(1644-1670)
Duchesse d'Orleans
Her lovers were:
"Meanwhile, at home, there was already more than one pretender to the place which was supposed to hold in Madame's heart. The Duc de la Rochefoucauld's eldest son ,the Prince de Marsillac, had long been desperately in love with her, and although he received little or no encouragement, the extravagance of his behaviors excited Monsieur's jealousy, to such a pitch, that his father was forced to send him away. Then M. d'Armagnac, a member of the ducal house of Lorraine, and Grand Ecuyer de France, annoyed her with his attentions, and would not see how disagreeable they were, until the Archbishop of Sens interfered at Madame's request. But the most persevering, and by far the most dangerous of her adorers, was the Marquis de Vardes, one of the ablest and most unscrupulous men at Court. As first gentleman of the bed-chamber, he had won the King's ear, and his ready wit and polished manners made him acceptable in the brilliant coterie to which Madame de Sevigne belonged. 'Toujours De Vardes! He is the gospel according to the day!'. This thorough villain , whose intrigues with both the Comtesse de Soissons and Madame d'Armagnac, the Grand Ecuyer's wife, had been well-known, now determined to make Madame his mistress, and laid his designs with the utmost skill. He began by blackening his absent friend, the Count of Guiche, in her eyes. Next, he tool care to excite Monsieur's jealousy by drawing attention to Marsillac's follies, and having thus cleared the ground of these two rivals, he tried by every art in his power, to ingratiate himself into Madame's favour. Henrietta became his dupe, only too easily. She lent a willing ear to his artful insinuations, honoured him with her confidence, and even showed him her brother Charles II's letters. Whiled the Court talked openly of De Vardes' successful intrigue, Madame herself looked upon him as the lover of the Comtesse de Soissons, and had hot the least suspicion of the man's infamous designs. But one day, when news of the Comte de Guiche's heroic exploits in Poland reached the Court, Madame, touched at the thought of the dancers to which her old lover was exposed, said in De Vardes' hearing, "I believe I care more for the Comte de Guiche than I knew before.' From that day, De Vardes saw that his plans had failed, and in his anger and hatred vowed to ruin both Madame and her absent friend. Above all, he resolved to destroy the King's confidence in his sister-in-law, and during the next few months, he took every opportunity of poisoning his masters's mind against this innocent Princess. He told Louis that she carried on a treacherous correspondence with her brother, and spoke of her as a very dangerous and intriguing person, while on the other hand, he inspired Madame with distrust of the King, and did his best to make mischief between them. Traces of these suspicious appear in Madame's letters to her brother, during this year, and we see how much her daily life was embittered by these miserable intrigues. But she knew that in him she had at hand one friend, to whom she could always turn, whose sympathy was always ready and whose powerful hel[ was at her service, in her worst troubles."(Madame: A Life of Henrietta, Daughter of Charles I and Duchess of Orleans: 143)
Count of Guiche
Lover in 1661.
Affair urged by her husband.
"Monsieur was himself the cause of Madame's intrigue with the Comte de Guiche. He was one of the favourites of the late Monsieur, and was said to have been handsome once. Monsieur earnestly requested Madame to shew (sic) some favour to the Comte de Guiche, and to permit him to wait upon her at all times. The Count, who was brutal to every one else, but full of vanity, took great pains to be agreeable to Madame, and to make her love him. In fact, he succeeded, being seconded by his aunt, Madame de Chaumont, who was the gouvernante of Madame's children."
The the most favoured of Henrietta's reputed lovers.
" . . . Among the most favoured of Henrietta's reputed lovers stands the Count de Guiche. The feeling on both sides is described as having been ardent and sincere. It should be mentioned, however, that Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, expresses, in her Memoirs, her conviction of Henrietta's innocence.(Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts: 55)
Seduced a lover to embarrass her husband.
"In the aftermath of the scandal with Louis, Henriette decided to take another lover, one that debased her husband even more than the first one did, if possible: the Comte de Guiche. The Comte de Guiche was notoriously one of Philippe’s first public homosexual affairs, so Henriette’s seduction of him was the ultimate betrayal on both of their parts. In the same pamphlet by Rabutin-Bussy, a letter supposedly from the comte de Guiche to Henriette was published, saying, “It is you, Madame, that I love, and the description that I gave you yesterday is of yourself, which you could not know. If you think this confession too bold, you must blame your own curiosity (1660, p. 36-37).” (Brother of the King: A Privilege and a Prison)
2. Count of Treville.
2. Count of Treville.
"Another of Henrietta's reputed lovers was the Count de Treville. When on her death-bed, it is said she repeated in her delirium, Adieu, Treville! The count was so much affected by this slight incident, or more probably by the death of his mistress, that he shut himself up for many years in a monastery. When he returned to the world, he was an altered and devout man." (Waldie's Select Circulating Library, Vol 15: 12)
Lover in 1661.
" . . . Henrietta's flirting with the King started early in the summer of 1661 while the newly-weds were staying at the Palace of Fontainebleau for the summer. Philippe complained to his mother about the intimacy that Lpuis and Henrietta displayed, which led Anne to reprimand both son and daughter-in-law. This brought a certain tension into the relationship of the brothers. Minette also started a friendship with the Comte de Guise in the same year, who was still her husband's official boyfriend, and soon should become her own lover." (Party Like 1660)
"Madame,' as she was now called, became the idol of a court that loved with and beauty, and was not particular on the score of morality. All the men adored her; and the king, to the scandal of his mother (Anne of Austria), was chief among the worshipers. Her memoirs have been briefly and rapidly written by her intimate friend, Madame de La Fayette. The latter was an authoress of repute, and the 'ami de coeur,' to use a soft term, of the famous La Rochefoucauld. This lady wrote the memoirs of the princess from materials furnished by her royal highness, and thys she portrays the delicate position of Louis Le Grand and Henriette d'Angreterre: 'Madame entered into close intimacy with the Countess of Soissons, and no longer thought of pleasing the king, but as a sister-in-law. I think, however, that she pleased him after another fashion; but I imagine that she fancied that the king himself was agreeable to her merely as a brother-in-law, when he was probably something more; but, however, as they were both infinitely amiable, and both born with dispositions inclined to gallantry, and that they met daily for purposes on amusement and festivity, it was clear to everybody that they felt for one another that sentiment which is generally the forerunner of passionate love.'" (The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Vol 30: 82)
". . . (T)he English Princess Henrietta . . . had recently married Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, the King's young brother. Henrietta, sister of the English King Charles II, shared her rakish brother's taste for amours. After Henrietta's arrival at Louis's court in 1661, it was only a matter of time before she went to work on the young French monarch. Rumours quickly spread that an affair, and with it a full-blown scandal, was on its way. At that juncture, Louis's mother, Anne of Austria, stepped in and inserted Louise into the picture. Louise's task was to divert suspicion by making out that the young king was smitten by her rather than his sister-in-law. But an unexpected factor was involved: the innocent Louise was already in love with the king, who soon forgot about Henrietta and instead, fell for her maid of honour. the haughty Henrietta was so enraged that she at once took up with the Comte de Guiche, her husband's favourite." (Dark History of the Kings and Queens of Europe)
"The appearance of the youthful Princess was hailed with rapture in the brilliant circles of Paris. At the French Court there were none who could compete with her either in wit or loveliness; and the young King, Louis the Fourteenth, was the first to confess the power of her charms. 'The Court of France,' says Reresby, 'was very splendid this winter, 1660; a grand Masque was danced at the Louvre, where the King and Princess Henrietta of England danced to admiration. But there was now a greater resort to the palace than the French Court; the good-humour and wit of our Queen-mother, and the beauty of the Princess her daughter, being more inviting than anything that appeared in the French Queen.' According to Burnet, the only object of Louis in addressing the Princess as a lover, was to cover his intercourse with the celebrated Madame La Valliere. Henrietta, he adds, having encouraged the King's advances, was highly incensed when she discovered the deception." (Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts: 55)
"The appearance of the youthful Princess was hailed with rapture in the brilliant circles of Paris. At the French Court there were none who could compete with her either in wit or loveliness; and the young King, Louis the Fourteenth, was the first to confess the power of her charms. 'The Court of France,' says Reresby, 'was very splendid this winter, 1660; a grand Masque was danced at the Louvre, where the King and Princess Henrietta of England danced to admiration. But there was now a greater resort to the palace than the French Court; the good-humour and wit of our Queen-mother, and the beauty of the Princess her daughter, being more inviting than anything that appeared in the French Queen.' According to Burnet, the only object of Louis in addressing the Princess as a lover, was to cover his intercourse with the celebrated Madame La Valliere. Henrietta, he adds, having encouraged the King's advances, was highly incensed when she discovered the deception." (Memoirs of the Court of England During the Reign of the Stuarts: 55)
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| Marie-Louise-Elisabeth d'Orleans @Wikipedia |
Duchesse de Berry
(1695-1719)
Daughter of: Philippe II d'Orleans & Francoise-Marie de Bourbon.
Wife of: Charles de France, Duc de Berry. (1686-1714)
Also known as:
Louise-Elisabeth d'Orleans
Marie Louise of Orleans
Mademoiselle d'Orléans
Madame de Berry
Joufflotte
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . At fifteen the princess was already a woman tall, hand- some, well-formed, with brilliant eyes and the full lips eloquent of a sensuous nature. Already she had had her initiation into the vices that proved her undoing; for in a Court noted for its free-living, she was known for her love of the table and the wine bottle." (Hall, p. 57)
A string of gallants (lovers).
"Both La Muette and the Luxembourg were soon to witness strange things. We have mentioned that La Haye, the gallant with whom the duchess had proposed to fly to the Netherlands, had been succeeded in her affections by La Rochefoucauld-Roye, the captain of her guards. That personage, however, was not permitted to enjoy his bonne fortune very long, and at the end of a few months found himself replaced, in his turn, by the Marquis de Bonnivet, a species of chevalier d'industrie, upon whom the princess conferred the post of master of her wardrobe. But M. de Bonnivet's favour was even briefer than that of his predecessor; and, in the course of the summer of 1716, her Royal Highness transferred her heart to the keeping of a young man who was to remain in possession of it for the rest of her life, and for whose sake she showed herself ready to brave all scandal, and to expose herself to the public view with a shamelessness which had no parallel in the case of a woman of such exalted position." (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 116-117)
Her lovers were:
1) Abraham-Alexis Quinault (1693-1767)
2) Armand d'Aydic, Comte de Riom. (1692-1741)
Lover in 1716.
A string of gallants (lovers).
"Both La Muette and the Luxembourg were soon to witness strange things. We have mentioned that La Haye, the gallant with whom the duchess had proposed to fly to the Netherlands, had been succeeded in her affections by La Rochefoucauld-Roye, the captain of her guards. That personage, however, was not permitted to enjoy his bonne fortune very long, and at the end of a few months found himself replaced, in his turn, by the Marquis de Bonnivet, a species of chevalier d'industrie, upon whom the princess conferred the post of master of her wardrobe. But M. de Bonnivet's favour was even briefer than that of his predecessor; and, in the course of the summer of 1716, her Royal Highness transferred her heart to the keeping of a young man who was to remain in possession of it for the rest of her life, and for whose sake she showed herself ready to brave all scandal, and to expose herself to the public view with a shamelessness which had no parallel in the case of a woman of such exalted position." (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 116-117)
Her lovers were:
1) Abraham-Alexis Quinault (1693-1767)
2) Armand d'Aydic, Comte de Riom. (1692-1741)
Lover in 1716.
Lieutenant in the bodyguards of the Duchesse de Berry.
Also known as:
Sicaire Antonin Armand-Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, Chevalier de Riom.
Physical traits & personal qualities.
Physical traits & personal qualities.
"Sicaire Antonin Armand Auguste Nicolas d'Aydie, Chevalier de Rion---to give this fortunate young man his full name---hailed from Gascony, a province whose name has been for centuries a synonym for courage, assurance, pertinacity, and other qualities necessary for the successful adventurer. He was of good birth, a son of the Come de Benanges and of Diane de Beautru de Nogent, a niece of the distaff side of the aged Duc de Lauzun. But he was poor as the proverbial rat, and, after serving for while as a subaltern in a cavalry regiment stationed in a provincial town, he came, early in 1715, to Paris, in the hope of bettering his fortunes, at the suggestion, it would appear, of Madame de Pons, who had lately succeeded Madame de la Vieuville as dame d'atours to the Duchess de Berry, and to whom he was distantly related. Rion was at this time about twenty-two years of age, 'a short, stout lad,' says Saint-Simon, 'with a round, pale face, so thickly covered with pimples it bore no bad resemblance to an abscess.' The portraits which Madame draws of him is still less flattering: 'I cannot conceive,' she writes, 'how any one can love this rogue: he has neither face nor figure; he has the appearance of a water-sprite, for he has a green and yellow countenance; his mouth, his nose and his eyes are like those of a Chinaman; one would take him for a baboon rather than for a Gascon, as he is. He is foppish and not in the least intelligent; he has a big head shut in between broad shoulders; and one sees by his eyes that his sight is not very good. In short he is a very ugly rogue; but he said to be excessively amorous, and that charms all the debauched women. The Polignac shut herself up with him for two days.'" (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 117)
A boon to him; a bane to her: "After many transitory amours, she at length fell desperately in love with Rion, an officer of her guards, destitute of personal advantages, but possessed of winning manners. He was the nephew of the Duke de Lauzun, and he treated her much as his uncle had treated the former Mademoiselle d'Orleans. Rion profited by the extravagant passion of the duchess: he received from her rich dresses, splendid lace, jewels, rings, and plumes. In return, he treated her with the most insolent caprice, taking pleasure in exciting her jealousy, and sometimes pretending to be jealous of her. He often made her weep, and then mocked at her tears. By degrees he established such an ascendancy over her that she ventured to do nothing without his permission---not even the most indifferent matters. Sometimes, when she was anxious to leave the opera, he made her wait, and sometimes he hurried her away in spite of herself. He compelled to receive ladies whom she disliked, or of whom she was jealous, and to refuse ladies who displeased him, or of whom he affected a jealousy." (Memoirs of the House of Orleans, Vol. 1: 257)
A boon to him; a bane to her: "After many transitory amours, she at length fell desperately in love with Rion, an officer of her guards, destitute of personal advantages, but possessed of winning manners. He was the nephew of the Duke de Lauzun, and he treated her much as his uncle had treated the former Mademoiselle d'Orleans. Rion profited by the extravagant passion of the duchess: he received from her rich dresses, splendid lace, jewels, rings, and plumes. In return, he treated her with the most insolent caprice, taking pleasure in exciting her jealousy, and sometimes pretending to be jealous of her. He often made her weep, and then mocked at her tears. By degrees he established such an ascendancy over her that she ventured to do nothing without his permission---not even the most indifferent matters. Sometimes, when she was anxious to leave the opera, he made her wait, and sometimes he hurried her away in spite of herself. He compelled to receive ladies whom she disliked, or of whom she was jealous, and to refuse ladies who displeased him, or of whom he affected a jealousy." (Memoirs of the House of Orleans, Vol. 1: 257)
" . . . The last serious passion of the Duchess of Berry was excited by the Count of Riom. Riom, in concert with a Madame de Mouchy, a lady of the household to whom he was attached, governed the Princess completely; he dictated her most trifling actions, and even prescribed her dress. . . ." (Russell: 531)_-_Portret_van_maarschalk_hertog_Richelieu_-_Lissabon_Museu_Calouste_Gulbenkian_21-10-2010_13-34-54.jpg/572px-Jean-Marc_Nattier_(1685-1766)_-_Portret_van_maarschalk_hertog_Richelieu_-_Lissabon_Museu_Calouste_Gulbenkian_21-10-2010_13-34-54.jpg)
3) Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, 3rd Duc de Richelieu (1696-1788)
Lover in 1719.
4) Barthelemy de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye (1673-1724)
_-_Portret_van_maarschalk_hertog_Richelieu_-_Lissabon_Museu_Calouste_Gulbenkian_21-10-2010_13-34-54.jpg/572px-Jean-Marc_Nattier_(1685-1766)_-_Portret_van_maarschalk_hertog_Richelieu_-_Lissabon_Museu_Calouste_Gulbenkian_21-10-2010_13-34-54.jpg)
Lover in 1719.
4) Barthelemy de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye (1673-1724)
Also known as:
Chevalier de Roye
Louis de La Rochefoucauld.
Son of: Frederic-Charles de La Rochefoucauld, Comte de Roucy et de Roye & Elisabeth de Durfort.
Husband of: Marguerite-Pauline de Prondre.
"Barthelemy de la Rochefoucauld, known later under the title of the Marquis de la Rochefoucauld. He married Mlle. Pondre, daughter of a wealthy revenue-farmer, and died in 1724." (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 107)
5) Francois de Salvert.
Official of the Grande Ecurie.
Also known as Monsieur de Salvert.
6) Louis-Beraud de La Haye de Riou.
1st Equerry to the Duc de Berry
Son of: Frederic-Charles de La Rochefoucauld, Comte de Roucy et de Roye & Elisabeth de Durfort.
Husband of: Marguerite-Pauline de Prondre.
"Barthelemy de la Rochefoucauld, known later under the title of the Marquis de la Rochefoucauld. He married Mlle. Pondre, daughter of a wealthy revenue-farmer, and died in 1724." (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 107)
5) Francois de Salvert.
Official of the Grande Ecurie.
Also known as Monsieur de Salvert.
6) Louis-Beraud de La Haye de Riou.
1st Equerry to the Duc de Berry
1st Chamberlain to the Duc de Berry.
Also known as Monsieur La Haye.
" . . . Early in her career she formed an attachment to La Haye, an inferior officer in the household of her husband. . . ." (Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht, Vol 1: 531)
Also known as Monsieur La Haye.
" . . . Early in her career she formed an attachment to La Haye, an inferior officer in the household of her husband. . . ." (Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht, Vol 1: 531)
"Thus delivered from all possibility of surveillance on the part of her husband, the Duchesse de Berry proceeded to indulge to the full that propensity for flirtation which Madame had already remarked in her. From flirtation she soon passed to a more serious kind of gallantry, and, after an intrigue with a M. de Salvert, an official of the Grande Ecurie, she fixed her affections on La Haye, first equerry to the duke, whom Saint-Simon describes as 'tall, well-made, and a good horseman,' but with 'a sunburned face, which, besides, had never been handsome, a foppish and foolish manner, and little intelligence.' Of this personage, for whom she purchased the office of first chamberlain to her husband, which entitled him to a place in the duke's carriage, and at his table, the princess became most desperately enamoured; and 'the oglings in the salon at Marly where perceived by every one who happened to be there, since nothing restrained them.' Finally, so violent became her passion that she actually conceived the project of making him carry her off to the Netherlands." (Unruly Daughters: A Romance of the House of Orleans: 94)
"At length she chose to fall in love with La Haye, her husband's chamberlain, conducting herself so imprudently that the whole Court was scandalised. Repeated quarrels took place between her and her husband. On one occasion, the duke having surprised her in some improper familiarities, struck and kicked her, threatened to reveal her conduct to the King, and to have her shut in a convent for the rest of her life. Upon this the impetuous duchess besought La Haye to elope with her and escape to Flanders. The terrified chamberlain had great difficulty in resisting her importunities; and she would probably have adopted some desperate course but for her husband's sudden death and premature death." (Memoirs of the House of Orleans, Vol. 1: 255)
7) Louis Gouffier.
Master of the wardrobe of the Duchesse de Berry.
8) Philippe II d'Orleans, Regent of France (1674-1723)
Lover in 1717.
References.
A Princess of the Old World
Memoirs of the House of Orleans: Including Sketches and Anecdotes of the Most Distinguished Characters in France During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3. (Google Books)
Memoirs of the House of Orleans: Including Sketches and Anecdotes of the Most Distinguished Characters in France During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Vol 1. (Archive)
"At length she chose to fall in love with La Haye, her husband's chamberlain, conducting herself so imprudently that the whole Court was scandalised. Repeated quarrels took place between her and her husband. On one occasion, the duke having surprised her in some improper familiarities, struck and kicked her, threatened to reveal her conduct to the King, and to have her shut in a convent for the rest of her life. Upon this the impetuous duchess besought La Haye to elope with her and escape to Flanders. The terrified chamberlain had great difficulty in resisting her importunities; and she would probably have adopted some desperate course but for her husband's sudden death and premature death." (Memoirs of the House of Orleans, Vol. 1: 255)
7) Louis Gouffier.
Master of the wardrobe of the Duchesse de Berry.
8) Philippe II d'Orleans, Regent of France (1674-1723)
Lover in 1717.
References.
A Princess of the Old World
Memoirs of the House of Orleans: Including Sketches and Anecdotes of the Most Distinguished Characters in France During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3. (Google Books)
Memoirs of the House of Orleans: Including Sketches and Anecdotes of the Most Distinguished Characters in France During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Vol 1. (Archive)
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