King Louis XVIII

[Eddie_uk]

Pity i can't read French!! Looks very interesting though!  

[crotalo]

Eddyboy. I will try to translate a little, but english is no so easy to me. Let's go.

First, when the savoy princess descended from the char
the deceive and consternation were observed on all the faces. So , was she a 2laideron"= very ugly? Let's describe the contemporary peple, though they could be no partial

the count of Mercy-Argenteau: Her look is cold, shy, she speaks very few and has no thing which could please this country.

Pisandat de Merovert en "las memorias secretas": This princess is very darkhaired , dark skin. she has very beautiful eyes but supercilious. Little front, big nose and duvet= kind of light moustache on superior lip (very notorious)

Louis XV to the infant Ferdinand of Parma: I have just received the countess of Provence, very well formed, not tall, very beautiful eyes, ugly nose, the mouth very pretty. Quite dark , her skin is perfect , for a dark woman. Being no pretty, she is witt. If I were younger, i would take her for myself.


  Oh, a little tired. Hope my horrible translation helps you

[Marc]

[Marc]

And one of Marie Josephine d'Provence...

[Sissi]

  Hi! I would love to know what you think about Louis XVIII, any anecdotes, thoughts, portratis are more than welcome.

   Personally I do not like him that much, I have always regarded him, as a machiavelic, envious man, who was more than glad to wear a crown which he has long long envy.

[elena_maria_vidal]

Oh, what a great topic! I don't even know how to begin!

[Sissi]

  I have read that after the death of his brotherLouis Joseph, the attention of both his parents passed to him. he was educated by la Vauguyon as his brother Berry. He was intelligent, and both his parent and the Court thought that he was smarter than Berry. He grew up beleiving that too, and always felt terrible at being "le cadet".

 

[elena_maria_vidal]

That is exactly what I understood, too. Provence had no confidence problem. He was seen as being the most promising of the princes, as you say. However, I believe there was something wrong with his hips, and he was unable to ride a horse. He would follow the hunting parties in a cabriolet.

[elena_maria_vidal]

Louis-Auguste (Louis XVI) and Louis-Stanislaus (louis XVIII) used to have fist fights when they were teenagers. L-S (Provence) was known to be cruel and abusive to servants. If Louis -Auguste caught him at it, he would thrash him.

Provence and his wife Madame were responsible for starting and spreading many of the rumors about Marie-Antoinette that persist to this day. When Madame Royale was baptized, Provence, the godfather, asked very loudly, "Who is the father of this child?" Provence was said to have a printing press in the attic at Versailles (Versailles had extensive attics) in which he oversaw the printing of scurrilous pamphlets against the queen his sister-in-law.

[Kora]

[Kora]

[elena_maria_vidal]

 Thanks, Kora!

He was not a bad looking man; his eyes radiate intelligence. Too bad he put on so much weight later on and had such a problem with gout, but then he was a gourmande and relished in the delights of the table. His chef at Versailles was equal to none.

Louis XVIII was a stickler for etiquette, unlike Louis XVI who was more easy-going. Even at exile in Courland and England, when they had few resources, Louis XVIII insisted upon the full court etiquette as if they were all still at Versailles. This was beneficial in the long run, because they were able to function as a royal household when restored to the Tuileries.

He was clever with money and made sure all his family were well-provided for when he died. He was a brilliant Latin scholar and could have taught the classics at a university.

[bell_the_cat]

Thanks Kora for the amazing pics, and thanks Elena Maria Vidal for the pen portrait (succinct as always). It's difficult to warm to him as a personality (maybe he kept his real self well-hidden), but it sounds as if he was a clever bloke!

[elena_maria_vidal]

Thanks, Bell. In some ways he was a political genius, the way he pulled strings and got himself established in the Tuileries.  The Tsar hated the Bourbons and wanted Louis-Phillippe to be king, but Talleyrand and Louis XVIII connived themselves into power.

[Mili]

Wow, interesting stuff! I had never thought nor had i read that he was an aspiring and intelligent individual. There was a definite anamosity between Louis XVIII and Napoleon wasn't there? Napoleon often referred to him as the 'fat pig'.