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Louise de Penancoet de Kerouaille
(1649-1734)
Duchess of Portsmouth, Duchesse d'Aubigny
daughter of Guillaume de Penancoet, Sieur de Kerouaille
and Marie de Ploeuc de Timeur
Born September 1649 Kerouaille
Died 14 November 1734 Paris
Affaire with Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
1660-1685
Born 29 May 1630 St.James's, London
Died 6 February 1685 Palace of Whitehall |
As a young girl she was placed in the household of the Duchess of Orleans.
However, she resented being a Maid of Honour to an Englishwoman as she
regarded herself as noble, which she was, though she belonged to an impoverished
Breton family. In 1670 the Duchess went to Dover to meet her brother, the
English King Charles II. This meeting resulted not only in the Treaty of
Dover, which was signed on 22 May 1670, but also in the infatuation of
Charles with Louise de Kerouaille who had come to England as an
attendant to the Duchess.
The king wanted Louise to remain in England but his sister Henrietta
insisted on taking her back to France. However, Henrietta died suddenly
only a few weeks later and Louis XIV at once sent Louise back to England.
Charles II brought her from Calais to England on a
royal yacht and soon she was established at the English Court. Louis
XIV had sent her both as a spy and a means of turning Charles II into an
ally. After some feigned reluctance she went to Euston Hall, and here she
was visited by Charles II who then turned her into his mistress. Exactly
nine months later, on 29 July 1672, she gave birth to a son, Charles Lennox.
Louise was gentle but also sly and intriguing, aware of her position
and importance. In 1673 she was created Duchess of Portsmouth while in
1675 her son was made Duke of Richmond. Of all Charles II's mistresses
she was the only one involved with politics, commanding respect and cooperation
from statesman and ambassadors. She encountered the needling of the Duchess
of Cleveland and Nell Gwyn, the hatred of the English people and Charles
II's philandering, but still for many years she was virtually Queen of
England. In December 1674 the news was received of the execution of the
Chevalier de Rohan. He had fallen into disgrace at the French Court,
was financially ruined and, it was discovered, was in treasonable negotiations
with the Dutch. As a result he was beheaded on 27 November 1674. This news
made Louise go into mourning to indicate she
was a near relative of this scion of one of France's most important
families.
The following day Nell Gwyn also appeared in deepest black and was
asked, in the hearing of Louise, for whom she had assumed these habiliments
of woe. "Why!" she said, "have you not heard of my loss in the death of
the Cham of Tartary?" And when asked how she was related to the Cham of
Tartary she replied: "Exactly the same relation that the Chevalier de Rohan
was to the Duchess of Portsmouth." However, Louise was a third cousin of
Louis de Rohan, Chevalier de Rohan (1635-1674), as well as a descendant
of both the English King Henry III and the French King Louis X, of which
Louise was probably unaware.
In extravagance she outdid the Duchess of Cleveland, but the Duchess
was vulgar where Louise was refined. However, she was still dissatisfied
as she wanted a French title, a 'real' honour. Charles II had to ask Louis
XIV who proved to be reluctant. Louis XIV gave her
the territory of the duchy of Aubigny but this didn't come with the
title she really wanted. It took several years before Louis XIV gave in
and, in January 1684, she was created Duchesse d'Aubigny. In the last years
of Charles II's life she was in alliance with James and Lawrence Hyde dealing
with the secrets of State. When the Duke of York wanted a husband for his
daughter Anne, he consulted Louise and she had the French King Louis XIV
first approve of George of Denmark.
On his deathbed Charles II recommended Louise to his brother and concluded
with: "Let not poor Nellie starve." Soon afterwards he died and an hour
later the new king went to visit Louise to assure her of his protection
and friendship. Nevertheless, she decided to return to France, but then
a year later returned to England where she stayed until July 1688. When
James II lost his crown, Louise lost her English pension. Her son returned
to live in England in 1692 and also returned to the Anglican religion.
From 1692 onwards Louise devoted herself to the care of her estate
of Aubigny. However, her love of gambling brought her financial difficulties
to the point that Louis XIV had to intervene for her in 1699. As a result
she had her French pension increased and in 1721
was paid 600,000 livres "in consideration of the great services she
had rendered France". In 1715 she again went to England but failed to get
the hoped-for annuity from King George I. Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth,
outlived her contemporaries and died in Paris on 14 November 1714 aged
eighty-five. She had survived Charles II by forty-nine years and their
son by eleven.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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