The daughters of Philippe, Regent of France

Mlle de Beaujolais

Louise-Diane, Mlle de Chartres, was not much liked by Madame who said "She is not ugly, but she is peevish and nasty, as soon as one looks at her she begins to cry."  Other than this somewhat negative opinion, Louise-Diane occasioned no other observation until 1731 when she was married to the Prince de Conti.  The Duchesse d'Orleans still had hopes of a Spanish marriage for Mlle de Beaujolais, which is why she was married when her elder sister wasn't.

The couple were very young - he was 14 and she 15 - and although he was in love with her he was continually throwing jealous scenes and at one stage she left him and took refuge with her husband's grandmother (not with her mother, who wasn't close to  any of her daughters except perhaps Mlle de Beaujolais).  She had a son in 1734 who became the next Prince de Conti, but died in childbirth in 1736.  

She seems a somewhat colourless personality, but despite her family tendency to bad behaviour, was generally held to be blameless in her marriage - and goodness knows the French court would have gossiped if there had been any remote of her sisters' goings-on.  Strange that the two youngest were so different from the others.

Mmlle de Blois was indeed called Madame Lucifer. She was daughter of Montespan. In 1674, this last was involved in a scandalous affaire of poisons, satanic rituals and murders of children, although she was free by order of Louis, even when La Reynie assured she was really involved. She lied nude on altars and blood was verted on her  . So, Mmlle de Blois was Madame Lucifer. She was very proud of her mother and attached only to the de Rochechouarts. She imited her in lying, not on altars, but on divans. She believed she was the most beautiful woman in the world , only depassed by her mythic mother.She was excessive in using colour, red colour to hyde smallpox marks.

Whew! Thanks for those posts Daniela!

I like the name Aglaé - it refers to a spring flower, Aglaia, which I think is called columbine in English. We have it in the garden (in Germany its called "Akelei").It's a delicate pretty plant, unlike Charlotte!

Anyone know anything about the other three?

        Most flowers, specially ornamental varieties, have been named after Linnée works and his posterity, in the XVIII c. I think Aglaë refers to one of the three Graces os the classic mythology: Aglaë, Euphrosina and Thalia.
The Graces, Apollo, Minerva, were topics of the arts and culture of the time. As can be now Beyoncé or Brithney  

MARIE LOUISE ELISABETH'S BIOGRAPHY
As a little girl when seriously ill, it was her father who nursed her and as a result she became and remained his most beloved child. In 1709, when she was only fourteen, the Duchess of Bourbon started the rumour that Marie Louise was having an incestuous relationship with her father.

However, her prospects of marrying Louis XIV's




grandson, the Duc de Berry, were used to force her father to give up his mistress, Madame d'Argenton. The Duchess of Bourbon offered her daugther who was of the same age and equally attractive. However, Louis XIV ignored the wishes of the people concerned and decided that precedence should prevail and, as the Duke of Orléans was closer to the throne than the Duke of Bourbon, Marie Louise married the Duke of Berry.

Having been placed in prominence too young, her behaviour became embarrassing. Her grandmother recorded how: 'all of a sudden the duchesse de Berry fainted dead away; we thought it was a stroke, but after Madame la duchesse de Bourgogne poured vinegar into her face she came to again. Then she had a horrendous fit of vomitting; nor is this surprising, for in the theatre she had continually stuffed herself for two hours with all kinds of filth, caramel peaches, chestnuts, a paste of gooseberries and currants, dried cherries, and lots of lemonade with it, then at supper she ate fish and drank on top of that. So she felt sick, and when she wanted to hold it in, she fainted. Today she is hale and hearty again, but one of these days she will make herself really ill with gluttony, for she will not listen to any admonitions.'

In July 1711 she was three months pregnant and, even though her doctor advised against it, the king demanded she make the annual journey to Fontainebleau. He allowed her to make the journey by boat but then disaster struck. The boat almost hit the bridge at Melun and her party barely escaped drowning. Exhausted, she arrived at two in the morning; four days later she miscarried. No-one felt sorry for her, least of all her grand-mother who wrote: 'The misfortune of Madame de Berry has not upset me after all she is all right---and the child was only a girl.'

She was the black sheep of the family and Madame de Maintenon, with malicious pleasure, asked Marie Louise's grandmother to lecture her on her behaviour. Madame d'Orléans did so with enthusiasm. In 1713 she gave birth prematurely to a son which died in infancy; in the same year she also grew away from her father.

In 1714, when again pregnant, her husband fell ill at Marly with a violent fever. He was bled and given an emetic but the next day he had difficulty breathing. His condition worsened quickly and he died at four in the morning of 4 May 1714, in his twenty-eight year. It was thought that he had probably ruptured his stomach muscles on the pommel of his saddle, when falling from a horse. In June she miscarried.

When her father became Regent of France, she started to draw attention to herself and even in the Comédie demanded that the actors salute her before the performance. There was such an outcry that she stopped going to the Comédie. More disturbing than any of her follies was her preoccupation with a new lover, Armand de Rions. The Duke de Saint-Simon described him as 'a short chubby young man covered in pimples who, with his green and yellow complexion, looked rather like a walking abscess.'

When she bought a pretty house, Château de La Muette, in the Bois de Boulogne, the Parisians were delighted to see her go. Madame de Clermont, her lady-in-waiting, became so frustrated by her antics that she resigned her post. Some time later Marie Louise, seeing Madame de Clermont at the Opéra, demanded that she leave immediately. Madame de Clermont did so with dignity: 'I shall leave; I am delighted once again to have an opportunity to show Madame de Berry my submission and my obedience.' There was an uproar and six weeks later the duchesse was compelled to apologise to Madame de Clermont.

However, she enjoyed herself and at her father's supper parties she laughed and drank as the men did; they called her 'Princess chubby'. She lost her self-control and, besotted by her lover, became pregnant. However, when giving birth to a still-born daughter, her health was fatally undermined. Disgraced by her father, she was unable to prevent her father from ordering Rion to report to his regiment immediately. When she threatened to marry Rions, the scenes with her father grew violent and in the end Rions was sent away to fight in the war against Spain.

The Duchess, trying to make amends and very frightened, gave her father a supper party on the terrace at Meudon. However, it was not a success and she caught a chill from the night air. Wrapped in blankets, she was taken to La Muette. Almost twenty-four years old, she died at midnight on 21 July 1719.

From this site: http://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00002204&tree=LEO

Her mother, Madame, sent once a letter repproaching her to stay in the same home as her father. (She had invited him to a party). Liselotte denies these rumours and she invite us to imagine the face of both , father and daughter, after the reception of this letter, wich arrived urgently. Yes, what a family!

Thanks, Countess Kate for restoring the reputaion of Mlle de Beaujolais (and partly) of Mlle de Chartres. It would have been odd if all six were so bad!

It's often forgotten that they were the granddaughters of the king, and daughters of the regent so the eldest ones were spoilt rotten, something which the younger ones escaped.

         Most flowers, specially ornamental varieties, have been named after Linnée works and his posterity, in the XVIII c. I think Aglaë refers to one of the three Graces os the classic mythology: Aglaë, Euphrosina and Thalia.
The Graces, Apollo, Minerva, were topics of the arts and culture of the time. As can be now Beyoncé or Brithney  

Makes sense to me!

There is an unique sense. She was named like one of the three Graces, Aglaë, which means merry in greek.

The comments of Liselotte, the Dowager Duchess of Orleans, should not always be taken as gospel truth when it comes to these girls.  Liselotte hated her daughter-in-law Francoise, whom she sometimes referred to as a mouse-dropping.  I suspect Liselotte projected this hatred onto Francoise's children.

Liselotte could not forgive Francoise for being an illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, the product of a double adultery.  She also resented the fact that Francoise was raised by her bete noire, Madame de Maintenon.  Liselotte constantly criticized the girls and Francoise in her letters to her relatives, but it is questionable whether all the criticism was entirely deserved.  

The girls might have turned out very differently if Liselotte had stepped in when they were children and taken a hand in raising them.  Liselotte was an active and loving, albeit strict, parent to her own children.  While Philippe was not a credit to her, Liselotte's daughter was an admirable woman.  Unfortunately, by the time Liselotte was called in to help, it was too late for her to have much influence over her granddaughters.  

Liselotte once described her granddaughter Louise-Elisabeth, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, later Queen of Spain, around the time she left France: "It can't be said that Mademoiselle de Montpensier is ugly: she has pretty eyes, her skin is white and fair, her nose is well-shaped and her mouth is small. However, in spite of all of this, she's the most unpleasant person that I have ever seen in my life; in all her actions, whether she talks, eats or drinks, she irritates me, which is why neither she nor I have cried when we have said good bye."

Daniela that you for posting those biographies!! I really enjoyed reading them - they were funny! What an odd family! The grandmother sounds hilarious!! love to hear more about her!

The House of Orléans Really Were Mad

Liselottes Favourite Grand daughter Was Philippine Élisabeth d'Orléans, ''Mademoiselle de Beaujolais''. She Was Betrothed To the Future Charles III of Spain. Liselotte Never Seems To Have Been Fond Of Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, ''Mademoiselle de Valois'' (somtimes known as Mademoiselle de Blois).

Interesting thread..thanks for the bump...hope to see more posts about sisters!

img brackethttphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Louise_Adélaïde_d'Orléans.jpg/imgbracket.

Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans, Mademoiselle de Chartres, Abbess of Chelles by Pierre Gobert

[i hope the pic comes up this is the first time ive done it..if not just copy the link..]

Lovely portrait, Duchesse! 

Apparently Liselotte wasn't keen for Mlle de Chartres to become a nun, as she thought her unsuitable; she "dances well and sings even better.  She remains determined to become a nun, but I cannot persuade myself that she has any vocation for it, because her tastes are those of a boy.  She loves dogs, horses, hunting and shooting.  She fears nothing on earth and has no interest in the things women usually like.  She takes no interest in her appearance, although she is not ugly and has a very good figure."  When Mlle de Chartres took the veil, Liselotte wrote, "...poor Mlle d'Orleans [as she had become by that stage] determined to become a nun, simply because of the lack of affection shown her by her mother and her fear lest she should be tormented to make her marry the eldest son of the Duc du Maine..." (I think Liselotte was projecting her own fears here!).  Despite Liselotte's concerns, Louise Adelaide insisted on becoming a nun though neither Liselotte nor her mother (who wanted her to be married) wished it.  She started as a simple nun, taking the name Sister Bathilde, but she found the obedience required by Agnes de Villars, the Abbesse of Chelles not to her taste and moved out to the Benedictine community at Val-de-Grace in Paris while the Abbesse of Chelles was pushed and bribed into reluctantly retiring.  She then became the Abbesse and lived in some state.  Saint Simon thought this rather disgraceful but Liselotte had no sympathy for the former Abbesse who she thought was getting a lot of money to retire and should be grateful.  Later, she wrote, "Mlle de Valois is certainly more beautiful than her sister, the Abbesse of Chelles, but the latter is incomparably more agreeable.  She has a charming laugh and the most beautiful teeth, which can be compared without exaggeration to a row of pearls.  She is well made and not too small.  Although she stutters slightly it is not unbecoming.  She speaks and laughs quite naturally, without affectation or effort, and she is frank and natural.  She says what she thinks, whilst her sister is double-faced and secretive....."