A description of the duc d'Orléans, and a little bit about the duchess of Berri.
Showing posts with label Philippe Charles-duc d'Orleans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippe Charles-duc d'Orleans. Show all posts
The Scandalous Regent: Philippe Charles duc de Chartres
Ladies, continue reading at your own will. Do not fall victim for the dashing* bloke described below:
As for women, he liked them easy, and would not waste time bothering with a 'conquest.' He rarely kept a lady for long, moving quickly on to the next. His way with women began at a tender age, when Philippe was just a child. A particular girl he found himself attracted to was the young Leonore. She was the daughter of the Concierge of the storeroom of the Palais-Royale and their liaison had caused much gossip to spread. The Sun King's little nephew had seduced her and the affair was no secret. Leonore was just a child herself and Louis XIV was rightfully displeased with the incident. He punished his nephew by refusing to see him until he was called upon by the king himself. Tsk!
He fell for women one after another; in one instance he chose a famous actress to pursue, La Grandval. Philippe's mother immediately felt the match was ill made, and complained that the actress was too old for her son's, "young heart." He was swiftly moved to Italy at the request of the King, for some military experience. He would not make it past Lyon without spotting a beautiful lady and subsequently seducing her. He continued en route to Italy, and they wrote to each other until his return. When he came back he found... * a child * ! (may the gossip begin again!) As the story goes, upon finding the little child, he persuaded his lover, Madame de la Massonniere, to move to Paris where he was headed. Agreeing, and bringing both the child and her mother, they left Lyon 8 days after Philippe. What appeared to have taken place was plain as day: a kidnapping! The father, husband and grandfather, Monsieur de la Massionniere, were heartbroken. The grandfather was said to be so heartbroken at the theft and possibly so embarrassed at the loss of his family that he died in Lyon of a broken heart.
Once the rest of the Massionniere's arrived in Paris (a mere 8 days later) they were left with dismay to find that our scandalous regent had already moved on to a tasty comedy actress, and a few days later he moved on again to a lovely dancer with the Opera. That is just the beginning of it. In 1701 his father died, leaving him with the title of duc d'Orléans. Just a few years later his uncle, Louis XIV, passed away. Louis XV was too young to reign and Philippe Charles became the regent to the throne. His regency began in 1715 and would endure until 1723. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, his romantic sensibilities set the tone for the period of the regency. Chivalry was not apparent, and women may have been far more apt to be loose....
*would you fall for the duc?
Femme of the Week: Duchesse de Berri
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."
Femme of the Week: Madame Lucifer
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| Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, duchesse d'Orleans, by François de Troy. 1692, oil on canvas. Salles les princesses royales, Salles du XVII, Aile du Nord- Chateau de Versailles. |
Illegitimate daughter of famous mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise de Montespan and Louis XIV, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon was born May 4, 1677. She was raised away from 'home' - that is, not at Versailles with mom and dad. She was a beautiful little girl and her beauty only grew as she did.
Her mother's good standing with the king diminished when the affaire des poisons became big news, however Françoise-Marie was not affected. Louis XIV gave the four year old the title of Mademoiselle de Blois and had plans for her to marry. There are always special plans for marriage! In her case, she was arraigned to marry his nephew the duc de Chartres who would later become the duc d'Orleans. I suppose the 'second scandal' of her life could be considered here. The first being she was an illegitimate child of the king. tsk tsk. Now this illegitimate daughter was to marry a very legitimate grandson of Louis XIII. This did not settle well with the future mother-in-law. To persuade the future father-in-law, the duc d'Orleans, the king gave his brother bribes, and he consented without an issue.
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| Detail of Françoise-Marie de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Blois, duchesse d'Orleans, by François de Troy. 1692, oil on canvas. Salles les princesses royales, Salles du XVII, Aile du Nord- Chateau de Versailles. Photograph by Robert Polidori. |
They had a splendid wedding in the chapel at Versailles in February, 1692. Françoise-Marie was 14 years at the time, and old enough to feel a bit pessimistic about the arrangement, reportedly saying, "I don't care if he loves me; just as long as he marries me." You can be as pessimistic as you want but it was not hard to see the benefit of this marriage.
She was a Granddaughter of France once a wife, making her the most important of the illegitimate kids. When she was 33 her husband became the duc d'Orleans, and the two lived well-well pampered. In 1715 her father died, and her 5 year old nephew Louis XV was king. Her husband took charge of the country for the boy king and thus throughout the la Régence Françoise-Marie was perhaps the most important lady at court.
She spent money. And why not! Her husband was no better. Together they had seven surviving children but they were not happy together. The duc had many other mistresses and even had his own handful of illegitimate children. His mother never accepted her daughter-in-law, as her memoirs mention, "all the femmes de chambre have made her believe that she did my son
honour in marrying him; and she is so vain of her own birth and that of her brothers and sisters that she will not hear a word said against them; she will not see any difference between legitimate and illegitimate children"So what makes this vibrant beauty, married to one of France's top men, bore him sons and was favoured by her father Madame Lucifer? Well, like all daughters of famous mistresses, Françoise-Marie had a little bit of a temper. She had the personality for it, proud and maybe a bit pompous - um..her dad was Louis XIV after all! Her darling husband once openly disapproved of her heated episodes and called her Madame Lucifer. Befitting for a hot-tempered beauty, no?
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