Sunday, June 4, 2017

Maurice de Saxe----

Maurice de Saxe

Moritz von Sachsen

(1696-1750)
Graf von Sachsen 1711
German aristocrat, general & military theorist
Lieutenant General of France 1734, Marshal of France 1743, Marshal General of France 1747

Illegitimate son of August II of Poland and Maria Aurora von Konigsmark

Husband ofJohanna Viktoria von Loeben (1699-1747) mar 1714-1721.

Spouse & Children
He married Johanna Viktoria von Loeben. ". . . The Countess von Konigsmark, on her side, worked to assure her son's fortunes by a wealthy marriage and succeeded in securing for him the hand of the Countess von Loeben, the richest heiress in Saxony. This lady's fortune he quickly dissipated, and other and graver causes of complaint against him not being wanting, in 1721 the marriage was annulled. . . . " (Williams)

Disastrous marriage

"Maurice de Saxe was not in his seventeenth year. The youth, tall and strong for his age, was a true Konigsmarck. He loved the fatigues and excitement of war, and early gave tokens that he possessed the ability to plan as well as to carry out great enterprises. Unfortunately, as frequently happens with characters of this kind, to him inactivity meant ruin. The licentiousness and brutality which made the father infamous throughout Europe did not fail to reproduce themselves in the son. In times of peace they shone forth with baleful lustre. The young count, scarcely come to man's estate, began to gain an unenviable reputation for all kinds of profligacy. His mother, who now held the post of Abbess of Quedlimburg (sic), was quite unable to supply her son's inordinate extravagance. She began to send constant appeals to the king to do something for him. Augustus needed every thaler in the treasury for the crowd of harpies who filled his palace. Fortunately, however,there was then residing at the court of Dresden, under the monarch's own paternal eye, a wealthy young heiress named Joanna Victoria von Loeben. To her, therefore, young Maurice was directed to pay his court. His father assisted him by carefully sounding his praises in the young lady's ear, and before long a marriage was arranged between the two. It took place on March 12th, 1714. The results of the union were miserable in the extreme. The husband never pretended to show any affection towards his wife. No sooner had he got her revenues into his hands than he began to squander them with a prodigality that put all his former extravagances into the shade. But the year 1718 his creditors were compelled to seize his wife's revenues to satisfy their claims. The young Countess Joanna was reduced to such distress to seek an asylum with her mother-in-law at Quedlimburg (sic). But the latter was too fond of her scapegrace son to believe much against him. After a short residence at Quedlimburg, Joana quarrelled with her mother-in-law, and retired to one of her country houses. From this place she wrote a pathetic letter to the king, asking his aid; but at the same time imploring him not to let her husband, of whose violence she was in abject terror, know of her application. It would be useless to enter into a miserable dispute that ensued. Joanna continued to implore the king's protection. The Countess Aurora, on the other hand, wrote to him to the effect that her daughter-in-law was a woman of the most abandoned character, and was even then living on her estate of Schonbrunn with a lover. The charge, for which there seems to have been no foundation, was indignantly denied. At last Maurice resolved to end the whole dispute in a summary way. He wrote to his wife to say that if she wanted a divorce, he would be perfectly willing to take all the blame on himself. The countess yielded, and her husband kept his promise to the letter. The countess sent in a formal petition to the Lutheran Consistory praying for a divorce from her husband. On March 26th, 1721, both parties appeared before the court. Joanna accused her husband of adultery, and added that his extravagance had crippled her once large fortune. The president asked Maurice what he had to say in answer. 'Absolutely nothing,' responded the young count. The president, rather surprised, repeated his question; was there no special animosity on the part of the countess? 'No,' replied Maurice; 'it is true our mutual affection has never been very strong; but the countess has not exaggerated ---her statements are perfectly correct.' After this there was nothing left for the president but to pronounce sentence of divorce. . . ." (The Living Age, Vol. 175: 753)

An unmitigated beast of a lecherous age
" . . . Maurice of Saxony, Marshal of France, hero of Fontenoy, beau sabreur, the greatest Lothario of a lecherous age, appears here as an unmitigated beast. He deserves a lengthy introduction, however, being one of the most interesting characters that can be found among the world's famous black-guards. An illegitimate son of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, he began life as a soldier of fortune, and through skill in the arts of war and love he became one of the mightiest men in Europe. When twelve years old he carried a musket at Malplaquet. At seventeen he was in command of a regiment of Cuirassiers. He appeared in Paris, with his sword for sale, when twenty-two, and entered upon a brilliant career of martial and amorous conquests." (Great Love Stories of the Theatre: 162)
La Bataille de Fontenoy
@ Palace de Versailles
Moritz de Saxe's physical appearance & personal qualities
"The new hero was a giant in stature, strikingly handsome, and so strong that in one had he could crush a horseshoe into a shapeless lump. He was a paladin---Ajax, Don Juan, Tamerlane, Mark Antony, Baldur, all rolled into one. He was a glorious animal, high of spirits and of hopes, devoid of fear and of the finer feeling. A Greek god---or whatever you will. And about him hung the glamour of countless conquests on the battlefield and in love..." (Terhune: 125)

"The person of Maurice de Saxe was rather noble-looking than handsome. The characteristic expression of his countenance corresponded with his nature---being bold, penetrating, and warlike. A harsh jaw and prominent chin were softened in their effect by mild yet piercing eyes. A salient nose and firm mouth, added to the striking quality of his face, which was extremely pleasing, being full of extraordinary indications of genius." (Graham's Illustrated Magazine, Vol. 50: 194)

"He was short, even stocky, and his complexion was rather too basane, or swarthy, to be quite in fashion: but the appeal of the golden earrings which he wore was hard to resist. As early as April 1720, the duchesse d'Orleans had written to the Princess of Wales to retail the latest gossip: how the British ambassador, Lord Stair, had fallen in love with a certain Mme Raymond, and how Mme Raymond, the former mistress of the Elector of Bavaria, ' . . . has just taken another lover who causes my Lord Stair a great deal of heart burning. This is Count Saxe, who is not particularly handsome, but who is young, seductive and possesses fine manners." (Marshal of France: The Life and Times of Maurice, Comte de Saxe, 1699-1750)

A man of mark

"...His striking figure, his vivacious manners, and the great reputation acquired from his wild adventures in Northern Europe, made him everywhere a man of mark. All contemporary writers speak with enthusiasm of his personal appearance. Six feet in height, Maurice de Saxe was of a muscular and well-proportioned frame. His features were well though roughly cut, and aquiline in character; the eyes blue, the brows thick, black, and strongly arched; his expression was bold and determined; his glance, keen and swift, seemed designed by nature to electrify the souls of men, and win the hearts of women....." (Temple Bar, Volume 9: 69) One of the handsomest men of his time
"From the moment of his arrival in Paris, Maurice de Saxe claimed a large share of the attention of both Court and town. Tall and superbly built, with 'circular black eyebrows, eyes glittering bright, partly with animal vivacity, partly with spiritual,' a high complexion, and a frank, open countenance, he was one of the handsomest men of his time. His physical strength was extraordinary; no amount of exertion seemed able to fatigue him; in war and in the chase he was capable of performing prodigies of endurance; he could break between his fingers crown-pieces and horseshoes...." (Williams, 2005, pp. 170-171)
Maurice de Saxe
Comte de Saxe's Love Life
"The sexual adventures of one of the few military heroes of eighteenth-century France, Maurice, Count de Saxe (1696-1750), also belie the accounts of seduction contained in the novels. Marshal of the French armies, hero of the battle of Fontenay (1745), son of the elector of Saxony, Maurice was a great ladies' man even though he lacked the Herculean body nineteenth-century writes liked to attribute to him. As a young man in the 1720s, he was involved in a love triangle with the duchesse de Bouillon and the tragic actress Adrienne Lecouvreur. The thespian's sudden, mysterious death stirred rumors that the duchess had poisoned her to end the rivalry for Maurice's heart. If true, Bouillon was still unable to keep his love, for Maurice shared his bed with one theater woman after another. The writer Jean-Francois Marmontel explained that Maurice de Saxe believed that 'the French never behave so well as when one brings them diversion, and what they fear most in warfare is boredom.' ...The actresses in his troop kept Maurice from experiencing boredom, but the marshal was rarely able to keep them faithful. Marmontel had affairs with two of Maurice's mistresses, Mademoiselles Navarre and Verriere (with whom Maurice had a daughter, who became the grandmother of George Sand)..." (Berlanstein, , 2001, p. 36)

The pursued and pursuer of women par excellence
"Maurice was regarded as the strongest and most handsome man of his time. As a soldier he was impeccable; as a roue he was unsurpassed. Though untutored, with a barrack-room manners that gained for him the sobriquet of 'Wild boar' in the salons of Paris, he was the pursued and the pursuer of women, par excellence. Don Juan is hardly to be mentioned in the same class with Maurice de Saxe. His liaison with Adrienne Lecouvreur, the great tragic actress, is conventional when compared with his rapacious quest of the more obscure Justine Favart." (Great Love Stories of the Theatre: 162)

Widely known affairs with innumerable well-born ladies
"Aurore's son, Maurice, handsome and sentimental, was destine for a military career. His father prepared him for it the hard way. He was allowed to eat only soup and bread as he crossed all of Europe on foot, carrying his full battle equipment. At the age of thirteen, he was commissioned ensign on the battlefield, then ray away with a gird, also thirteen, whom he impregnated. As a young officer in Paris, having inherited his father's libertinism, conducted widely known affairs with the Princess de Conti, the Duchess de Bouillon, and innumerable other well-born ladies. Hoping to be elected duke of the Courland provinces of Russia on the Baltic, he proposed marriage to Duchess Anna Ivanovna, the widow of the last duke. Maurice committed, however, the imprudent act of smuggling a young mistress into the palace: He was caught red-handed and chased away. Anna Ivanovna later became the empress of All Russias." (Chopin in Paris: The Life and Times of the Romantic Composer: 150)

Maurice de Saxe's personal & family background
"Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was the most astonishing debauchee of his time. It is no extraordinary honor to have a bit of his blood in one's veins, for he had, several hundred bastard offspring. He had, by the beautiful Aurora von Konigsmarck, that great and clever coquette before whom Charles XI withdrew leaving her to regard herself as more formidable than an army, a son who surpassed him greatly in nobility although he was no more than a field marshal of France. This son was Maurice de Saxe, victor of Fontenou, clever and brave like his father, but no less debauched, more knowledgeable on the art of war, also more fortunate and and better supported.

His lovers were:
1) Adrienne Lecouvreur (1892-1730)
French actress.

Daughter of: Robert Couvreur, French hat make & Marie Couvreur.

Adrienne's other lovers

1. Young officer of Regiment de Picardie."Her rise to the position of the leading actress in France had been neither rapid nor easy. The daughter of the villa ge hat maker, she was already appearing in amateur productions at the age of thirteen. She showed such promise that she was given an audition by Mlle Fonpre, the directness of the theatre at Lille. There se became the mistress of a young officer in the crack Regiment de Picardie.

2. Philippe Le Roy, French officer
Natural offspring: Elisabeth-Adrienne Le Roy.

3. Baron D.

4. Comte Francois de Klinglin, Son of Strasbourg's chief magistrate.

Adrienne's physical appearance & personal qualities

"Nor did she lack the physical charms which make the empire of a clever woman absolute. Nature, by one of those contrasts she often affects, had clothed her brilliant and almost masculine faculties in the fairest, tenderest, most feminine form. She was moderately tall and possessed a fine figure. Her neck , breast, arms, and hands were of a whiteness whose parallel was never seen. The regularity of her features heightened their unrivalled delicacy. Her teeth were so nicely placed and of so beautiful a colour that they could scarcely be distinguished from a row of pearls. Her sparkling almond-shaped eyes were like two bright, brown stars in whose soft reflection a tender and sensitive soul blended with the lively flash of with and humour. Her hair, of the same colour as her eyes, set off most exquisitely her beautiful complexion, where blushed an exceeding fine carnation. In a word, Nature seemed to have exhausted all her charms in her favour. With so much to make her conceited, she was, however, in no way prepossessed in favour of her extraordinary merits." (A Beau Sabreur Maurice de Saxe, Marshal of France: His Loves, His laurels and His Times, 1696-1750: 37)

"Adrienne Lacouvreur was remarkably beautiful. Her countenance was admirably adapted to the expression of the higher order of passions. Her eyes were large, well-shaped, and bewildering in the beauty of their expression, while the mobility of her handsome eyebrow, added much to the expression of her face. Her brown was noble, handsome, and intellectual. Its marble smoothness and regal dimensions caused the bold style of dressing the hair then in fashion to be very well suited to her face, which was of the oval form. A small, bow-shaped mouth, and a Roman nose, of the most delicate yet imposing form, completed the regularity of her features---while in superb shoulders, a noble bust, and fine arms, consisted some of the charms of her figure. Add to these attractions, extraordinary talents and much affability, and it will not be denied that the Lecouvreur was worthy of charming the greatest hero of her time." (Graham's Illustrated Magazine, Volume 50: 194)

A great ladies' man in a love triangle: "The sexual adventures of one of the few military heroes of eighteenth-century France, Maurice, Count de Saxe (1696-1750), also belie the accounts of seduction contained in the novels. Marshal of the French armies, hero of the battle of Fontenay (1745), son of the elector of Saxony, Maurice was a great ladies' man even though he lacked the Herculean body nineteenth-century writers liked to attribute to him. As a young man in the 1720s, he was involved in a love triangle with the duchess de Bouillon and the tragic actress Adrienne Lacouvreur. The thespian's sudden, mysterious death stirred rumors that the duchess had poisoned her to end the rivalry for Maurice's heart. If true, Bouillon, was still unable to keep his love, for Maurice shared his bead with one theater woman after another. . . ." (Daughters of Eve: A Cultural History of French Theater Women: 36)

First encounter
"In 1720 Maurice de Saxe arrived in Paris to become the lion of the salons and the danger of dames. A constant patron of the theatre, addicted to the company of actresses, he soon met Adrienne, whose virtuous resolves capitulated at once before this warlike wooer. From that time until her death she was his favourite mistress; she gave her undivided heart to him, while he distributed his favours broadcast." (Great Love Stories of the Theatre: 126)
2) Anna I of Russia (1693-1740)
Lover in 1726-1727.

"While Saxe was in Courland, a Baltic province (now in both Poland and Russia), he became good friends with Anna Ivanovna, the dowager duchess of the state and later Empress Anna of Russia. They allegedly became romantically involved, and a marriage was considered, but in 1727 Saxe was expelled by Russian authorities who considered the union unsuitable. He then returned to France, where he wrote a work on military science, Mes Reveries (My daydreams), which was finished in 1732 but not published until 1756 and 1757 in two volumes." (World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary: 310)

"Anna Ivanovna, duchess of Courland (later empress of Russia) secured Saxe's election as duke of Courland (a Baltic duchy between Prussia and Latvia) in 1726, but the Russians expelled him from the region in 1727 in order to prevent him from marrying the duchess. . . . " (Web Gallery of Art)

The price of ambition: "In 1726 these occupations were interrupted by a curious episode in his life. The people of the duchy of Courland, anticipating the dissolution of their infirm sovereign without issue, and suspecting a project of the Polish Duke, in that event, to unite their independent territory with the kingdom of Poland as a lapsed fief of that crown, determined to avert such a design by electing a successor to their prince. For this dignity the relationship of the Comte de Saxe to King Augustus, as well as his high personal reputation, marked him as an eligible aspirant, and he was accordingly encouraged by a large party in the duchy to offer himself as a candidate for the succession. On his arrival from Paris, his cause was particularly espoused by the Princess Anne of Russia, dowager of a former duke of Courland, who saw and admired him, and agreed to give him her hand as the reward or price of his elevation. By her exertions chiefly his election was carried in the states of the duchy, and a diploma was solemnly drawn up constituting him Duke of Courland and Semigallia in succession to the reigning sovereign. Nor was the Russian princess the only female advocate of the attractive soldier: for Le Couvreur, the most celebrated Parisian actress of her day, pledged her moveables (sic) for 40,000 livres, and sent the supply to assist his necessities or to forward his views in his new duchy. But the interests opposed to his elevation proved too powerful for him to resist with success. While the Russian court insisted upon the election of some creature of its own, the Diet of Poland arbitrarily compelled King Augustus to declare against his own son, and to forbid him to sustain his pretensions. On both hands the enemies of the dew duke proceed to eject him by actual force of arms; and while the Russian troops besieged him in a post which he had attempted to fortify, a commission from the Polish Diet entered Mittau, the capital of the duchy, with a body of cavalry, and obliged the states to annul their election. De Saxe made a gallant show of resistance to the last moment; but being overpowered by the Russians, and deserted by his Courlanders, he was finally reduced to evacuate the duchy, and leave his Russian and Polish enemies settle as they might their conflicting interests." (The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Volume 28: 249-250)

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned: "But the most singular feature in this transient dream of ducal sovereignty, was his neglected enjoyment and unconscious loss of a far more brilliant provision. The Princess Anne of Russia, who was to have shared his ducal throne, discovered, while he was her guest at Mittau, that among other infidelities, he was carrying on an intrigue in her own palace with one of the ladies of her household. Piqued at these proofs that his addresses to herself were wholly those of political interest, Anne broke off all negociations (sic) for their marriage: not was De Saxe made sensible, until the sudden and unexpected succession of the princess to the crown of Russia, within two years, that his inconstancy had cost him no less than the loss of an imperial consort and a matrimonial throne. But all his subsequent efforts were in vain to rekindle in the breast of the Empress the passion which he had outraged. The double defeat of his views upon the duchy of Courland, and the hand of the Russian princess, was followed by the death of both his parents, and the disruption of his connexion with his native country: for though his half-brother, the new Elector of Saxony, offered him the command of his troops, he declined to quit the French service; and in 1733 he finally returned to France, and thenceforth devoted himself wholly to the prosecution of his fortunes in that kingdom." (The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science an d Art, Volume 28: 250)

3) Genevieve Rinteau, Sister of Marie Rinteau.
"Claude-Louis Rinteau, a lemonade merchant, and his wife, Marie-Anne Dupuy are the parents of two daughters: Marie and Geneviève. Desiring to ensure a brilliant career to his children, but above all to ensure his own success, Claude-Louis Rinteau uses Maurice de Saxe, Marshal of France, known for his military victories, but also for his agitated love life. A great lover of theatre, he ordened (sic) that during his campaigns a group of actors followed him to support the morale of his troops. Claude-Louis Rinteau knew that the prettiest actresses are used by the pleasure of Marshal de Saxe and without scruples, he offered him his two daughters during the year 1747. Claude-Louis Rinteau in return obtained his appointment as military storekeeper, who proved to be a big source of profits. But his greed had a cost for Maurice of Saxony, who was accused of embezzlement and misappropriation and thanks of his position he could escape from prosecution, but justice must find culprits. Therefore look towards his subordinates, Claude-Louis was put in prison. While the "bon père de famille" meditated his fate in a dungeon in Brussels, Marie (aged 17), and Geneviève (aged 13), entered into the world of entertainment at the Theatre of the Army. They adopt a stage name from which both sisters will be known in history: Mesdemoiselles de Verrières. Maurice de Saxe first sets his eyes on the very young Geneviève, but this was a short-lived affair. The oldest sister, Marie, a remarkable beauty and vivid spirit, could seduced the old soldier. She soon became in his mistress and was installed in Le Marais near the Rue du Parc-Royal at Paris. From the affair, a daughter was born on 20 September 1748. She was baptized a month after her birth, on 19 October in the Church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais. The child was registered as a daughter of certain Jean-Baptiste La Rivière, in fact a non-existed person, and was named after her paternal grandmother, Maria Aurora von Königsmarck. Her godfather was the adjutant of the Marshal of Saxe, Antoine-Alexandre Colbert, marquis de Sourdis, and the godmother was her aunt Geneviève. The Marshal de Saxe show any interest in the fate of his illegitimate daughter and bequeathed him nothing, just like the other children that he leaves behind. Marshal Maurice de Saxe, in turn, was as a product of the affair between Augustus II the Strong, King of Polandand Elector of Saxony, with the Countess von Königsmarck." (Wikipedia)
Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon
Princesse de Conti
4) Louise-Elisabeth de Bourbon, Princesse de Conti (1693-1775)

Daughter of Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Conde & Louise-Francoise de Bourbon-Conde.

Wife ofLouis-Armand de BourbonPrince de Conti.

"It was at this time that he first came to Paris to study military tactics. He had fought hard against the French in the wars that were now wended; but his chivalrous bearing, his handsome person, and his reckless joviality made him at once a universal favorite in Paris. To the perfumed courtiers, with their laces and lovelocks and mincing ways, Maurice de Saxe came as a sort of knight of old---jovial, daring, pleasure-loving. Even his broken French was held to be quite charming; and to see him break a horseshoe with his fingers threw every one into ruptures. No wonder, then, that he was welcomed in the very highest circles. Almost at once he attracted the notice of the Princesse de Conti, a beautiful woman of the blood royal. Of her it has been said that she was 'the personification of a kiss, the incarnation of an embrace, the ideal of a dream of love.' Her chestnut hair was tinted with little gleams of gold. Her eyes were violet black. Her complexion was dazzling. But by the king's orders she had been forced to marry a hunchback---a man whose very limbs were so weakened by disease and evil living that they would often fail to support him, and he would fall to the ground, a writhing, screaming mass of ill-looking flesh. It is not surprising that this lovely wife should have shuddered much at his abuse of her and still more of his grotesque endearments. When her eyes fell on Maurice de saxe she saw in him one who could free her from her bondage. By a skilful trick he led the Prince de Conti to invade the sleeping-room of the princess, with servants, declaring that she was not along. The charge proved quite untrue, and so she left her husband, having won the sympathy of her own owrld, which held that she had been insulted. But it was not she who was destined to win and hold the love of Maurice de saxe." (The Romance of Devotion: Top Biography Collections)
Maria Karolina Sobieska
Duchesse de Bouillon
5) Maria Karolina Sobieska, Duchesse de Bouillon (1697-1740)

Daughter of: Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, Prince of Poland, Prince of Olawa & Hedwig Elisabeth von Neuburg.

Wife of: 
2. Charles-Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne (1708-1771), French aristocrat. mar 1723

" . . . The Duchesse de Bouillon, a great lady of the court---facile, feline, licentious, and eager for delight---resolved that she would win the love of Maurice de Saxe. She set herself to win it openly and without any sense of shame. Maurice himself at times, when the tears of Adrienne proved wearisome, flirted with the duchess. Yet, even so, Adrienne held the first place in his heart, and her rival knew it. Therefore she resolved to humiliate Adrienne, and to do so in the place where the actress had always reigned supreme." (The Romance of Devotions)

" . . . Notwithstanding Adrienne's devotion and the sacrifices she had made for him, Maurice de Saxe was soon engaged in carrying on an intrigue with the Duchesse de Bouillon, and accepted the condition imposed upon him by that Lady, that he would henceforth forbear to hold any communications with the great actress. The story of De Saxe's base desertion became public property, and loud sympathy was expressed with Adrienne, who was now the idol of the people. Mme. de Bouillon appeared at the Theatre Francais one night when Adrienne was playing 'Phedre.' This was more than the actress could stand. . . ." (Illustrated American, Vol. , 1891: 516)

6) Marie Armabade Carton.

Who was La Carton?
"Considering she is consistently referred to as 'la fameuse Carton' there is not much to go on. Marie Armabade Carton, 'La Carton', also known as 'Manon', was a dancer at the Paris Opera and was for many years the mistress of the banker Samuel Demard (d.1739) by whom she had three daughters. She also among the many mistresses of the Marechal de Saxe, war hero, and Freemason. Maurepas recorded an undignified scrap which took place at the bal de l'Opera in November 1734 when she came to blows with her successor in the Marechal's affections. In 1745 she is named as a potential recruit for the Order of Felicity. She was no spring-chicken, she is said to have been 55 at the time of the revelations concerning Freemasonry. It is reassuring to learn that she later retired to a comfortable and respectable life." (The Dancer and the Freemason 1737)

7) Marie-Claude-Nicole Cartou
(d.1770).
An Opera girl

A cause for concern for mother
" . . . [The Comte de Saxe] also had close relations with the Comedie and the Opera--- . . . in the shape of a pretty soprano called Marie-Claude-Nicole Cartou. His affair with Marie Cartou caused Adrienne acute distress. . . ." (Marshal of France: The Life and Times of Maurice, Comte de Saxe: 73)

"According to Campardon,  (Marie-Claude-Nicole Cartou sang minor roles between 1727 and 1749, left the Opera in 1751 and died on 22 April 1770." (Opera Remade, 1700-1750)

She pursued Maurice in his camp

"The real obstacle was probably an Opera girl named Cartou, of whom Maurice was desperately enamoured. According to Grimm, this young lady followed her lover to the famous Camp of Muhlberg, in Saxony, where she had the honour of supping with two kings, Augustus II of Poland and Frederick William of Prussia, and two future kings, Augustus III and Frederick the Great." (Queens of the French Stage: n.p.)
Justine Favart
8) Marie-Justine-Benoite Favart (1727-1772)
French actress & vocalist.
Lover in 1747.

Wife of: Favart. mar 1745.

First encounter at a camp theatre

"In his affair with Marie Rinteau, Marshal Saxe had rendered himself ridiculous. In his conduct towards Madame Favart, he sank to the lowest extremity of baseness. The latter's maiden name was Justine Duronceray. She first attracted the marshal's notice while a member of the camp theatre in 1747. Becoming alarmed at his importunities (sic), she fled to Brussels. The marshal, infuriated by her resistance, threatened to have her brought back by a squadron of hussars. She at once left Brussels and made her way to Paris. Her husband unfortunately had still remained in Flanders. . . ." (The Living Age, Volume 175: 758)

Madame Favart's first encounter with Maurice de Saxe 

"It happened that some little time before the suppression of the Opera-Comique, Favart had met at the house of one of those leaders of the fashionable world whose whim it was to patronise actors and men of letters, Maurice de Saxe, now become the greatest soldier of his age, Marechal de France, and 'general-in-chief of all the armies of the King.' Maurice, who was an enthusiastic a patron of the drama as he had been in the days of poor Adrienne Lecouvreur, was followed in his campaigns by a troupe of actors, which gave performances wherever the army happened to be quartered, sometimes in the regular theatre, sometimes in an improvised one; and he now suggested to Favart that he should organise a second troupe and accompany him to Flanders for the campaign which was about to open." (Queens of the French Stage)

"The uproar occasioned by the Rinteau affair was nothing compared to the tempest raised by Maurice's affair with another actress in his Flemish troupe, Mme Justine Favart, the wife of its director. At seventeen, Justine has been discovered by Favart at the court of King Stanislas at Luneville, where her father was a resident musician. Under the stage name of 'Mlle Chantilly', Justine Duronceray had made her debut at the Opera Comique in one of Favart's own plays. In December 1745, he married her. In Flanders, where she went as the star of her husband's company, she made an immediate impression on Maurice. She was then twenty, and although she was no great beauty her vivacity was irresistible. Maurice had to have her. In 1746 he began to write gauche love letters to her. 'Mlle Chantilly,' began one of them, 'you must release me; you are an enchantress more potent than Armide. I can already visualize myself draped with flowers and posies: quite the wrong attire for a devotee of Mars. What would the king say, if he found me clasping not the torch of vengeance, but a nosegay?'" (Marshal of France)

Marshal de Saxe's opera-comique, his seraglio of actresses

"Though now in his fiftieth year, Maurice de Saxe was still as susceptible to feminine charms as in the days when he had wrought such havoc among the ladies of Lithuania and Courland. . . His tastes, particularly where the theatre was concerned, were catholic. . .

'Whom did he not love" To what actress of opera-girl's skirts was he not attached?
"All the actresses of his campaigns in Flanders succeeded one another in that inflammable heart and disputed there an ephemeral reign. . . . For the Saxon hero, the troupe which he caused to follow him was a seraglio, in which the last comers were the most honored. . . ." (Queens of the French Stage)

" . . . The marshal was a patron of the theater and even took an accomplished acting group along with him on military campaigns. the writer Jean-Francois Marmontel explained that Maurice de Saxe believed that 'the French never behave so well as when one bring them diversion, and what they fear most in warfare is boredom.' The actresses in his troop kept Maurice from experiencing boredom, but the marshal was rarely able to keep them faithful. Marmontel had affairs with two of Maurice's mistresses, Mademoiselle Navarre and Verrieres (with whom Maurice had a daughter, who became the grandmother of George Sand). Although it was considered unseemly for great lords to show jealousy, the marshal complained to Louis XV about 'that insolent poet who takes all my mistresses.' He also complained, on another occasion, the his mistress Mademoiselle Beaumenard gave him 'more torment than all the soldiers of the queen of Hungary.' Later, the marshal wanted to make Madame Favart the mistress of Chanonceaux, the Loire Valley chateau that the king had given him for his victories, but had to use intimidation and even incarceration to make her submit to his will. Clearly, the theater women who so troubled the great warrior were not mere pawns in the libertinism of the court." (Daughters of Eve: 36-37)

Flanders campaign actresses.

"Two actresses of this theatre, Chantilly and Beaumenard, were his two favourite mistresses, and their rivalship, jealousy, and caprices gave him, as he said, 'more torment than the hussars of the queen of Hungary.' I have seen these words in one of his letters. It was for these women that mademoiselle Navarre had been neglected. He thought her too haughty, with too little complaisance, and too much delicacy. Mademoiselle Verriere, with infinitely less artifice, had no ambition to dispute the preference with her rivals: she seemed to repose on her beauty for the care of pleasing, without contributing to it otherwise than by the quality of an amiable temper, and by the indolence with which she suffered herself to be loved." (Memoirs of Marmontel: 150)

9) Mademoiselle Amand.
10) Mademoiselle Auguste.
11) Mademoiselle Beaumenard
12) Mademoiselle Bline.
13) Mademoiselle Darimattes.
14) Mademoiselle Fleury.

15) Mademoiselle Navarre.
"Mademoiselle Navarre was the daughter of a most respectable bourgeois family, who had gone on the stage, not from love of the theatre, but in search of adventures. Gifted with great beauty, she had no difficulty in leading me, victor of Fontenoy and Laufeld, captive. She then cast her spells over Marmontel, a young poet, for whose rose-pink effusions I had taken a great fancy. But the distinction of wearing two such diamonds did not satisfy Mademoiselle Navarre. Becoming enamoured of the Chevalier de Mirabeau, a youth as reckless and passionate as herself, she discarded her parure of hearts for a solitaire. She eloped with him. Weak enough to be furiously jealous I gave chase; but though they got away and got married they did not long enjoy their tumultuous idyll, for Navarre died shortly afterwards---of excess of happiness, they said. It was one of those tragedies of the coulisses that occasion more talk than a drama which has taken the town by storm" (A Beau Sabreur: 319)

"We might add the testimony of Marmontel, who, from his very intimate relations with two prominent members of Maurice's seraglio, Mlles. Navarre and de Verrieres, was without doubt well informed in regard to the Marshal's love-affairs. 'He (Maurice de Saxe) always kept an opera comique in his camp. Two performers belonging to this theatre, called Chantilly and Beaumenard, were his favourite mistresses; and he declared that their rivalry and caprices plagued him more than the Queen of Hungary's Hussars. I have read these words in one of his letters. For them it was that he neglected Mlle. Navarre.'" (Queens of the French Stage)

"Marmontel had been in love with a certain Mlle. Navarre, whose heart he had stolen away from Maurice de Saxe, much to the indignation of the famous Marshal, and who had made of him 'the happiest of lovers and the most miserable of slaves.' One day, he learned that his enchantress had jilted him, in his turn, for the Chevalier de Mirabeau, upon which he went home, 'fell down like a sacrificed victim,' and was for some time alarmingly ill. . . ." (Queens of the French Stage: n.p.)


16) Marie Rinteau de Verrieres (1730-1775)
French opera singer.
Lover in 1748.

Daughter ofClaude-Louis Rinteau & Marie-Anne Dupuy.

Her other lovers were:
1. Denis La Live, Marquis d'Epinay, French farmer-general
3. Jean-Francois Marmontel.

"Mademoiselle Verrieres was a charmeuse of quite another sort. Marie Rinteau was her real name, and her father sold lemonade in the streets of Paris. One day, finding his trade declining, he abandoned it to become a vendeur d'amour, and retired into obscurity on the profit from the sale, recommendation, what you will, of his daughters to the patrons of the stage. Like Mademoiselle Navarre, Mademoiselle Verrieres was less distinguished for her acting than her gallantries. Though I heaped benefits upon her and recognised as mine the child she brought into the world in the beaux jours of my enchantment, she was ungrateful enough to expose me to ridicule by her infidelities." (A Beau Sabreur: 320)

"Allusions has already been made to the evil effects of continued inaction in calling into play the darker sides of Maurice's character. This period of his life is not without its stains. In the year 1748, Marshal Saxe had taken under his protection a singer at the opera called Marie Rinteau, her stage name being Mlle. Verrieres. She was a very young girl of extraordinary loveliness, delicacy and grace. In the autumn of 1748 she gave birth to a daughter who was christened Aurora. The marshal seems to have broken off his intimacy with her for some time after this event. Believing that she was actually abandoned, Marie devised a curious place to bring back her errant lover. The marshal was then travelling in Germany. 'Suppose,' thought she, 'that on his return he were to find the simple and timid chorus-singer grown into a brilliant actress, able not only to inflame by her beauty, but to enthrall by her talents; would not this have the effect of bringing back the wanderer to her feet?' She at once put her scheme into execution." (The Living Age, Volume 175: 758)

"The marshal himself never married, but, at age fifty-two, acquired a new mistress in the person of the beautiful seventeen-year-old Marie Rinteau. Their illegitimate daughter, Marie-Aurore, as beautiful as Marie and the first Aurore, was born in 1748. Maurice left her nothing, but Marie-Aurore threw herself at the feet of her cousin, the royal mother, and Louis XV awarded her eight hundred livres as pension, a respectable amount. Next, this feisty lady persuaded parliament to recognize her formally as 'the natural daughter of Maurice, Count of Saxony, the General Marshal of the Camps and Armies of France, and of Marie Rinteau.' Her half-brother was the Chevalier de Beaumont, whose father, the Duke of Bouillon, had been her mother's lover after Maurice (who, of course, had been the lover of the Duchess of Bouillon some time earlier.)" (Chopin in Paris: 150)

"Having discovered the deception of Mademoiselle Verrieres, I compelled her to abdicate her throne, and gave it, in an evil hour, to one who has caused me more trouble than all her comrades of the theatrical seraglio, of which her husband was the director, and who, in spite of her ingratitude and caprices, which she has expiated in a manner that she has managed to make redound to her honour and my shame, still occupies the chief place in my affections---I mean Madame Favart. Her maiden name was Justine Durenceray, and she was the daughter of one of the musicians of the private chapel of Stanislas Leczinski, who after the War of the Polish Succession lived at Luneville, in Lorraine, of which he had been given the government. Justine had received a brilliant education, under the personal supervision of
Marie-Aurore de Saxe

Natural offspring:
1. Marie-Aurore de Saxe (1748-1821)
Countess of Horn

"The elder, Marie, was seventeen when she became Maurice's mistress, and when she was eighteen she bore him a daughter, the only acknowledged offspring of his innumerable liaisons. On October 19th, 1748, the child was baptized at the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris, her parents being described as Jean-Baptiste de la Riviere and Maria Rinteau. Marie was, of course, unmarried, and the name La Riviere was a prete-nom; no doubt the river in question was the Seine. The child was christened Aurore, after her famous grandmother, the Countess Maria Aurora von Konigsmarck. In early childhood she was to be adopted by her royal cousin, the Dauphine Maria Josepha, and to become the grandmother of the novelist George Sand (who was born Armandine-Aurore-Lucie Dupin in 1804). George Sand, in her turn, was so proud of her Konigsmarck descent that she called her son Maurice, while the elder of her granddaughters was named Aurore." (Marshal of France: The Life and Times of Maurice, Comte de Saxe: 242)


Wife of: 1. Antoine Comte de Horn (1723-1767) mar 1766
Claude Dupin

2. Louis-Claude Dupin de Francueil (1715-1786), French financier, mar 1777

17) Rosette Dubosan (1666-1726?) 

"It was noted (a pretty story runs) that the young Saxon, dining in the tent of Prince Eugene, was attracted by the budding beauty of a girl from Tournay, one Rosetta Dubosan, who had come to the camp to sell a headdress of elaborate lace, worked by her dead mother, and her sole dowry. Neither Eugene nor Marlborough was remarkable for prodigality, and the lace went unpurchased, but the young Come de Saxe (as his dubious title ran) followed the sweet pedlar from the tent and recompensed her for her disappointment by apt and accomplished tributes to her charms, for the son of Aurora von Konigsmarck already the arts of the successful lover. The little maiden, who was his own age, was as innocently won as wooed, and the idyllic intrigue continued to the sound of Boufflers' desperate fire from the citadel of Lille and the fierce reply from the Allies' trenches, and, when the city surrendered on 10th December, Maurice, like a seasoned soldier, retired to Brussels to enjoy his leisure with his little mistress whom he now boldly snatched from the guardianship of her father; the inaction of winter, however, galled the young lover, despite this pretty companion, and he was further depressed by a recall to Dresden where Madame Konigsmarck lavished tender caresses on him, and his father laughingly commended him n vain, the desires of Maurice were with the army and Rosetta. In the spring movement of the troops in Flanders Maurice was with Marlborough at Tournay, which fell on 28th July; what time he could spare from his duties in the palisades or on the redoubts was spent in hurrying post-haste to Brussels and visiting the lace-maker's daughter; at least so runs the legend, which is true to character, if not to fact. . . But the peculiar Venus of Maurice vanished; when he reached Brussels the adorable Rosetta had disappeared, spirited away either by virtue or inconstancy, and Maurice was scarcely consoled for her loss by the excitement of Malplaquet, where he assisted the amiable Englishman to gain some of the most glossy laurels that ever entwined his handsome peruke." (Sundry Great Gentlemen: Some Essays in Historical Biography)

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh----

Philip of Greece
Duke of Edinburgh
Philip of Greece
Duke of Edinburgh.
(1921-Present)
Prince of Greece & Denmark
Prince of the United Kingdom 1957.

Son ofAndrew of Greece & Denmark & Alice von Battenberg.

Husband ofElizabeth II of the United Kingdom, mar 1947.
Princess Elizabeth, 21, (born 21 April 1926)  and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, 26, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on 10 June 1921) in their 1947 engagement photo.:
Philip & Elizabeth
@ Pinterest
The gifts of a charmer: "Prince Philip is attractive to women. He has the gifts of a charmer: he listens, he laughs, he looks into your eyes, he takes you seriously, he makes you feel he wants your company. He never looks over shoulder to see if someone more interesting is coming along." (Telegraph)

The Duke of Edinburgh's fan club.
" . . . For those not in the know, the Tatler published 'The royal Collection,' which provided the names, biographies, and photographs of thirteen women described as 'the Duke of Edinburgh's fan club.' The list included minor British stars but omitted major American ones like Jane Russell, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Shirley MacLaine. The British aristocrats included two Princesses, one Duchess, one Countess, and five titled ladies, including the seventy-year-old wife of one of the Queen's former equerries. 'That's an appalling image of my mother-in-law---in bed with Prince Philip.' pooh-poohed the woman's son-in-law. 'It's like Love Among the Ruins.'" (The Royals: 423)

"Among numerous other women alleged to have featured in Philip’s extramarital love life were Jane, Countess of Westmorland, widow of the Queen’s late Master of the Horse; the novelist Dame Daphne du Maurier; the actresses Merle Oberon and Anna Massey; and TV personality Katie Boyle." (Daily Mail)

They said, everybody said. . . : "Other women with whom he is said to have dallied include his cousin Princess Alexandra, Italian Countess Bonnie Frescobadi, actress Anna Massey, Canadian Osla Benning, who later married Lord Henniker, and Jane, Countess of Westmorland." (Independent)

Linked with many women: "Over the years Philip's name has been linked with many women, from the late.......

The wifey knew about it! And she was into it, too!!: "Elizabeth had known that Prince Philip chased other women including the late Helene Cordet, TV star Katie Boyle, actress Anna Massey, Jane Russell, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Shirley Maclaine, Merle Oberon (Duchess of Abercorn?), the Countess of Westmorland, the late Susie (sic) Barrantes (Sarah Ferguson's mother), Patti Kulge, Christina Ford and many polo wives. However, The Queen also became romantically involved with another man, Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon (Lord Porchester)." (Yahoo Answers)

That's how men are, wifey says: "However, Sarah Bradford, author of Elizabeth II: Her Life in Our Times, was more forthright. 'The Duke of Edinburgh has had affairs,' she said in an (sic) 2011 interview, 'yes, full-blown affairs and more than one. He has affairs and the Queen accepts it. I think she thinks that's how men are.'" (Belfast Telegraph)

The rumours were . . . : "After Kirkwood and Cordet, numerous other famous and beautiful women have been alleged to have been Philip's lovers. They include the Countess of Westmorland, wife of the Queen's Master of the Horse, the novelist Daphne du Maurier, wife of the Comptroller of the Royal Household, the actresses Merle Oberon and Anna Massey, the TV personality Katie Boyle, the Duchess of York's mother, Susan Barrantes, the Duchess of Abercorn, wife of the Lord Steward of the Royal Household, the Queen's first cousin, Princess Alexandra and Philip's glamorous carriage-driving companion, Lady Romsey." (Daily Mail)

And the real situations were . . .: "Of these, Daphne du Maurier was merely a casual acquaintance. Katie Boyle has rubbished suggestions of intimacy. Anna Massey met Philip only once socially. And the Duchess of Abercorn, while admitting to 'a highly charged chemistry' with Philip, denied any physical relationship, adding that 'the passion was in the ideas.'" (Daily Mail)

"Since the '50s and '60s — the time period largely focused on in the show — there are many persistent reports of Philip's affairs, all of which were always denied by the Palace on grounds of no evidence. However, many biographers have repeatedly pointed to romantic relations with other women, notably a mystery woman who was once seen boarding the royal yacht Britannia on an overseas tour. In addition to this, during the early years of his marriage, Prince Philip was also accused of conducting extra-martial affairs with Greek cabaret singer Hélène Cordet, several actresses, a renowned female novelist and even the Queen's own cousin, Princess Alexandra. And although none of these relations have ever been proven, they continue to cast a shadow on the reputation of the British Royal Family." (Movie Pilot)

Over more than seven decades, Philip has been accused of liaisons with a Greek cabaret singer, several actresses, three peeresses of the realm, a famous TV personality, a renowned female novelist and the Queen’s cousin, Princess Alexandra. It has also been claimed he has fathered 24 illegitimate children — and even that he once had a gay fling with the former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. Thar absurd suggestion aside, it is easy to understand why, at the time of his marriage in 1947, he was pegged as a potential philanderer." (Press Reader)

"And at the end of the war, by then a bearded Adonis with a taste for dancing, he had joyous flings with three girls while in Australia (a certain boathouse in Sydney, owned by a titled friend, was apparently the setting for his sexual dalliances). There was a society beauty, Sue Other-Gee; a close friend, Georgina Kennard; and Sandra Jacques, about whom little is known other than that it was ‘a very full love affair’. . . ." (Press Reader)

Philip's physical appearance & personal qualities: "Tall and athletic with the looks of a Viking god, Philip at 17 was already attractive to women. Aspasia’s daughter, Alexandra, described him as “very amusing, gay, full of life and energy and a tease.” He reminded her of “a huge, hungry dog; perhaps a friendly collie who never had a basket of his own and responded to every overture with eager tail-wagging.'" (Telegraph)

His lovers were:

1) Princess Alexandra of Kent.
"Rumours Philip had a relationship with the Queen’s first cousin, Princess Alexandra, are especially distasteful. Her late husband, Sir Angus Ogilvy, described Philip as ‘a good man, a really good man, hopelessly misreported, misrepresented and misunderstood’. In 2003, the Queen appointed Princess Alexandra as a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter, a great honour that she would have been unlikely to bestow on her husband’s lover." (Daily Mail)

2) Anna Massey.
British actress.

"Of these, I know Anna Massey only met Philip once socially and never saw him again. Du Maurier, whom I knew well, met the Queen and Philip occasionally during the years her husband, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick ‘Boy’ Browning, was Comptroller of their household. Daphne was invited to Balmoral but was never a close friend of the royal couple." (Daily Mail)

3) Bonnie Frescobaldi.
Italian aristocrat.

4) Cobina Wright.
"One girl, Cobina Wright, began to stand out from the rest and Philip begged his aunt to be allowed to stay out in the boat a little longer. “Very well”, she agreed. “But you are to cruise round and round the island and don’t stop the engine! I shall be listening.” Alexandra was listening, too, and after three or four circuits the engine went silent and remained so for the next five minutes. Philip’s explanation was that they had had “trouble with the sparking plugs.'  Cobina Wright was a budding American actress whose pushy mother, also called Cobina, was among those who entertained Philip during his time in Venice. Cobina Wright Senior organised debutante parties in New York and was grooming her daughter for a film career capped by a spectacular marriage. Cobina was two months younger than Philip – they both turned 17 that summer – tall, slim and blonde with huge blue eyes and a radiant smile. By 1938, she was already under contract with 20th Century Fox while also modelling and singing in nightclubs. The next year, she won the title of Miss Manhattan and was named “most attractive and talented New York girl of the 1939 season.' Her first meeting with Philip was at Harry’s Bar, and Cobina later recalled that, on seeing the prince, her mother had “shoved” her into his arms. Over the next three weeks, Philip escorted Cobina around Venice, spending “passionate evenings in gondolas on the Grand Canal”, before following her back to London. Her friend, Gant Gaither, the Broadway producer, later maintained that Philip wrote her impassioned love letters and “desperately wanted to marry her, but [in the end] Cobina Jr just wasn’t all that interested.” She married a wealthy American corporal, Palmer Beaudette, instead. Interviewed by the American Town and Country magazine in 1973, she revealed that in her bedroom she kept photographs of the three loves of her life, one of them being Philip."
(Telegraph)

4) Daphne Du Maurier.

5) Helene Cordet (1924-1996)
Greek cabaret singer.

Wife of:
1. William N. Kirby
2. Marcel Boisot.

The first 'mistress' to be mentioned: " . . . Then there was the Helene Cordet affair, which surfaced right before the wedding, when she was described in the French press as the 'mystery blonde divorcee' whom Philip had visited in Paris the year before. Since then, Helene is always the first name mentioned as one of Philip's mistresses and the mother of his illegitimate children. If course, he and Helene claim that they're merely childhood friends who grew up together in Paris. He gave her away when she married the first time in 1938, and he's godfather to both her children, so who knows?'" (The Royals: 75-76)

Helene's economics professor son to the rescue: "He's even rumoured to have had a number of children out of wedlock, one of whom, Max Boisot, was sufficiently annoyed some time ago to issue an official denial that Philip was his father from the depths of China where he was living. His mother was a French singer called Helene Cordet, who had known Prince Philip since childhood. . . ." (Independent)

Godfather? Father? Who knows?: "Not only Kirkwood was linked with him romantically, but also his childhood friend, the Greek cabaret star Helene Cordet, who had two children by her future second husband while separated from her first husband, but declined at the time to name the father. When Philip elected to become godfather to both children, it was instantly assumed that he must be their father. Many years later, Cordet's son, Max, who became a professor of economics, was finally provoked into issuing a public statement denying this utterly." (Daily Mail)

No, they're not an item!: "Philip and Helene [Cordet] were friends, not lovers. He is not the father of her children. Rumours started because, when her son Max was born, Helene was still married to William Kirby, though they had lived apart for two years. At the time, no one knew about Marcel Boisot [her lover at the time that Max was born in 1943]. Helene allowed the paternity of her children to remain a mystery. Even in her memoir, Born Bewildered, published in 1961, years later, she does not name him. I get the impression (though she denied it) that Helene Cordet rather relished the frisson created by the rumours surrounding her friendship with Prince Philip. I get the impression Prince Philip thinks so, too, and it irritates him." (Telegraph)

"Philip and Helene [Cordet] were friends, not lovers. He is not the father of her children. Rumours started because, when her son Max was born, Helene was still married to William Kirby, though they had lived apart for two years. At the time, no one knew about Marcel Boisot [her lover at the time that Max was born in 1943]. Helene allowed the paternity of her children to remain a mystery. Even in her memoir, Born Bewildered, published in 1961, years later, she does not name him. I get the impression (though she denied it) that Helene Cordet rather relished the frisson created by the rumours surrounding her friendship with Prince Philip. I get the impression Prince Philip thinks so, too, and it irritates him." (Telegraph)

"There was also concern over the nature of his relationship with a childhood friend, the Greek-born cabaret star Hélène Cordet. While she was separated from her first husband, Cordet had two children by a French airman, Marcel Boisot, who became her second husband. Owing to her uncertain marital circumstances, Cordet declined to reveal the children’s paternity, and when Prince Philip became godfather to both, it was assumed he was the father.

This belief persisted until 1989, when Cordet’s son, the economist Professor Max Boisot, openly dismissed the idea as ‘ridiculous’." (Press Reader)

Helene's personal & family background: "Adler smiles and shrugs when talking about his old friend's relationship with Helene Cordet, who worked in a Paris dress shop before moving to London to open a nightclub and become a cabaret singer. Her parents, staunch Greek royalists, had helped support Philip's parents during their exile in France when Philip was growing up. 'Mercifully, he spared us the personal details of his relationship with Helene,' said Adler in 1992. 'But we made certain assumptions at the time, and whether we were right or wrong, we understood why the King was agitated about his daughter falling in love with a bounder like our old pal. As I told Philip then, be glad your zipper can't talk.'" (The Royals: 76)

6) Jane, Countess of Westmorland.

7) Katie Boyle (1926-Present)
Lover in the 1950s.
Italian aristocrat, actress, presenter, writer & celebrated beauty.

Daughter ofMarchese Demetrio Imperiali di Francavilla & Dorothy Kate Ramsden.

Wife of:
1. Richard Bentinck Boyle, 9th Earl of Shannonmar 1945, div 1955.
2. Greville Pollard Baylis (d.1976), British racehorse owner, mar 1955.
3. Sir Peter Saunders (1911-2003), mar 1980

"Katie Boyle, a celebrated beauty from the 1950s, is another good-looking woman regularly mentioned in dispatches as one of Philip's flings, particularly in a book called Queen Elizabeth II: A Woman Who is Not Amused by Nicholas Davies. Boyle was a TV personality in the late 1950s and 1960s, and presented the Eurovision Song Contest the first time it has held in Britain in 1960. In those days, broadcasting tended to have cut-glass accents, and Boyle had that in spades. She was born Caterina Irene Elena Maria Imperiali di Francavilla, the daughter of an Italian aristocrat and her frist husband was Richard Bentinck Boyle, 9th Earl of Shannon, Viscount Boyle, of Bandon and Baron of Castle Martyr, Co Cork. According to Davies'd book, Philip's affair with Boyle was very steamy and they had the most extraordinary times together. 'Yes, I've met Prince Philip several times,' Boyle has said. 'I think he's the most fantastic man. I love his dryness. But an affair? It's ludicrous, pure fabrication. When it appears in prince, people believe it. You can't talk legal action because it fans the flames, so you just have to accept people telling complete lies about you.'" (Independent)

Pure fabrication: "Katie Boyle certainly met Philip several times, but has described suggestions of an affair as ‘pure fabrication’ and utterly denied a story that the Prince once rapidly exited through the back entrance of her house as her husband arrived at the front. It is true that Hollywood beauty Merle Oberon, who was ten years Philip’s senior, kept a signed photograph of him in a silver frame and entertained him lavishly at her estate in Mexico City. But Merle’s couturier, Luis Estevez, ‘never saw anything romantic going on between them’.' (Daily Mail)

7) Merle Oberon.
American film star.

8) Osla Benning.
Canadian debutante.

"Princess Elizabeth was still only 15, and while she was undoubtedly going to be a catch before long, Philip was free to play the field. Cobina Wright’s place was soon taken by Osla Benning, a beautiful Canadian-born debutante with “dark hair, alabaster white skin, an exquisite figure and a gentle loving nature,” according to her friend Sarah Norton [later Baring]. They met in late 1939, when Osla was living with Sarah, a god-daughter of Dickie [Lord Louis] Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle. Osla was two years younger than Philip and had been brought over from Canada when she was very young, following her glamorous mother’s divorce. Mrs Benning married three more times and Osla’s childhood was, according to her daughter, Janie Spring, lonely, isolated and confusing. Like Philip, she had a weakness for practical jokes and was 'always getting involved in escapades involving itching powder.' After finishing school in Austria, she came out in August 1939, one of the foremost debutantes of her year. They made a startling pair. Philip was: 'Tall, with piercing blue eyes and a shock of blond hair swept back from his forehead,' recalled Eileen Parker, wife of his great friend, Mike Parker. 'I was not at all surprised to hear that every unmarried Wren on the base had her sights on him.' At the time she met Philip, Osla was working at the Hawker-Siddeley aircraft factory in Slough and living in a cottage nearby with Sarah Norton and her father, Lord Grantley, the film-maker and raconteur. Grantley found Philip 'the best of company' and was impressed by his forceful intellect. 'He seemed to be interested in everything; and when asking me questions about films, for instance, he did not want to know about the stars but about the technicalities of how films were made.”" (Telegraph)

"At the age of 18, there had been a romantic friendship — although not a full-blown affair — with Canadian- born debutante Osla Benning." (Press Reader)

9) Pat Kirkwood.
British actress & singer
Lover in 1948.

"It was after one of these gatherings, in October 1948, that Philip’s reputation as a royal Lothario took off. Baron introduced his friend to actress and singer Pat Kirkwood, the highest-paid star on the London stage, with whom the photographer was in love. Her fans included King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who invited her to Windsor Castle to perform. Then 27 years old, the sensuous and flirtatious actress with legs once described as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’ was separated from her husband. Philip was smitten and he and Kirkwood created a sensation by dining a deux at Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Mayfair, packed with celebrities and staff who could not tear their eyes away from their table. They went on to dance the night away, cheek to cheek, at the Milroy nightclub and ended up eating scrambled eggs at dawn in Baron’s apartment. This encounter created headlines all over the world. Princess Elizabeth was eight months pregnant with their first child at the time, and the King and Queen were furious on their daughter’s behalf. Pat Kirkwood spent the rest of her life haunted by the ‘Prince and the Showgirl’ label, vehemently denying any impropriety, either then or later. But she became the target of lurid rumours and a claim Philip had given her a white Rolls-Royce. I know for a fact that my friend Pat never owned such a vehicle." (Press Reader)

"But legend or not, Pat Kirkwood lived for six decades under the cloud of suspicion she had been the mistress of Prince Philip. The more she denied the rumour, the more it was believed. Philip himself, adhering to the Royal Family's tradition of declining comment on matters relating to their private lives, failed to come to her defence. He said nothing, one way or the other, despite repeatedly imploring him to set the record straight. And when she died" almost exactly a year ago, after 60 distinguished years of stardom during which she helped to rally the nation's morale in World War II, her life ended devoid of official recognition and without so much as a humble MBE." (Daily Mail)

"A month before his wife gave birth to Charles, Philip was introduced to Pat Kirkwood, 'the first of the showgirls with whom he was rumored to have had an affair,' according to Philip Eade in his biography The Young Prince Philip. The critic Kenneth Tynan once pronounced Kirkwood’s legs to be 'the eighth wonder of the world.'" (The Daily Beast)

10) Penelope Meredith Eastwood.

11) Sacha Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn.

It's Jung's fault!: "'They're the ones people talk about.' 'You mean, women like Sacha Abercorn,' I suggested. 'Yes,' said Mrs. Bradford, putting down her wine glass. 'She is certainly one of them. Philip and Sacha Abercorn certainly had an affair. Without a doubt.' . . . The Duchess of Abercorn is tall, slim and striking. she is quietly spoken: intelligent, articulate and thoughtful. She was born in 1946, the daughter of Lt. Col. Harold Pedro Joseph Phillips and Gina Wernher. She is 25 years Philip's junior. 'It was later [after her marriage in 1966] that we became close. It think it was at The gables - when Nicky was running the shoots - that we particularly got interested in each other. What brought us together? Jung. Yes. Jung. I've always been interested in Jung, his work, his ideas. And Philip is interested in Jung. Prince Philip is always questing, exploring, searching for meaning, testing ideas. We had riveting conversation about Jung. That's where our friendship began.'" (Telegraph)

"A British aristocrat has admitted enjoying a 'passionate friendship' and 'highly charged chemistry' with Prince Philip in an authoritative new book on the state of the royal marriage. The Duchess of Abercorn, 58, revealed she had an intimate relationship with the Prince, 83, over two decades from the late 1960s. She denies sleeping with him. The book is by Gyles Brandreth, a former Tory MP, journalist and a long-time friend of Prince Philip, who has been linked to scores of beautiful, aristocratic and often younger women over the decades. The Duchess said she had been the Prince's 'playmate and intellectual partner'. "Our friendship was very close," she said. 'We were close because we understood one another. It was a passionate friendship, but the passion was in the ideas. It was certainly not a full relationship. I did not go to bed with him.'" (The Age)

"Brandreth shines the spotlight on Sacha Hamilton, the Duchess of Abercorn, in particular. She is the daughter of Lady Kennard, reportedly one of the Queen's closest friends, and she married her husband, James, the Duke of Abercorn was appointed Lord Steward to the Royal household in 2001." (Independent)

"The Duchess of Abercorn admitted to royal author Gyles Brandreth, a friend of Philip, that she had a 'passionate friendship' with him for more than 20 years, describing him as someone who 'needs a playmate'. . . Sacha Abercorn was first linked with Philip in 1987 when a newspaper published a picture of him, wearing only a towel, with his arm around her in a swimsuit. According to Brandreth, they have also been seen holding hands at her holiday home in the Bahamas - something she did not deny. . . In the book, published later this month, the Duchess of Abercorn recounts how her friendship with Philip began in the late 1960s with a conversation about the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, in whom they had a shared interest. 'Prince Philip is always questing, exploring, searching for meaning, testing ideas. He asks the difficult questions and that's what drew me to him. 'Yes, he is practical, unsentimental and logical, but he is also emotional and intuitive. He is deeply sensitive. Deeply sensitive. His senses are so supercharged.'" (Evening Standard)

12) Sandra Jacques.
"According to Australian author Robin Dalton, who met Prince Philip back then, he had to special Australian girlfriends, a society girl called Sue Othergee, and then Sandra Jacques. The affair with Jacques was 'a terrific love affair. A very full love affair.'" (Independent)

13) Sue Othergee.
Australian socialite

"Now, Sue Other-Gee has been named in a new book about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as one of his 'special girlfriends' whom he escorted during the war. She spoke lovingly of him to her family, but she was to carry the full truth of her relationship with him to the grave, after she was taken from her home in Sydney's exclusive harbourside suburb of Rose Bay to hospital, where she died of pneumonia 22 years ago, aged 62." (Highbeam)

14) Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

15) Zsa Zsa Gabor.

The Duke of Edinburgh's physical appearance & personal qualities:
"However for the ladies of the Court Philip was 'tall, good-looking, blond, blue-eyed, a royal prince by birth, a Navy-man, a sailor, athletic, funny, fun to be with, sensitive, generous, sometimes slightly cool, a little distant in his bearing, but teasing you all the time, and lovely to children.  Of course everyone was in love with him.'"  (La Stampa)

Prince Philip Gallery.
Prince Philip by The British Monarchy, via Flickr:
Andrew of Greece
@ flickr.com
Prince Philip of Greece (later Duke of Edinburgh):
Philip of Greece
@ flickr.com
Prince Philip at age 15:
Prince Philip @ 15
@ tumblr.com
Prince Philip. The world's most handsome man is either him or James Dean.  - B:
Philip of Greece
@ flickr.com
Young Prince Philip. My I can see the resemblance to Prince Charles in his younger years.:
Prince Philip
@ tumblr.com
Prince Phillip / Prince Harry Can definately see a likeness between them both with this early photo of his grandfather Prince Phillip.:
Prince Philip
@ tumblr.com
Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh Actor | The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. - British Royalty:

vickievictoriana:  Portrait of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Consort of Queen Elizabeth II:
Prince Philip
@ tumblr.com
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. I think Prince William looks a lot like his grandfather.:
Prince Philip
@ facebook.com
hrhsussex:  Beardy Windsor Men-Prince Philip during WWII:
Prince Philip
@ Daily Mail
Ce 10 juin, le prince Philip, duc d’Edimbourg, époux de la reine d’Angleterre Elisabeth II, fête ses 95 ans. Le Royal Blog déroule sa vie en photos.:
Prince Philip
@ Paris Match
I guess Mountbattens fall in here as well:
Prince Philip
@ tumblr.com