Princess Marie-Therese, Duchesse d'Angouleme

[Prince_Lieven]

A sad, lonely life.  

[elena_maria_vidal]

Yes, indeed! But a courageous life, too. She did a lot to rebuild France after all the country had been through with the Revolution and Napoleonic wars.

[RomanovFan]

The only daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

Actually, wasn't she the oldest daughter? I thought Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI had another daughter, Sophie Beatrix who died at age 1 or something...

[elena_maria_vidal]

 She was the only surviving daughter. Yes, Baby Sophie died in 1787.

[Prince_Lieven]

Actually, wasn't she the oldest daughter? I thought Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI had another daughter, Sophie Beatrix who died at age 1 or something...

Yes, sorry, by 'only' I meant only surviving.

[Eddie_uk]

"The Fatal Friendship" a brilliant book by Stanley Loomis mentions Marie-Therese a lot! Apaprently she inherited both her mothers and Madame Elisabeths jewels.

The book also mentions Count Fersens attempted visits to her after she was released from the Tower.

A very sad life indeed!

[elena_maria_vidal]

Yes, when she went to opera she went covered with Marie-Antoinette's diamonds. She could be glamorous when she chose to be, every inch a princess.

I do believe Count Fersen visited Marie-Therese on several occasions and they maintained a close friendship until he was lynched by a mob in 1810 (?).

[Eddie_uk]

Apparently the first time he saw her after her release was at a ball. She approached him and said something like she was pleased to see he was safe.

He was desperate to talk to her alone, sending requests through her ladies in waiting, but she was very distant towards him. At one point he was invited to see her but on arrival at her found another 20 or so people present. Apparently she looked at him often.

He never did get to talk with her properly and in the end he left and never saw or contacted her again. They were never friends sadly.

I think she was embarrased, especially as she must have been aware of what everyone was saying about his possible relationship with her mother.

Also Madame Elisabeth never approved of him, and many other friends of the Queen, with the exception of the Princess de Lamballe who Madame Elisabeth was very loyal towards.

It is quite likely she passed this dissaproval on to her neice during their long and lonely imprisonment.

I have read most of this in Stanley Loomis's book.  

[elena_maria_vidal]

I read in Loomis's book and elsewhere about Fersen's aborted attempt to see her in Vienna. However, he was able to see her in England at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire in 1809 and before that they corresponded. Loomis thought that she avoided him in Vienna because of the "affair" he allegedly had with her mother, but I think her Habsburg relatives were just very strict about who she saw, and Fersen was not on the list of people she could recieve, perhaps because of the gossip. He was welcomed by the Bourbons, as they all remembered him from Versailles, as he had been part of the diplomatic corps of Sweden to France. Marie-Therese welcomed him as a friend of both of her parents. (This was in Turquan's biography of the princess, I believe, or else in Miinergeride's "Son of Marie-Antoinette". Fersen, many believe, was helping M-T investigate the fate of her brother, Louis XVII.)

[Eddie_uk]

That's very interesting, thank you Elena. If they did stay in touch then that is very nice. I wonder what her thoughts where on his death?

[elena_maria_vidal]

 You are very welcome, Eddieboy!!  :)I think Marie-Therese was probably horrified because of the violence of Fersen's death (she knew first hand what a mob could be like ). Also he had tried to rescue her family by arranging the escape attempt in June 1791, aborted at Varennes ; she knew him as an old friend. Losing him was probably like losing an uncle, especially since she most likely felt she could trust him and she could not trust some of her relatives.

[Eddie_uk]

Yes i agree Elena   , if he was on good terms with her, it would have been awfuly sad and brought back unhappy memories of her mother.

According to Stanley Loomis after he tired to see her in Vienna and was not particulalry successful he gave up and never contacted her again. But, as you say, if he was able to see her in England at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire in 1809 that sounds to me like they must have stayed in touch.

Am glad

[elena_maria_vidal]

Yes, Eddieboy, that was the impression I got from various other things I have read. Hartwell House is now an inn and spa and I am almost positive I read in their brochure as well that Count Fersen visited there while the Court of Louis XVIII was in residence. They still know which rooms various members of the royal family stayed in. It used to all be on their website, but it has been some years since I checked it.

[Eddie_uk]

Thank you Elena I am not that far from Buckinghamshire really, maybe i will take a trip up their sometime.  Apparently many of the rooms are magnificent and much the same

[elena_maria_vidal]

Thank you Elena I am not that far from Buckinghamshire really, maybe i will take a trip up their sometime.  Apparently many of the rooms are magnificent and much the same

Yes, it looks like they did an excellent and authentic restoration job! If you get over there, let us know what you discover!