Spouse(s) Bernard de Prez Father Louis XIV of France | Noble family House of Bourbon Name Louise Maisonblanche | |
Mother Claude de Vin des Œillets Born 17 June 1676Paris, France ( 1676-06-17 ) Parents Louis XIV of France, Claude de Vin des Œillets Cousins Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, Duke of Orleans Grandparents Louis XIII of France, Anne of Austria Uncles Philippe I, Duke of Orleans Similar People Louis XIV of France, Claude de Vin des Œillets, Louis - Count of Vermandois, Marie Anne de Bourbon, Francoise Marie de Bourbon | ||
Louise Mary-Antoinette Josephe Jane de Bourbon de Maisonblanche, Baroness of La Queue (Paris, 17 June 1676 – La Queue-les-Yvelines, 12 September 1718), was an illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV of France and Claude de Vin des Œillets, the called Mademoiselle des Œillets, who was the lady-in-waiting to Madame de Montespan, Louis' long term mistress.
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Life
Born in Paris in 1676, she was one of many illegitimate children that Louis XIV had. She was officially declared daughter of Philippe de Maisonblanche, old Captain of the Guards, and of Lady Gabrielle de La Tour, his spouse. Brought up in Paris by her mother, she did not receive the same attention that the daughters of Madame de Montespan and Louise de La Valliere did. She lived for a while at the chateau de Suisnes where her mother died in 1687 aged 50. Louise was then put in the care of Francois Le Signerre and her sister Catherine Le Signerre in Mulcent.
Louise remained confined at Mulcent with the Le Signerre sisters till the age of 20 in 1696. On 17 April that year, she married Bernard de Prez, Baron of La Queue. He was the lieutenant to the regiment of Burgundy. The Abbe de Brisacier undertook the service which was overseen by Alexandre Bontemps, the first gentleman of the chamber of Louise's father, Louis XIV. It was Bontemps who secured the small dowry of 40,000 Livres along with silver and jewels for the bride. This dowry was nothing compared to the dowries of her other half sisters; the Dowager Princess of Conti (1666–1739) who married Louis Armand de Bourbon in 1680 was given 1 Million Livres as did the Duchess of Bourbon who married in 1685 to Louis de Bourbon. In 1692 another sister the Francoise-Marie de Bourbon married Philippe d'Orleans and had been given 2 Million Livres as well as the Palais-Royal in Paris.
Her husband was later named the Kings gardes du corps and this allowed Louise to frequent the court at Versailles with her husband.
From her marriage, she was named dame Louise de Maisonblanche, fille naturelle du Roi. That style was shown on the birth certificates of her children. The couple had 11 children, 5 of which died in infancy:
- Louise Renee de Prez (Montfort l'Amaury, 27 October 1699 – 1705). Died aged 6 of measles.
- Louis Bernard de Prez (Montfort l'Amaury, 17 March 1701). Stillborn.
- Charlotte Angelique de Prez (Montfort l'Amaury, 11 October 1703 – 1723). Died of hypothermia after falling into a lake.
- Louis Charles Timothee de Prez (14 October 1704 – 1746). Died after falling from a horse; married on 2 November 1745 to Madeleine Marguerite Charlotte Soulaigre des Fosses.
- A son [Stanislas Henri de Prez?] (Montfort l'Amaury, 4 September 1706). Stillborn.
- Alexandre Paul Cyr de Prez (Montfort l'Amaury, 5 August 1708 – Neauphle le Vieux, 8 October 1777). Died of a cerebral embolism; married firstly on 3 February 1755 to Marie Jeanne de Malebranche and secondly in 1763 to Claude Marguerite Le Cousturier du Meny.
- Louise Catherine de Prez (La Queue-les-Yvelines, 16 June 1709 – 1756). Died of a stroke; married on 10 October 1745 to Timothee de Vaultier de Petitmont.
- Francoise de Prez (5 January 1711 – 1715). Died of scarlet fever.
- Guillaume Jacques de Prez (Gallais, 15 November 1713 – La Queue les Yvelines, 5 October 1804). Died of a heart attack; married in 1754 to Francoise Perrette Le Boeuf.
- Marguerite Francoise de Prez (Gallins-la-Queue, 15 May 1715 – Montfort l'Amaury, 1786). Died of pneumonia.
- Philippe Charles de Prez (Gallins-la-Queue, 8 August 1718 – February 1719). Died aged 6 months of chickenpox.
Two of her daughters, Charlotte Angelique and Louise Catherine were raised at Saint-Cyr-l'Ecole, the home of Madame de Maintenon's famous school for young ladies of the nobility. They were both called a petit-fille du Roi in their dossiers at Saint-Cyr.
Louise died of smallpox on 12 September 1718 at La Queue-les-Yvelines, during the Regency of her brother in law, Philippe d'Orleans.
Because Louise's mother was known to had several lovers, the king always doubt about his paternity, and for this he never recognized Louise and kept her away from court, doting her poorly at the time of her marriage. Although eyewitnesses say she strongly resembled to him, the king never acknowledged her as his daughter.