October 13, 1791 "I am broken-hearted at what I see passing around me, and can only entreat you not to come back. The present moment is too terrible. Although I have courage enough on my own account, I cannot help feeling uneasy for my friends, more especially for one so precious as you. I do not, therefore, wish you to expose yourself uselessly to danger. It is already as much as I can do to face circumstances calmly at the side of the King and my children. Farewell then dear heart! Give me your pity, since, from the very love I bear you, your absence is perhaps a greater trial to me than it is to you."
The Eclectic magazine of foreign literature, science, and art. 1844. New York: Leavitt, Trow, & Co. 531.
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| Princess of Lamballe 1788 by Anton Hickel at the Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna |
Till then the Queen was not only very plain in her attire, but very economical; a circumstance which, I have often heard her say, gave great umbrage to the other princesses of the Court of Versailles, who never showed themselves, from the moment they rose till they returned to bed, except in full dress; while she herself made all her morning visits in a simple white cambric gown and straw hat. This simplicity, unfortunately, like many other trifles, whose consequences no foresight would have predicted, tended much to injure Maria Antoinette, not only with the Court dandies, but the nation; by whom, though she was always censured, she was as suddenly imitated in all she wore, or did.
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Washington: M. Walter Dunne.
is a must have for your bookshelf, a great bedtime read. The memoirs dive right into 18th century life, through her letters to a friend.
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| Princess Lamballe by Vigee Le Brun |
"About this time I also painted the Princess de Lamballe. Without being actually pretty, she appeared so at a little distance; she had small features, complexion of dazzling freshness, superb blond locks and was generally elegant in person. The unhappy end of this unfortunate Princess is sufficiently well known and so is the devotion to which she fell a victim. For in 1793, when she was at Turin entirely out of harm's way, she returned to France upon learning that the Queen was in danger..."Vigée-Lebrun, Louise-Elisabeth. 1989. The memoirs of Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253361233
. It is rather saucy, with interesting details and accounts from those who inhabited the glamorous palace. From the time of the Sun King to Louis XVI, this 'biography' recalls interesting bits of history that took place under the guilt roofs of the Palace. The sheer gossip and juicy stories keep the pages turning.
At Versailles chamber pots were common as well, if not universal, and in the eighteenth century, despite attempts to stop the practice, servants on the upper stories frequently emptied them into the interior courts below. The dauphine Marie-Antoinette was once hit as she crossed the kings inner courtyards beneath the numerous windows of the king's mistress, Madame du Barry.
“He [the Prince] soon became prey of every refinement upon dissipation and studied debauchery, til at length his sufferings made his life a burden, and he died in the most excruciating agonies both of mind and body, in the arms of a disconsolate wife.”Now according to her memoir's, she became close friends with her sister-on-law Louise-Marie de Bourbon Penthièvre. Louise-Marie’s husband, the Duc De Chartres made it known to Princess Lamballe that he wanted her. The young princess rejected his advances, and in retaliation for being humiliated, the Duc de Chartres allegedly re-exposed or rather encouraged the Prince de Lamballe to a life of debauchery.
duc de Chartres"the duc d'Orléans would not accept the marriage of his son with the daughter of a bastard race."However, when word got out that the prince de Lamballe was not going to make it the duc d'Orléans changed his tune. If the only heir, Lamballe, died then Louise-Marie would become heiress to her fathers massive fortune, an estimated 3,000,000 livres/year! To make the wedding happen (think wedding planner) the duc de Choiseul (our little seducer) was able to obtain the kings permission. Making the duc d'Orléans a happy father-in-law-to-be.
This is when things get fun for me, crazy for Louise-Marie. This was when her brother miraculously began to gain health! So of course the duc d'Orléans backed out of the situation (many were upset at this blatant abandonment of plans). The prince of Condé saw an opportunity arise and made haste to arrange a marriage of Louise-Marie with his son, Louis Joseph de Bourbon (later the prince de Condé).
