d'Orléans. He appeared to her decked out in precious gems and wearing strong perfume. His surprise was just as great as hers no doubt on first sight, she did not wear much make up, in fact seemed to neglect material luxuries completely in her attire. Elizabeth (Liselotte) was fair skinned, and blond, she could pass for a "Swiss-peasant" in the way about her. In short he was not pleased and had immediately said, "how on earth am I to sleep with that?"

Maybe the irony here is that Philipe preferred men. Together they were a true odd couple. Liselotte cared not for material possessions, had no desire to follow fashion, and she loved to hunt and fish.

The duc loved fashion, scandalous gossip, and he loved being catty! He liked to spend afternoons with toys to tinker with, merely for amusement, sweets, and talking about people at court with people from court, all the while injecting wit into conversation. How did these two get on? Rather well!

Neither of them enjoyed sex. Liselotte said "the task of manufacturing children..a nasty dangerous, stupid business, from no stage of which did I ever derive the slightest pleasure." Perhaps this was because her husband had a very difficult time doing the deed. (with her.)

Drama!
In any case they had 2 sons, the Duc de Valois and the Duc de Chartres. She had drama in her life, especially when her son, the Duc de Chartres, was to marry the daughter of the marquise de Montespan, a lover of the king and her enemy. Liselotte wanted to just die when this decision was made and her disgust of the match only grew with time. She went as far as slapping her son in front of the court! She wrote to her family complaining about Françoise-Marie, and this caught up with her later in life when she was confronted with the letters. She was warned to turn her attitude around!

Eventually her son would become Regent to the young Louis XV, making her the 1st lady at Versailles. But Montespan was still alive and kicking, near 15 years her senior. Liselotte viewed it a goal to outlive her rival, and she took very good care of her health. She would write about how she took care of herself and avoided medical practices of the day she disagreed with, such as bleeding. She viewed French women as sickly, and felt herself much more healthier than they were. Instead she was known to take make walks out doors and avoid medicines.

"It has become the fashion here to complain about the air; the princesse de Conti does not want to go out at all...neither does [my daughter in law]; they are forever having purges (artificially induced), bleedings, acidulous waters, and baths (extremely hot);...I tell them...if I were to live as they do, I would be even sicker than they are..."

excerpt from A Woman's Life

Her efforts seemed to pay off and she outlived Montespan and died at the age of 70, 12.08.1722

"Madame de Prie was more than beautiful; she was seductive in everything."

Jeanne Agnès Berthelot de Pléneuf was bron in 1698, as the new century was dawning. Her mother took great pride in raising her, for her mother was known for her exceptional beauty, wit and numerous admirers. The apple did not fall far from the tree, Jeanne Agnes was a most gorgeous girl, who absorbed everything from her mother and her actions. Watching her daughter grow up, gifted with many charms of her own and both beauty and freshness, her mother felt she was a threat by stealing her own admirers. This paranoia - possibly well deserved, like mother like daughter - created a great deal of stress and hostility on the family. Possibly in effort to quell the rivalry between daughter and mother Jeanne Agnes was married off to the Marquis de Prie who was conveniently ambassador of the court of Savoy. For the first part of Louis XV's life, Jeanne Agnes was away at Turin with her husband, but their paths would cross soon enough. Her life goes on to be an exciting ride through Versialles, with too many details to duscuss here. So I am going to breif you with a Long Story Short. I will dub this, "Live Fast, Die Pretty."

When she reached the pretty age of 21 Madame la Marquise de Prie moved back to France. She arrived with more talent, beauty, charm and wit than ever. She was a celestial creature at court. Everyone felt that way about whether they liked her or not. One of her contemporaries stated:

"[he] did not think there ever existed a more celestial creature than Madame de Prie. She was the real flower of the sweet pea. A charming face, and even more graces than beauty; wit, genius, ambition, and supreme presence of mind, and with it all the most decent air in the world. Her fascination was great." -d'Argenson

As powerful as her charms were, her personality was able to dominate them. Some personality traits that have been remarked on by historians include her lack of couth at pubic functions, her personal ambitions, her arrogance (undoubtedly gifted from mom) and from her dad- the tendency to spend like there was no tomorrow. My favorite description of her is a human tigress. rawr.

She went to Versailles with the predetermined idea to win over Françoise-Marie de Bourbon's husband, Philip d'Orleans, and become his maîtresse en titre. She caught word that he did not let his mistresses touch political matters, and she wasn't just looking for a sugar daddy. She wanted to have some control over a country, and who wouldn't! She turned to the more mailable Louis Henri de Bourbon-Condé who would become the Premier Minister of France after d'Orlean's passing, and later the Prince de Condé.

It was a good choice. As the king was becoming a man, Madame de Prie wanted to find Louis XV a mistress, so that she could influence the lucky mistress who would influence the king. Genius plan...just flawless!

Flawless until she realized a mistress was probably not the safest way to grip the king. They are all usually such ambitions fame seekers! And she should know. So she decided she needed to find him a wife. Louis XV was betrothed to the Infanta of Spain, the young girl was being raised at Versailles waiting for her wedding day. The Infanta sent back to Spain. Yes it was as insulting as it sounded. Madame de Prie then had a list sent to her of all the eligible bachelorettes fit to marry a king. Of 100 names of lovely ladies, "44 were too old, 29 too young, and 10 impossible." 17 were left, and Jeanne Agnes thought she needs to pick the girl who would view her as a fairy godmother.

Well her choice was Maria Leszczyńska, the daughter of the deposed King of Poland, Stanisław I. This, dare I say, absurd ex man of power, was living in France, on a pension. So Maria was not quite living as the princess of luxury as one might imagine. She was even in consideration to marry a "neighborhood gentleman." So the news from Versailles that she was chosen to marry the King of France was an overwhelming miracle. * Poof! Fairy Godmother! *

All worked to her plan until she and her man decided the Kings influential and scheming tutor had to go. Louis was so upset to the man who he spend so much time with growing up, his mentor, that he fell depressed. New at his job, he had to be reminded that as King, he could recall the Abbe if he wanted. So he did! And the sneaky tutor tattled on Madame de Prie and the Prince de Condé. They were both forced to leave Versailles and live in different places.

In a fashion as glamorous as times she lived in, Madame de Prie makes her exit. She spent lots of money on her new home, and threw lavish parties. She separated herself from her old circle, in a "You'll miss me when I'm gone, baby" way. She had a lover, who was rather handsome. Being expelled from Versailles takes it's toll on ladies and as a result, "she had grown so thin that she was nothing more than a woman's head on a spider's body." She ended her own life at 27, by poison which had a different effect on her than she probably planned. When she was found, her toes were all black and her friend d'Argenson said,

"Here for those who give heed to it, is food for reflection on compacts with the devil, who comes at the agreed hour to twist our necks, though with Madame de Prie it was her legs."

Madame de Prie was portrayed by the talented Charlotte Rampling in La Dernière fête aka The Fall of the Marquise de Prie, which happens to have a rather fabulous soundtrack. If you in Canada or the USA and don't mind playing region 2 DVD's on your computer I suggest you pick up the movie for a fun night in the 18th century.