Marie Antoinette's

A new TV series to look forward to! ....*drum-roll* ....Versailles!

According to news sources and thanks to a heads up from reader Jessica, it appears the writers of Madmen are teaming up to create a TV series about the court of Louis XIV. You could never know too much about this period or court life, and I have confidence we wont be let down!

Anne Thomopoulos is the executive producer for the new series.  You may recognize her name from Rome, HBO's acclaimed TV series which has been called the most real Rome ever recreated!  This alone ensures the show will be amazing!

Currently partners are being sought "to develop the series."¹  They should reach out to French and Saunders for some 18th century wit. A true sign of the times! Let's create a buzz so a good channel picks it up! I vote for Showtime.

If you have not picked up the September issue of Vanity Fair, then you must read the piece by Amy F. Collins, Toujours Couture.  She takes a look at the life of couture and its future.  With the help of Louis XIV and Antoinette, the world of couture was born.  Rose Bertin made a (and lost) a fortune and late Charles Worth pioneered seasonal collections.  You can read the article here, but pick up the issue to see the many, many wonderful images of couture throughout the years.

"Earlier, in 1945, Diana Vreeland had implored an assistant to bring back a fabric rose from Paris, as post-diluvian proof that couture had survived World War II..."

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

Sephora emailed me to let me know about Dior's new color this season, Poison. A super dark color that sparkles like a corvette. This lady over here is La Voisin, and I bet she would have loved Dior's color.

La Voisin (Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin 1640-1680) made a living for herself selling poisons, well love powders and 'inheritance powders' to many at the French Court. Her extraordinary client list included Olympe Mancini, comtesse de Soissons, (her sister was a favourite of Louis XIV), Louise Duchesse de la Valliere (a mistress of Louis XIV), Francoise-Athenais, marquise de Montespan (Louis XIV’s infamous mistress) and the comtesse de Gramont (A beauty of her time, charming and witty.) Inheritance powder became popular because of the Marquise de Brinvillers.

The Brinvilliers do not belong to this century, rather the 17^th century. Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d’Aubray, Marquise de Brinvillers was charged with poisoning her family, father, mother and sisters to gain inheritance along with her lover. Her particular end was phenomenal complete with torture: forced consumption of 16 pints of water, decapitation and finally to be burned at the stake. She was executed in 1675, and this sparked the Affaire des Poisons in France.

Marie Antoinette’s great uncle Louis XIV became concerned of being poisoned himself and hired foretasters, to make sure his food was safe. He started an investigation to discover killers who used poisons by way of their dealers, who sold them “inheritance powders.”

Many were arrested, and would turn in their list of clients. La Voisin was quickly arrested on the grounds of witchcraft and she willingly named her popular clientele. She was burned at the stake and the reputations of her clients were ruined.