ROYALS.
August II of Poland, shared his lover, Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz, Grafin von Rochlitz, with his brother, Johann Georg IV of Saxony."In 1687, when Billa was only 12, none other than Christian August von Haxthausen fell for her, with the intention of marrying her when she was a little older. We know that Haxthausen died in 1696, but none of the source give the date of his birth; it is hard, however, to think of him as less than 30, when he was appointed as Augustus's Hofmeister in 1685. Now, two years later, the courtier charged with overseeing our hero's educational and spiritual development was seeking the hand of a child, whom by his own account he at sometime bedded. For in June 1694 Stepney decorously reprised Haxthausen's claim that John George did not have Billa 'to himself, but he had the favour of being His Highness's taster'. There were certainly other 'tasters' throughout the relationship. Inevitably Augustus is identified as one, with the two brothers allegedly crossing swords for the nymphet's favour. When the Elector learned of their daggers-drawn behaviour, both princes were banned from any other contact with her. So while Augustus and Haxthausen travelled to France that May, John George was watched. Despite this he met clandestinely with Billa. When their meetings were discovered, she and her mother were banished from court and they left for their estates in Lusatia'." (Pleasure and Ambition: The Life, Loves and Wars of Augustus the Strong: 19)
Stanislaw I Leszczynski of Poland had a relationship with sisters:
1. Maria Ludovica Jablonowska, Princesse de Talmond
2. Katarzyna Dorothea Jablonowska, Comtesse de Tenczyn Ossolinski
"The story of Charles Edward's stormy romance with the forty-seven-year-old Polish princess, a cousin of the Queen of France (as well as, more distantly, of Louise and the Prince himself) must be left of another time. She was a woman of legendary beauty and wit, equally fluent in Polish and French. Her father, Jean-Stanislas Jablonowski (1669-1731) was Palatin de Russie (Ruthenia) and an uncle of King Stanislas Leszczynski. Her mother, whom we have already met in Lvov (Leopold), died there in 1744. Young Marie-Louise Jablonowska had a younger, less attractive sister, Catherine-Dorothee, who married the exiled Polish King's grand maitre, Francois-Maximilien, Comte de Tenczyn Ossolinski in 1732, but soon became, with the richly subsidized blessing of her aging husband, the mistress of Stanislas himself. Playing mistress of Stanislas had actually been one of Marie-Louise's own roles when, as Princess Palatine de Russie, she had gone to live at Chambord in 1727 where the exiled father-in-law of Louis XV had taken up his official residence two years before. There, she became as well the public mistress of a handsome and dashing young officer, Charles-Francois-Marie de Custine, the celebrated Chevalier de Wiltz. Stanislas generously took it upon himself to find a suitable match for Marie-Louise, but her situation had become so notorious that one initially interested suitor, Louis-Henri de Bourbon, M. Le Duc himself, soon lost interest. Louis XV's father-in-law next tried to marry her off to the Comte d'Evreux, but again the lady's reputation cost her a golden opportunity. Less brilliant success came at last when the King of Poland's choice fell on Anne-Charles-Frederic de la Tremoille, , Comte de Taillebourg, the son of Frederic-Guillaume, Prince de Talmont. At nineteen, Anne-Charles-Frederic was ten years younger than the experienced Marie-Louise, and his family hesitated, but with the help of a generous dowry from Stanislas and a persuasive ducal title thrown into the bargain by the King of France, the marriage took place on 29 October 1730. Unfortunately for the tranquility of the husband (whose tastes in later years seem to have run more to young men and extremely austere devotional exercises), the new Duchesse de Chatellerault made not even a token effort to live up to her marriage vows. Her liaison with the gallant Chevalier de Wiltz continued without interruption as did, for a time, her affair with Stanislas. At the end of the War of Polish Succession, Talmont was enticed back to her cousin's new [place?]."" (The Love of a Prince: Bonnie Prince Charlie in France 1744-1748: 219)
Edward, Prince of Wales (future Edward VII of Great Britain) shared his lover, Beryl Markham, with his brother, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.
" . . . Markham's affairs with Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, Ms. Trzebinski adds, were essentially stratagems to get Finch Hatton to pay more attention to her . . . ." (NYT)
Louis, Dauphin of France had the Moreau sisters as his mistresses.
1. Francoise Moreau (1668-1743)
2. Louise Moreau (1668-1692)
"The amorous adventures of 'les filles de l'Opera' were not exactly private: they were celebrated in popular chansons of the time, written by musicians as famous as Francois Couperin, the king's organist and the royal family's harpsichord teacher. He had a particular fascination for Fanchon Moreau---'la tendre Fanchon,' as he called her in the title pf pme pf his harpsichord pieces. She was one of Lully's last discoveries, and she created roles in several of his final operas, as well as in post-Lullian works like Charpentier's Medee. Her credentials as an opera singer were not in doubt, but her greatest fame, alas, was as the 'lady between the sheers' immortalized in Couperin's ballad La femme entre deux draps. Fanchon escaped the convent because she had friends in gih places---she was the mistress of the dauphin, the king's son and heir, though she had very nearly forfeited his protection in an identity mix-up. She was the victim of the Paris Opera's custom of listing singers by their second names only---cast lists invariably referred t 'Mlle Moreau,' 'Mlle Desmatins,' and so forth. Unfortunately, there were two Mlles Moreau. Fanchon had an older sister, Louison, who also sang at the Opera, and it is often hard to tell from the records which sister sang which part. It also meant, as the dauphin discovered, that letters were addressed to Mlle Moreau could end up in the wrong hands. One of the co-directors of the Opera was asked to invite Fanchon to a liaison with the dauphin. By mistake, the letter went to Louison, and she, probably quite innocently, accepted the invitation. Indeed, she became the dauphin's mistress for a time---until the mistake was rectified and her more glamorous sister took her place." (Angels and Monsters: Male and Female Sopranos in the Story of Opera, 1600-1900: 25)
"The first Elector, Ernest Augustus, had introduced into Hanover the French custom of royal mistresses. He, his son George I, and his grandson, took their favorites from one and the same family. For nearly one hundred years, the family of Platen supplied this article of royal luxury. First, there was the 'wicked Countess Platen,' to whom we shall presently have occasion to return; her daughter, the Countess Kielmansegge, who subsequently was created Countess of Darlington; her step-daughter, the younger Countess Platen; Frau von der Bussche, a sister of the wicked Countess Platen, and a fifth lady, Countess Walmoden, afterwards created Countess of Yarmouth, who was grand-niece of the same 'wicked Platen.' (The Eclectic Magazine, Volume 30: 519)
Franz Josef I of Austria was said to have had a love affair with Helene Baltazzi who was the mother of Marie Vetsera, the mistress of Franz Josef's son Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. (Alexander Palace)
George I of Great Britain shared his lover, Luise von der Schulenberg, Grafin von Delitz, with his son, George II of Great Britain, and grandson, Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales.
Three Generations of Lovers: "King George liked to go to Germany because of his estates in Hanover, and a mistress. She was Madam D'Elitz and was lover to George's father and had even been to bed with his own son, Frederick. She also counted around a thousand lovers in her time. Then George, on returning to Hanover, fell for a married woman." (Bayliss: 104)
"This Madame d'Elitz was a Schulemberg sister to my Lady Chesterfield---a very handsome lady, though now a little in her decline, with a great deal of wit, who had had a thousand lovers, and had been catched in bed with a man twenty years ago, and been divorced from her husband upon it. She was said to have been the mistress to three generations of the Hanover family---the late King, the present, and the Prince of Wales before he came to England, which was one generation more than the Duchess of Valentinois (mistress of Henry II) could boast of in France. The present King had quitted Madame D'Elitz for Madame Walmoden, upon which a quarrel ensued between the two ladies, and the King thereupon had turned Madame D'Elitz out of the palace the year before; just therefor when the King set out for Hanover this year, Madame D'Elitz set out for England, where she now was with her aunt and sister, the Duchess of Kendal and Lady Chesterfield." (Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second, Vol. 2: 100)
"Anna von der Schulenburg was born (Jan, 1692), the illegitimate daughter of George I, King of England (1714–1727) by his longtime mistress, the Duchess of Kendal, but she was registered as the child of Friedrich Achaz von der Schulenburg (1647 – 1701) and his wife Margaret Gertrude (1659–1697) the elder sister to the duchess of Kendal, and her own maternal aunt.
Anna was married (1707) to Ernst Augustus Philip von dem Bussche-Ippenburg (1681–1761), an officer in the army at Zelle in Brunswick. The marriage remained childless and the couple were divorced (1714) due to her own adulterous behaviour. Her father caused the Emperor Karl VI to create her Countess von Delitz (1722) by which title she was known the last five decades of her life. According to Lord Hervey the countess was the mistress of both George II and of his son Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, her half-brother and nephew, which charge appears to be no more than scandalous gossip. Countess von Delitz died aged eighty-one, and interred with her mother in the South Audley Street Chapel in London." (A Bit of History) [Fam1]
Henri IV of France was the lover of two sisters:
1. Gabrielle d'Estrees (in 1591-1599)
2. Juliette-Hippolyte d'Estrees (in 1599)
''The Mme. de Balagny included in the above list bore the Christian name of Diane, and is said to have been slightly deformed. Be that true or not, she secured as her husband a Marshal of France, Alexandre Jean de Montluc de Balagny, a son of the Montluc who massacred so many Huguenots, and as her lover an equally important personage, Jean de la Valette, Duke d'Epernon, sometime Grand Admiral of France and Colonel-General of the Infantry of the Kingdo m. We mention her again, however, more particularly because she suggested to D'Urfe' the character of Delie — or, as we should say, Delia — in his Astrec, and is also alleged to have been, for a brief period, a mistress of Henri de Navarre before he definitely fixed his affections on her younger sister, who is designated in our list under the name of Beaufort. She acquired, indeed, the title of Duchess de Beaufort as well as those of Lady of Liancourt and Marchioness de Montceaux, but it is as La Belle Gabrielle that she has remained famous in song, romance and history." (The Favourites of Henri of Navarre: 118)
Leopold Eberhard von Wurttemberg had four sisters as mistresses:
1. Sébastienne Curie
2. Polixène Curie
3. Henriette Edwige Curie
4. Élisabeth Charlotte Curie
Infanta Eulalia of Spain shared her lover, Antonio de Vasconcellos, with her son, Luis Fernando de Orleans y Borbon.
According to the books about him I’ve read his relationship with his mother Infanta Eulalia had its ups and downs. When Luis Fernando and his brother Alfonso were at a boarding school in England he wrote many letters to her mother expressing his devoted love and dreams about living with her. When he left school his relationship with his mother deteriorated and he went to live to Paris with his father Antonio d’Orléans and his lover Carmela. Eulalia hated Luis Fernando’s idea of being an actor and joining a theatre company in America. She wanted him to take charge of the estate he had inherited in Castillejo and didn’t like it when Luis announced his intention to stand for Deputy in Valencia. Despite her liberal attitude and thinking, Eulalia never accepted Luis’ homosexuality. Luis used to comment about his problems with his good friend the Countess Blanche of Clermont-Tonnerre: “My father Don Antonio detests me and doesn’t give me any money. Keep your millions, I tell him. My mother hates me, every time I have a friend she tries to take him away, she’s jealous of my success.” They shared the passion for handsome men. Luis Fernando’s inseparable companion, a Portuguese called Antonio de Vasconcellos, had also been Eulalia’s lover. At one time, when he was seriously ill, both mother and son took care of him. It seems their relationship improved over the years. In the late 20s, when Luis Fernando was determined to marry a millionaire who let him re-enter in France (he had been expelled in the mid-twenties by the French authorities and stripped from his title of ‘Infante’ by his cousin King Alfonso XIII in 1924) Eulalia took an active part. She announced, at the Hotel Plaza in Paris, the wedding of Luis and Mabelle Gilman, a former American actress who lived at a French Chateau thanks to the millions she got after her divorce from William Corey, a steel magnate. Luis and Mabelle (eight years his senior) had been good friends for a long time but the marriage never took place apparently for Mabelle’s refusal to leave her chateau for a more modest place in San Remo, Italy where Luis was living. A year later, Luis Fernando announced his marriage to a richer (an older) woman, Marie Say, Princess Amedée of Broglie who was 32 years his senior (!) Marie decided to announce the wedding to her mother-in-law, Infanta Eulalia, with a letter ending in the following sentence: “I will always be your respectful and devoted daughter” (The ‘daughter’ was seven years older than her ‘mother’). Here’s a link of some interesting stories about Luis Fernando de Orléans L'Enfant terrible."
1. Gabrielle d'Estrees (in 1591-1599)
2. Juliette-Hippolyte d'Estrees (in 1599)
''The Mme. de Balagny included in the above list bore the Christian name of Diane, and is said to have been slightly deformed. Be that true or not, she secured as her husband a Marshal of France, Alexandre Jean de Montluc de Balagny, a son of the Montluc who massacred so many Huguenots, and as her lover an equally important personage, Jean de la Valette, Duke d'Epernon, sometime Grand Admiral of France and Colonel-General of the Infantry of the Kingdo m. We mention her again, however, more particularly because she suggested to D'Urfe' the character of Delie — or, as we should say, Delia — in his Astrec, and is also alleged to have been, for a brief period, a mistress of Henri de Navarre before he definitely fixed his affections on her younger sister, who is designated in our list under the name of Beaufort. She acquired, indeed, the title of Duchess de Beaufort as well as those of Lady of Liancourt and Marchioness de Montceaux, but it is as La Belle Gabrielle that she has remained famous in song, romance and history." (The Favourites of Henri of Navarre: 118)
Leopold Eberhard von Wurttemberg had four sisters as mistresses:
1. Sébastienne Curie
2. Polixène Curie
3. Henriette Edwige Curie
4. Élisabeth Charlotte Curie
Infanta Eulalia of Spain shared her lover, Antonio de Vasconcellos, with her son, Luis Fernando de Orleans y Borbon.
According to the books about him I’ve read his relationship with his mother Infanta Eulalia had its ups and downs. When Luis Fernando and his brother Alfonso were at a boarding school in England he wrote many letters to her mother expressing his devoted love and dreams about living with her. When he left school his relationship with his mother deteriorated and he went to live to Paris with his father Antonio d’Orléans and his lover Carmela. Eulalia hated Luis Fernando’s idea of being an actor and joining a theatre company in America. She wanted him to take charge of the estate he had inherited in Castillejo and didn’t like it when Luis announced his intention to stand for Deputy in Valencia. Despite her liberal attitude and thinking, Eulalia never accepted Luis’ homosexuality. Luis used to comment about his problems with his good friend the Countess Blanche of Clermont-Tonnerre: “My father Don Antonio detests me and doesn’t give me any money. Keep your millions, I tell him. My mother hates me, every time I have a friend she tries to take him away, she’s jealous of my success.” They shared the passion for handsome men. Luis Fernando’s inseparable companion, a Portuguese called Antonio de Vasconcellos, had also been Eulalia’s lover. At one time, when he was seriously ill, both mother and son took care of him. It seems their relationship improved over the years. In the late 20s, when Luis Fernando was determined to marry a millionaire who let him re-enter in France (he had been expelled in the mid-twenties by the French authorities and stripped from his title of ‘Infante’ by his cousin King Alfonso XIII in 1924) Eulalia took an active part. She announced, at the Hotel Plaza in Paris, the wedding of Luis and Mabelle Gilman, a former American actress who lived at a French Chateau thanks to the millions she got after her divorce from William Corey, a steel magnate. Luis and Mabelle (eight years his senior) had been good friends for a long time but the marriage never took place apparently for Mabelle’s refusal to leave her chateau for a more modest place in San Remo, Italy where Luis was living. A year later, Luis Fernando announced his marriage to a richer (an older) woman, Marie Say, Princess Amedée of Broglie who was 32 years his senior (!) Marie decided to announce the wedding to her mother-in-law, Infanta Eulalia, with a letter ending in the following sentence: “I will always be your respectful and devoted daughter” (The ‘daughter’ was seven years older than her ‘mother’). Here’s a link of some interesting stories about Luis Fernando de Orléans L'Enfant terrible."
Hedwig Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden, had the Fersen brothers as lovers. She was the wife of Karl XIII of Sweden.
"Her marriage was distant and both she and her spouse had extramarital affairs. Charles paid more attention to his lovers than to her: at the time of their marriage, he was in the middle of his relationship with Augusta von Fersen. Her intimate friendship with countess Sophie von Fersen inspired rumors of bisexuality which, true or not, were repeated throughout her time as royal Duchess, by both Francisco de Miranda in 1786 and later by Frederica of Baden. From 1783, she had a long term relationship with Count Carl Piper, whom she herself referred to as her lover in her secret correspondence to Sophie von Fersen. Among her alleged lovers was Count Axel von Fersen, alleged lover of Marie Antoinette. It is not known when her affair with Axel von Fersen occurred, it is only known that she wished to resume it when Fersen returned to Sweden after the death of Marie Antoinette and that Fersen refused to do so. It has been suggested that this was merely a temporary affair which occurred during the stay of the royal court at Gripsholm Castle in the summer of 1784. She also had a relationship with Axel von Fersen's younger brother, Count Fabian von Fersen. Her affair with Fabian von Fersen is assumed to have started in the late 1780s was discontinued with the marriage of von Fersen in 1797. It was rumored at the time that the pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage in 1792 (which was referred by Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte as her first real pregnancy) was caused by Fabian von Fersen. The rumors of her extramarital affairs were given a lot of attention during her second pregnancy in 1797, who produced a stillborn daughter. The next year (1798) she gave birth a son who lived only six days. Ultimately, she was unable to have living children."She was indifferent to the affairs of her spouse as they gave her the opportunity to live more freely herself, and she expressed her frustration when her husband's lack of lovers made him more focused toward her, which exposed her to his suspicions and accusations: ""As long as he had his mistresses, things were better, but since the last one was exiled because she allowed herself to be insolent towards the King, and he has not provided himself with a new one, his temperament has grown worse, and I have daily been subjected to outbursts because of this, which has occurred even in front of the staff. This hostility have increased so much during the winter that I have reached the end of my patience." She expressed her view upon love and sexuality and when Gustav III studied certain letters after his late mother in the company of others, as they contained information regarding the alleged love affair between his mother Queen Louisa Ulrika av Count Carl Gustaf Tessin, and the complaints from Adolf Frederick, King of Sweden over the attention Tessin gave his consort: " It is undoubtedly so, that these papers can give reason for reflection; it does lead me to consider how easily a poor woman is judged and how unfortunate it is to have a heart filled with emotion, for a tender nature is a misfortune as well as a blessing, and no human can resist the power of love, even though friendship must at times be the comfort for the wise one, yes, nothing is more true than the inscription who were once placed upon the image of God of Love: 'Eho you are, her is your true master, he has been, he is and always will be.' You have to admit, my dear friend, that woman is truly an unhappy creature: while men have their complete freedom, she is always burdened by prejudice and circumstance; you may say, that men also have that hindrance, but it is not in equal degree. I am convinced that most women would ask for nothing more than to be transformed to men to escape the unhappy bondage and enjoy their full freedom." (Wikipedia)
Louis XV of France had the Mailly sisters as his mistresses:
1) Diane-Adelaide de Mailly-Nesle, Duchesse de Lauraguais (in 1742-1745)
2) Louise-Julie de Mailly-Nesle, Comtesse de Mailly (in 1733-1729 & 1741-1742)
3) Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, Duchess de Chateauroux (in 1717-1744);
4) Pauline-Felicite de Mailly, Marquise de Vintimille (in 1739-1741).
Louis XIV of France enjoyed the Mancini sisters as his mistresses.
1. Olympe Mancini, Comtesse de Soissons (in 1654-1657; 1660-1661)
2. Marie Mancini, Princesse de Colonna (in 1658-1660)
3. Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de Mazarin (in 1661)
Louis XV of France had the Mailly sisters as his mistresses:
1) Diane-Adelaide de Mailly-Nesle, Duchesse de Lauraguais (in 1742-1745)
2) Louise-Julie de Mailly-Nesle, Comtesse de Mailly (in 1733-1729 & 1741-1742)
3) Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, Duchess de Chateauroux (in 1717-1744);
4) Pauline-Felicite de Mailly, Marquise de Vintimille (in 1739-1741).
Louis XV of France had an affair with sisters:
1. Marie-Louise O'Murphy (in 1753-1755)
2. Brigitte O'Murphy (in 1755)
1. Marie-Louise O'Murphy (in 1753-1755)
2. Brigitte O'Murphy (in 1755)
Marguerite of Valois, Queen of France.
Moritz von Sachsen (Maurice of Saxony) had an affair with two sisters:
1. Genevieve Rinteau
2. Marie Rinteau de Verrieres (1730-1775)
1. Genevieve Rinteau
2. Marie Rinteau de Verrieres (1730-1775)
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, shared his lover, Marguerite-Josephine Weimer, a French stage actress, with his brother Lucien Bonaparte.
"The beauty of Mademoiselle Georges made a deeper impression on him [i.e., Napoleon I] than the talents of Mademoiselle Duchesnois. As in the case of the latter, he wished to judge her at close quarters, but in this instance he did not keep her waiting long. She was very beautiful. and in a mistress beauty is the sole desideratum; so, at least, Napoleon thought. 'Take my word for it, Lucien,' he afterwards said to his brother, 'it is not so necessary that our wives should be good-looking; but with a mistress it is different. A plain mistress is a monstrosity; she would fail essentially in her principal, or rather, her only duty.'
"This conversation between the brothers was not very edifying, but then neither was their conduct. Mademoiselle Georges before taking the Consul's fancy had caught this rascal of a Lucien's eye. He had been anxious to make her his mistress and with that end in view had entered upon somewhat discreditable negotiations with Mademoiselle Raucourt, under whom she had studied, with the object of getting her to plead his cause with the pretty debutante. He had even given her, as an earnest of his intentions, a recherche supper and a magnificent present. It is further recorded that after the supper in question a contract was drawn up in regular form had been duly signed, whereby Mademoiselle Raucourt undertook to deliver her young pupil into the arms, into the hands we should say, of thus satyr of a Lucien, the consideration being a hundred thousand francs down and an annuity for her lifetime of ten thousand.
"Lucien therefore had ample knowledge of his subject when he told Napoleon that Mademoiselle Georges was one of the most beautiful women in Europe. 'You might,' Napoleon retorted, 'have said, I think without much risk of error, the most beautiful woman.' . . . ." (The Love Affairs of Napoleon: 126)
Russian ballerina
"At St. Petersburg ballerina Matilda Kschessinskaya had been the mistress of Nicholas II before he was married, after which she latched on to Nicholas's cousin Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and later was shared by this magnanimous lover with another, still younger Romanov, Grand Duke Andrey Vladimirovich. She had a son whose paternity was unclear, and while she had a joint household with Grand Duke Sergey in St. Petersburg, she travelled abroad with Andrey and regularly stayed at the Riviera villa that he bought for her. In her old age Matilda recalled: At the beginning of the Passion week we went to Cannes as usual and Andrey and Vova [her son] went to our beautiful church. We stated at the newly built hotel Carlton. On Easter Sunday, after the church service, I arranged the traditional reception in the large dining room of the hotel. I ordered paskhas and Easter breads in the local bakery Rumpelmeyer. The owner was a Mecklenburg German, but he baked Easter breads wonderfully because the Russian colony in the south of France was numerous and wealthy. When we returned to the hotel from the church, the tables were set.'
Kshessinskaya's guests at this feast were other kept women and bachelors or married men who came without their wives. Much as she tried to widen her social circle, she was not accepted, and her grand dukes went into society alone." (The Summer Capitals of Europe, 1814-1919: 79)
Had a relationship with three Romanov cousins.
1) Nikolai II of Russia (in 1891-1894)
2) Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia (in 1894-1918)
2) Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia (in 1894-1918)
3)Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia (in 1900)
"At St. Petersburg ballerina Matilda Kschessinskaya had been the mistress of Nicholas II before he was married, after which she latched on to Nicholas's cousin Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, and later was shared by this magnanimous lover with another, still younger Romanov, Grand Duke Andrey Vladimirovich. She had a son whose paternity was unclear, and while she had a joint household with Grand Duke Sergey in St. Petersburg, she travelled abroad with Andrey and regularly stayed at the Riviera villa that he bought for her. In her old age Matilda recalled: At the beginning of the Passion week we went to Cannes as usual and Andrey and Vova [her son] went to our beautiful church. We stated at the newly built hotel Carlton. On Easter Sunday, after the church service, I arranged the traditional reception in the large dining room of the hotel. I ordered paskhas and Easter breads in the local bakery Rumpelmeyer. The owner was a Mecklenburg German, but he baked Easter breads wonderfully because the Russian colony in the south of France was numerous and wealthy. When we returned to the hotel from the church, the tables were set.'
Kshessinskaya's guests at this feast were other kept women and bachelors or married men who came without their wives. Much as she tried to widen her social circle, she was not accepted, and her grand dukes went into society alone." (The Summer Capitals of Europe, 1814-1919: 79)
ARISTOCRATS.
George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll.
Had an affair with sisters:
1) Amy Wilson.
2) Harriett Wilson.
Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu. was the lover of mother-and-daughter: Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex.
Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu. was the lover of mother-and-daughter: Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland and Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex.
" . . . In 1676, again ambassador in France, he had simultaneous affairs with the Duchess of Cleveland and her cloistered daughter, the Countess of Sussex. Denounced to King Charles II by the outraged mother (who claimed that Montagu had disparaged the king), Montagu was dismissed from his posts in 1678, when he returned to England without leave in order to defend himself. . . ." (Britannica)
"Perhaps even these measures weren’t enough to subdue the wilful Anne. The next reference to her comes two years later when in 1678 we find her in a French convent, living within reach of her mother Barbara who had retired to Paris, and also Ralph Montagu, Ambassador to France. Courtier, diplomat and all round wheeler dealer Ralph Montague was more than twenty years older than seventeen year old Anne and had also been Barbara’s lover, when he seduced and abducted the young Lady Sussex." (Good Gentlewoman)
Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de Mazarin had a relationship, in 1676, with father-and-daughter, Charles II of England, and Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex.
"Her illegitimacy notwithstanding, Lady Anne was very eligible, and at thirteen, she was married to the twenty-year-old Thomas Lennard, 15th Baron Dacre and Gentleman of the Bedchamber, who was created Earl of Sussex on the marriage. Lennard was an extravagant spender and gambler, and their marriage was an unhappy one. After two years, when Anne was fifteen, she began a lesbian liaison with Hortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin, who had fled her own abusive husband, Armand Charles de la Porte. This liaison was not only shocking to the royal court, but very inconvenient in that King Charles was also conducting an affair with ‘the Mancini’ at the time." (History & Women)
"Not only did Hortense bed the King, but rumour had it, his daughter Anne as well. Unhappily married for two years and still only fifteen years old, Anne fell for the older woman’s charm and sense of fun. They took fencing lessons together and once took part in a public match in St James’s Park wearing only their nightgowns." (Good Gentlewoman)
Blanche Carrega, Baroness Keudelstein, shared her lover, Armand Guerry de Maubreuil, Marquis d'Orvault (1784-1866), with her sister, Jenny Carraga.
"With respect to Bianca the case was different. She smiled on Maubreuil after his return from the wars; she found him interesting, and allowed him to understand so. He was aware that she was admired by both Jerome and the Prince of Wurttemberg, but she gave him reason to believe that she cared far less for them than she did for him; and he doubtless felt somewhat vain at having supplanted those two royalties in the affections of so beautiful a creature. But, after a time, he discovered that if he were preferred to the King and the Prince, there was another who was preferred even to himself, that being the young Creole, Lasserre." (The Wild Marquis: 43)
". . . (T)he Baroness was singularly deficient in gratitude for her husband's advance and the affection shown to herself. True to her original character in Genoa, she did not remain faithful even to the King. In the course of her straying, she formed an acquaintance with an officer in the Westphalia Light Cavalry, the Marquis Armand Gerri de Maubreuil, certainly the greatest ruffian in the country, though so far his public career had been honourable. Maubreuil was twenty-seven years old when he entered Jerome's service. He had done well in the recent war, and the King made him one of his equerries, and put him in his cavalry. His relations with the intriguing Baroness abruptly ended his first term at Cassel. (The Burlesque Napoleon: 270)
1. Amy Wilson
2. Harriette Wilson, as his mistresses.
"Argyll is well-known for his affairs with the two of the Wilson sisters, renowned members of the demimonde. Harriette (1786-1845) commented that Argyll was considered very handsome but unable to remain faithful to anyone for long. Harriette's own sister, Amy, became pregnant by him while was still together with Harriette. She threw a fit and they parted. . . ." (Rogue Tales of Romance, Adventure and the Paranormal)
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Grigory Potemkin
Grigory Potemkin, Prince of Taurida had the Engelhardt sisters, as his mistresses:
1. Nadezhda von Engelhardt (in 1759-1832)
2. Varvara von Engelhardt (in 1777-1779)
3. Aleksandra von Engelhardt (in 1779)
4. Yekaterina von Engelhardt (in 1779).
"Elena Aleksandrovna, the sister of Grigory Potemkin, was married to Vasily Andreyevich Engelhardt. Their six daughters, being nieces of Potemkin, were imperial favorites and featured prominently in the court of Catherine II and the subsequent reign. Potemkin doted on his nieces (and, it is generally assumed in the case of Barbara, Alexandra, and Catherine, had sexual relations) and bequeathed to them some of his great wealth." (Wikipedia)
Legend of the 5 Nieces - - a harem of his own family.
"Nothing so shocked his contemporaries as the legend of the five nieces. All the diplomats wrote about it to their captivated monarchs with ill-concealed relist: 'You will get an idea of Russian morality', Corberon told Versailles under its prince new King Louis XVI, 'in the manner in which Prince Potemkin protects his nieces.' In order to underline the horror of this immoral destiny, he added with a shiver, 'There is one who is only twelve years old and who will no doubt suffer the same fate.' Simon Vorontsov was also disgusted: 'We saw Prince Potemkin make in the imperial palace of which he occupied a part.' What 'scandalous impudence!' The scandal of the nieces was accepted by contemporaries as true -- but did he really seduce all five, even the youngest?" (Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner: 185)
"The day before the peace celebrations, Count Potemkin received a sad note from his brother-in-law Vasily Engelhardt telling him of the death of his sister Elena Marfa. They had six daughters (the eldest was already married) and a son in the army. The five younger daughters were aged between twenty-one and eight. 'I ask you to take care of them and to take the place of Marfa Alexandrovna. . .', Engelhardt wrote to Potemkin on 5 July. 'By your order, I'll send them to your mother.' There was no reason why their father could bring them up in Smolensk, but Engelhardt, a man of the world, realized his daughters would benefit from the life at Court. Potemkin summoned them to Moscow." (Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner: 149)
". . . The other source of his (husband Skavronski) celebrity was the beauty of his wife, Potemkin's niece and sometime lover Catherine Engelhardt. . . Potemkin called Catherine Engelhardt one of the prettiest women in the empire. Comte Roger de Damas declares in his memoirs that Potemkin carried his affection for all his Engelhardt nieces to excess, but Catherine was his favourite. Although she continued to be her uncle's occasional mistress until he died (uncle-niece incest was not uncommon in Russia), she is said to have only 'tolerated' his embraces. But then she tolerated most things: husband, court, finery, all the trappings of her elevated position. . . Potemkin called her his 'angel incarnate', and the Prince de Nassau-Siegen confirmed the justice of the name. The comte de Segur thought that Catherine could fittingly serve as a model for Love itself, and many men duly adored her." (Gooden)
2. Charles de Lorraine, Comte de Marsan
Jane Digby, later Pamela Harriman had dalliances, while a married woman, with father King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his son King Otto of Greece.
1. Louis XV of France in 1750- 1751, and his son
COMMONERS.
Marie-Geneviève Radix de Saint-Foix had an affair with:1. Louis XV of France in 1750- 1751, and his son
2. the Dauphin
THREESOMES OR MENAGE-A-TROIS.
"Liliane, however, came from a very well known Austrian family, the Fould-Springers. Her mother and father’s marriage that was, in its way, even more complex than her own. Several years into the marriage, after the birth of Liliane and her brother and sister, Baron Fould-Springer one day brought home a very handsome man much younger than himself, with whom he was very infatuated. The younger man became a member of the family as it were and was also befriended by the Baroness Fould-Springer with whom he got on famously. The troika went everywhere together and traveled the world. Evidently it was acceptable and agreeable enough to be accepted by all three individuals because after the Baron Fould-Springer died, his widow, Liliane de Rothschild’s mother, married the younger man. They lived together for the rest of her life. This too was a story known to all in their circle, although never written about until it was told by a son-in-law, the Englishman Allan Pryce-Jones, in a book about his life." (NY Social Diary)
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