Mauritanian from More - black daughter of Louis XIV? Elvira Vatala great mistresses Princess Henrietta of England.

Henrietta Anna Stewart(eng. Henrietta Anna Stuart; June 16, 1644 (16440616), Exeter - June 30, 1670) - Duchess of Orleans, the youngest daughter of Charles I Stuart and Henrietta Maria of France.

Biography

Henrietta was born in Exeter, England on June 16, 1644, at the height of the Civil War. Her mother, who was prevented from leaving England by birth, cares little for her and soon leaves for France, leaving the child under the care of Lady Dalkeith, Countess of Morton. The princess grew up in the Catholic monastery of Chaillot. Henrietta was very friendly with her older brother Karl and aunt Anna of Austria.

On March 30, 1661, she marries her cousin Philippe d'Orléans, the younger brother of Louis XIV. Three of their children survived, one of them died in early childhood:

Maria Louise of Orleans (March 27, 1662 - February 12, 1689), married to King Charles II of Spain. She had no children.

Anna Maria of Orleans (August 27, 1669 - August 26, 1728), who married Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, on April 10, 1684, and became Queen of Sardinia. She and her offspring were removed from the succession to the throne of England and Scotland in 1701 due to their belonging to the Catholic religion. Her descendants turned out to be elders in the Stuart household after the suppression of his male line in 1807 (death of the last Jacobite challenger, Heinrich Stewart).

The life together of Henrietta and Philip was far from happy. Her husband, whose penchant for men was not a secret, openly maintained homosexual relations with the Chevalier de Lorraine and was jealous of her influence at court.

Henrietta was friends with her husband's brother Louis XIV. It was even said at court that they were lovers. To refute the rumors, Henrietta introduced the king to Louise-Françoise de Lavalier, who became his mistress. As the beloved of the king of France, she fulfilled her dream, which she was deprived of in her marriage to Philip of Orleans: she was admitted to the French court. Taking advantage of the privileged position, Henrietta hatched a plan to get rid of the Chevalier de Lorraine, who was interfering with her advisor and her husband's lover, who had a great influence on him. With the support of King Louis XIV, the Duchess of Orleans finally achieved the expulsion of the Chevalier to Italy. From that moment on, Henrietta Anna was involved in countless intrigues that did not harm her thanks to the support of the king. The number of her enemies, however, increased more and more, and other influential persons of the French court were soon added to the harboring anger of Chevalier de Lorraine.

In 1670, she facilitated the signing of the secret Treaty of Dover, which cements the convergence of interests between her brother Charles II and brother-in-law Louis XIV. Two weeks after returning from London, Henrietta began to experience severe stomach pains. She died on June 30, 1670, at the age of 26, from peritonitis. Many believed that Henrietta had been poisoned by one of her husband's favorites, although an autopsy carried out by the king's wishes did not reveal any traces of poison.

Literature

Christian Bouyer, Henriette-Anne d'Angleterre: Belle-sœur de Louis XIV, Pygmalion, 2006

Source: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Stuart

Duchess of Orleans, youngest daughter of Charles I Stuart and Henrietta Maria of France

Biography

Her mother, who was prevented from leaving England by birth, cares little for her and soon leaves for France, leaving the child under the care of Lady Dalkeith, Countess of Morton. The princess grew up in the Catholic monastery of Chaillot. Henrietta was very friendly with her older brother Karl and aunt Anna of Austria.

On March 30, 1661, she marries her cousin Philippe d'Orléans, the younger brother of Louis XIV. Three of their children survived, one of them died in early childhood:

• Maria Louise of Orleans (March 27, 1662 - February 12, 1689), married to King Charles II of Spain. She had no children.
• Philip Charles of Orleans (July 16, 1664 - December 8, 1666), Duke of Valois.
• Anna Maria of Orleans (August 27, 1669 - August 26, 1728), who married Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, on April 10, 1684, and became Queen of Sardinia. She and her offspring were removed from the succession to the throne of England and Scotland in 1701 due to their belonging to the Catholic religion. Her descendants turned out to be elders in the Stuart household after the suppression of his male line in 1807 (death of the last Jacobite challenger, Heinrich Stewart).

The life together of Henrietta and Philip was far from happy. Her husband, whose penchant for men was no secret, was jealous of her influence at court.

Henrietta was friends with her husband's brother Louis XIV. It was even said at court that they were lovers. To refute the rumors, Henrietta urgently introduced the king to Louise-Françoise de Lavalier, who became his mistress. Henrietta nevertheless still has influence at court, despite the hostility of her husband and Queen Maria Theresa.

In 1670, she facilitated the signing of the Treaty of Dover, which cements the convergence of interests between her brother Charles II and brother-in-law Louis XIV. Two weeks after returning from London, Henrietta began to experience severe stomach pains. She died on June 30, 1670, at the age of 26, from peritonitis.

It was rumored at court that Henrietta was poisoned by the Chevalier de Lorrain, her husband's favorite, who, through her fault in exile in Italy, transmitted the poison through another favorite, the Marquis Effia, who poisoned not the drink, but the princess's cup itself. However, the autopsy, carried out at the request of the king, did not find traces of poison. Peritonitis due to gastric ulcer was suspected.

Henrietta of England: daughter-in-law and sweetheart

Henrietta-Anne Stewart, the youngest daughter of Charles I, was born on June 16, 1644, in the midst of the raging civil war in England. From her very birth to the end of her days - and she lived a little to grief - this princess seemed to be pursued by an evil fate. She has had very few happy days.

By 1641, the confrontation between Charles I and parliament had gone so far that it seemed impossible to resolve the matter through peace negotiations. The absolute monarchy in England was in its last days. The parliament did not want to give the king power neither in governing the country, nor in international politics, and the conflict between Catholics and Protestants escalated. The parliamentarians went so far as to demand that the Catholic queen be expelled from the country and that her children be deprived of the right to inherit the throne.

Henrietta Maria of France married Charles I in 1625, when she was only 15 years old, and the first three years of her life in a foreign land became a real nightmare for her. In addition to the fact that she had to compete with her husband's favorite, handsome Buckingham - to compete, of course, completely unsuccessfully - she also behaved stupidly, for some reason, thinking that she was sent from above with a holy mission to return England to the bosom of the Catholic Church. Particularly strange antics of the queen, such as her refusal to participate in the coronation of her husband or the prayer she performed in Tyburn, where the Catholics were hanged, who were about to blow up parliament, the British were so negatively disposed towards her that Charles I was forced to take some measures to curb the religious fervor of his wife : in particular, he sent home, to France, most of her retinue.

However, when the Duke of Buckingham was killed in 1628, as if a veil had fallen from the eyes of Charles I, he suddenly drew attention to his wife and seemed to see her for the first time. A real feeling broke out between the spouses. They stopped fighting. They began to live in perfect harmony. And children began to appear one by one.

The first childbirth of Henrietta Maria was so difficult that she herself almost died, and the child died without living even a few hours. Nevertheless, all subsequent pregnancies ended safely, although they followed one after another, pretty much exhausting the young queen. In 1630, the future king Charles II was born, in 1631 the daughter Maria Henrietta was born, then the future Jacob II followed in 1633, Elizabeth in 1635, Anna in 1637. Catherine in 1639 and finally Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in 1640.

In 1641, fearing for her life, Henrietta Maria was forced to flee to Holland, where, laying her jewels, she bought weapons and ammunition for the king's army, after which she bravely decided to return to England, leaving by ship to the stormy sea. On the very shores of Foggy Albion, her ship was attacked by the parliamentary fleet, and Henrietta Maria was almost captured. In this case, she gave the team the order to blow up the ship, because she knew that she had only to be in the hands of the rebels, and her husband would do everything, make any concessions, just to return her freedom. Fortunately, everything worked out.

In the summer of 1643, Henrietta Maria was reunited with her husband, and at the same time their last child was conceived - a girl named after her mother Henrietta.

Charles I fought with parliament, and his headquarters was located in Oxford. But shortly before the birth of the princess, the rebel troops almost came close to the campus. Fearing for his wife's life, the king was forced to hastily send her to Exeter. Because of all this excitement and endless travel, the birth of the queen was extremely difficult. In addition, just two weeks after the birth of her daughter, Henrietta Maria was forced to flee to France - parliamentary troops almost captured Exeter - and little Henrietta remained in the care of Countess Morton.

Charles I at that time was still defeating the rebels, he managed to drive the enemy army away from Exeter and take his newborn daughter in his arms. He considered her very beautiful ... The most beautiful of all his children ...

The king performed a baptismal ceremony, after which he was forced to go to war again - he would never see his youngest daughter again.

Together with Countess Morton, little Henrietta lived in Exeter for two years, until the king's situation became completely disastrous. He lost battles, he lost supporters, and by 1646 his cause had become completely hopeless - it could already be said that Charles I suffered a crushing defeat.

Exeter was by then in the hands of Parliament, and Cromwell ordered the Countess Morton to travel with the little princess to London. But she managed to escape along the road. Disguised as a peasant and passing off Henrietta for her son, Countess Morton left England and reached Paris. Where at last the baby was in the arms of her mother.

Henrietta Maria doted on the girl, attached to her more than to all other children. Returning to her homeland, she, a zealous Catholic, was finally able to bring up her children as she saw fit, without looking back at anyone, and did everything possible to save the soul of little Henrietta by introducing her to the true faith.

She christened her daughter according to the Catholic rite, giving her the name Anna, in honor of the Queen of France Anne of Austria.

The fugitive queen was given chambers in the Louvre - the daughters of Henry IV, of course, could not refuse an orphanage. However, no one had the time or desire to take care of her well-being. France, too, worried like a stormy sea, the Fronde gained momentum, the royal family was forced to flee Paris, and the pension, once assigned to Henrietta Maria from the treasury, was no longer paid.

“For eight years, the French court could not provide effective assistance to the exiles,” writes Guy Breton. “It was so cold in their apartment in the winter that Henrietta stayed in bed all day long, and all her food consisted of a few vegetables boiled in water. To somehow live, the English queen sold her dresses, jewelry, furniture, and in the end, all her property, according to Madame de Motteville, consisted of "one small cup to be able to quench her thirst."

Who knows how the matter would have ended if one of the leaders of the Fronde, Cardinal de Gondi, had not taken care of the unfortunate ones, who ordered food and firewood to be brought to them when the situation became very desperate.

In January 1649, Henrietta Maria learned the terrible news about the execution of Charles I. The last hope that her life could change for the better disappeared. And in fact, everything only got worse, although, it would seem, there was nowhere else to go ...

Henrietta Anna was still too young to fully understand what was happening, but she had a hard time. After her husband's death, her mother, who was already not in good mental health, seemed to have completely lost her mind. Her religious zeal exceeded all possible limits. In addition, she had a lover. This was one of the English immigrants, Lord Germine, a rude, greedy and narrow-minded man, and also a fighter. “He once threw two hefty slaps in the face of the Queen of England,” writes Breton. - And she, being a worthy daughter of her father Henry IV, did not remain in debt and painfully hit him on the leg, and in front of the frightened girl's eyes, a scuffle began between lovers ... "

In 1653 Mazarin made an alliance with Cromwell, which forced the sons of the executed king to leave France - Charles II, James, Duke of York, and Henry, Duke of Gloucester. However, at that time, their relationship with their mother finally deteriorated, who could not think of anything other than their baptism into Catholicism, otherwise she threatened to curse.

Henrietta Anna could not do the same as her brothers and just leave, so all the fervor of religious zeal and parental care went to her.

In 1654 Mazarin resumed the payment of their pension. And Henrietta Maria moved to the old country mansion of Marshal Bassompier on the Chaillot hill, which she immediately turned into a monastery.

In addition to religious zeal, Henrietta Maria was obsessed with another idea, she wanted to marry her daughter to Louis XIV, and therefore, from the age of eleven, Henrietta Anne began to be taken out into the world.

The girl failed to attract the attention of the regal cousin. She was too badly dressed. She was thin and pale and completely ugly. They only made fun of her ... Louis scornfully called her "holy innocence" and "holy relics." While Henrietta herself was secretly in love with him and was very sad from the consciousness of her imperfection.

Of course, the idea of ​​this marriage was not supported by either Anna of Austria or Mazarin. Cromwell's power in England seemed unshakable, the likelihood that Charles II would ever return the crown was vanishingly small. And Henrietta Anna was considered a completely hopeless bride for one of the most influential monarchs in Europe. Everyone understood this, except for Henrietta Maria, who continued to torment her daughter with her meaningless dreams.

However, everything changed in 1660.

Cromwell died, and his son could not retain power, real chaos began in the country and parliament was forced to ask Charles II to return to England.

Her brother became king, and Henrietta's status changed instantly. She was no longer a welcome at the French court; she became an English princess.

Together with her mother, Henrietta returned to her homeland, which she did not remember at all and did not love, France was her real home, she wanted to return there. She would have preferred to return as queen, but alas - Louis XIV was already married.

How exactly the princess reacted to the proposal to become the wife of the Duke of Orleans is not known, because she knew that the king's brother was not attracted to women. It probably didn't matter to her. Henrietta wanted to return to France. Not as a poor relative. And as a sister of the English monarch. As the wife of the brother of the French king. After all the years of humiliation, she wanted triumph, she wanted to shine.

And on March 31, the wedding took place. A few days before his death, the cardinal asked the grief-stricken queen not to postpone the ceremony in any way. However, this was hardly possible. All Europe already knew about the upcoming marriage of the Duke of Orleans and Henrietta of England. And Mazarin ... Who is Mazarin? He died, and immediately everyone forgot about him. Everyone suddenly remembered that France has a king.

After the marriage, His Majesty presented his brother with the Palais Royal, the palace where their childhood passed and which was now supposed to become the city residence of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans.

The transformation into a princess somehow suddenly changed Henrietta. It was as if the fairy godmother touched her with a magic wand, instantly turning her from an ugly woman into a beauty.

“Henrietta, once formed, became a wonderful beauty. Her beauty blossomed even more magnificently when the Stuarts ascended the throne again.

Misfortune took away the sparkle of pride from her, but prosperity brought it back again. She shone all in her joy and prosperity, like those greenhouse flowers that, accidentally left for one night by the first autumn frosts, hung their heads, but the next day, warmed by the air in which they were born, they open with an unprecedented splendor.

Lady Henrietta, who combined the charm of French and English beauties, had never loved and was very cruel when she began to flirt. A smile - this is a naive evidence of the girls' favor - did not illuminate her face, and when she raised her eyes, she looked so intently at this or that gentleman that, with all their insolence and habit of pleasing the ladies, they were involuntarily embarrassed.

Alexandre Dumas "Viscount de Brangelon, or Ten Years Later»

Since she returned from England, accompanied by a luxurious retinue, at the French court they looked at her in a new way, and found that she was smart, charming and graceful.

Even Philip was fascinated by his wife for some time. True, not for long. In his own words, he "loved Madame exactly two weeks after the wedding." After which His Highness returned to his dear friend de Lorrain and his usual pastime.

Henrietta at that time did not sadden at all, she lived as if in a fabulous dream. Holidays gave way to balls, picnic walks, and everywhere she shone, treated with compliments and admiring glances from the courtiers.

And even His Majesty the King, who just at that time finally parted with Maria Mancini, suddenly began to show Henrietta unambiguous signs of attention, appointing her to the comic post of "Minister of Entertainment".

“She participated,” writes Madame de Lafayette, “in all the amusements that seemed to be arranged only to please her. As for the king, he perceived them indirectly through her and was satisfied only if she liked the holidays. In the summer, Madame loved to swim every day. Because of the heat, she rode to the reservoir in a carriage, and returned back on horseback, accompanied by smartly dressed ladies in hats decorated with feathers, young courtiers and the king. After dinner, everyone got into carriages and took night walks along the canal. "

The king was so carried away by his daughter-in-law that their romance became obvious to everyone.

Even for the queen, who was left behind by her pregnancy, to be bored in Paris.

Maria Theresa complained to the Queen Mother that His Majesty was behaving in an inappropriate manner. Anna of Austria tried to admonish her son, but he did not heed her words. Then Anna went for a little trick - she hinted to Philip that his wife "is not safe enough from a love adventure."

Philip was amazed and angry. Despite the fact that he did not love his wife and did not care at all about maintaining marital fidelity, he was terribly jealous and made Henrietta a grandiose scandal. And then, considering that this was not enough, he came to the king and reproached him for encroaching on his honor.

Louis did not want to quarrel with his brother at all, especially since he really felt guilty, but it was beyond his strength to break off relations with his wife.

Henrietta came up with an insidious plan.

Pretend, she advised the king, that you love another woman, and the rumors annoying us will stop immediately.

It was a dangerous path. The most dangerous of all ... But Henrietta was too young and inexperienced, too in love and too self-confident to guess about it.

“Having agreed among themselves,” writes Madame de Lafayette, “that the king would pretend that he had fallen in love with some lady of the court, they began to look for a suitable candidate for the implementation of the plan.”

Their choice was on the Queen's two ladies-in-waiting: Mademoiselle de Pont and Mademoiselle Shemero. But the first, not wanting to play such a miserable role, immediately left for the provinces. The second was too assertive and decided to really win the heart of the king.

And then Henrietta herself found a suitable candidate: a sweet, unpretentious provincial from her retinue, Louise de Lavaliere. A naive, modest and not at all ambitious girl. And besides, he was also a limp.

«- What about Mademoiselle de Tonne-Charente, Henrietta? - asked the king.

- I will say that her hair is too light - answered the princess, immediately pointing out the only flaw that could be reproached for the almost perfect beauty of the future Madame de Montespan.

- Yes, too blond, that's true, but still, in my opinion, a beauty.

- Oh yes, and the gentlemen are circling around her. If we hunted instead of butterflies for courtiers, look how many of them we would have caught near her.

- And what do you think, Henrietta, what would they say if the king intervened in the crowd of these courtiers and cast his gaze on the beauty? Would the prince continue to be jealous?

- O sir, Mademoiselle de Tonne-Charente is a very powerful remedy, - sighed the princess. - A jealous person, of course, would have been cured, but, perhaps, a jealous woman would have appeared!

- Henrietta, Henrietta! - exclaimed Louis. - You fill my heart with joy. Yes, yes, you are right, Mademoiselle de Tonne-Charente is too beautiful to serve as a screen.

“The king's screen,” Henrietta answered with a smile. - This screen must be beautiful.

- So are you advising me? - asked Louis.

- What can I tell you, sir? To give such advice is to give a weapon against oneself. It would be insanity or self-conceit to recommend to you to divert your eyes a woman much more beautiful than the one you seem to love.

The king looked for the princess's hand, her gaze and whispered a few gentle words in her ear, so quietly that the author, who should know everything, did not hear them.

Then he added loudly:

- Well, well, choose the one that should heal our jealous people. I will take care of her, I will devote to her all the time that I have left from work, I will give her the flowers I picked for you, I will whisper to her about the tender feelings that you will evoke in me. Just choose more carefully, otherwise, offering her a rose plucked with my hand, I will involuntarily look in your direction, my hands, my lips will reach out to you, even if the whole universe guessed my secret.

When these words, warmed by love passion, flew from the lips of the king, the princess blushed, trembled, happy, proud, intoxicated. She could find nothing in return: her pride, her thirst for worship were satisfied.

- I will choose, - she said, raising her beautiful eyes to him, - just not as you ask, because all this incense that you are going to burn on the altar of another goddess, - oh, sir, I'm jealous of her, - I want it all to come back to me, so that not a single particle of it disappears. I will choose, sir, with your royal permission, the one that will be least able to captivate you and leave my image intact in your soul.

- Fortunately - noticed the king, - your heart is not evil, otherwise I would tremble at your threat. In addition, it is difficult to find an unpleasant face among the women around us.

As the king spoke, the princess got up from the bench, looked around the lawn, and called the king to her.

- Come to me, sir, - she said, - do you see there, by the jasmine bushes, a pretty girl who lags behind the others? She walks alone, her head bowed, and looks down at her feet, as if she has lost something.

- Mademoiselle de Lavalier? the king asked.

- Don't you like her, sir?

“Look at her, poor thing. She is so thin, almost disembodied.

- Am I fat?

- But she's kind of dull.

- The complete opposite of me; I am reproached for being too cheerful.

- In addition, a limp. Look, she deliberately let everyone go ahead so as not to notice her flaw.

- So what then? But she will not run away from Apollo, like the swift-footed Daphne.

- Henrietta, Henrietta! - exclaimed the king in annoyance. - You have deliberately chosen the ugliest of your ladies-in-waiting.

- Yes, but still this is my lady-in-waiting - notice this.

- So what is it?

- To see your new deity, you will have to come to me willy-nilly; modesty will not allow you to look for dates in private, and you will only see her in my home circle and talk not only with her, but also with me. In a word, all jealous people will see that you are not coming to me for my sake, but for the sake of Mademoiselle de Lavaliere.

- Chromopods.

- She only limps a little.

- She never opens her mouth.

- But when he opens it, it shows the most charming teeth.

- Henrietta!..

- After all, you yourself have given me a choice.

- Alas, yes!

- Obey him without objection.

- Oh, I would obey even the furies if you chose her!

- Lavaliere is gentle as a lamb. Do not be afraid, she will not resist when you tell her that you love her.

And the princess burst out laughing.

- You will leave me the friendship of a brother, the constancy of a brother, and the favor of the king, won't you?

- I will give you a heart that beats only for you.

- And you believe that our future is assured?

- Hope.

- Will your mother stop looking at me as an enemy?

- And Maria Theresa will no longer speak Spanish in the presence of my husband, who does not like to hear foreign speech, because he still thinks that he is being scolded?

- Maybe he's right - said the king.

- Finally, will the king still be accused of criminal feelings if we have only pure sympathy for each other, without any ulterior motives?

- Yes Yes, - muttered the king - True, they will say something else.

- What else, sir? Will we never be left alone?

“They will say,” the king continued, “that I have very bad taste. Well, what does my pride mean before your peace of mind?

- My honor, sir, you want to say, the honor of our family. And besides, believe me, it is in vain that you set yourself up against Lavalier in advance; she limps, but she really is not devoid of some intelligence. However, what the king touches turns into gold. "

Alexandre Dumas "The Viscount de Brangelon, or Ten Years Later"

… Who knew that Louis' heart would respond so warmly not to bright beauty and not to hot temperament, but to tenderness, dedication and purity ...

The "sun king" had four great loves: Maria Mancini, Louise de Lavaliere, Athenais de Montespan and Françoise de Maintenon. Each of them was in something special.

But the most famous favorite of Louis XIV was still Louise de Lavaliere - it is about her that most books have been written, including such famous authors as Madame de Jeanlis and Alexander Dumas, father, and in the nineteenth century one of the factories even produced a dinner service " Louise de Lavaliere "with scenes from her life depicted at the bottom of the plates.

Why exactly she?

One of the ladies of Louis XIV, Madame de Quelus, famous for her insight, wrote in her memoirs that Louise de Lavaliere was the only one of the favorites of the "sun king" who really loved Louis, and not "His Majesty."

And Louis could not help but appreciate this.

HENRIETTA D'ANTRAG WANTS TO RISE ALL EUROPE AGAINST THE KING When love is excessive, she believes that everything is allowed for her. Campistron The first contact of the newlyweds was not particularly successful. The king found the queen flabby, insipid, too fat, stupid and inexperienced,

CHAPTER 14 THE ENGLISH SUMATOHA De Cousi arrived in England in April 1376, when the British dissatisfaction reached a boiling point and the Good Parliament impeached several ministers. During this historical period, the monarchy found that the people had run out of trust in