Louise de Maisonblanche


Louise de Maisonblanche, Baronne de La Queue, was a French noblewoman, the illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV, King of France and his mistress, Claude de Vin des Œillets. She became the Baroness of La Queue by her marriage to Bernard de Prez.

Early life

Louise de Maisonblanche was born on 17 June 1676 in Paris to Claude de Vin des Œillets, Mademoiselle des Œillets, the maid of honour ' or chambermaid ' of Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise of Montespan. Madame de Montespan had been the maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XIV, King of France for 9 years, during which he had relationships with other women as well, including Mademoiselle des Œillets. She was officially recorded as the daughter of former cavalry captain Philippe de Maisonblanche and his wife, born Lady Gabrielle de La Tour.
As Maisonblanche's mother was known to have had several lovers, the king always doubted her paternity, even after she had reportedly grown up to closely resemble him. He never recognised or legitimised her, and treated her poorly as an adult.
She was brought up in Paris by her mother and did not receive the same attention that the king's other illegitimate children did. For a while, she lived at the Castle of Suisnes, where her mother died in 1687. She was then placed in the care of siblings François and Catherine Le Signerre in Mulcent.

Marriage and later life

Maisonblanche remained in Mulcent with the Le Signerres until the age of 20. On 17 April 1696, she married Bernard de Prez, Baron of La Queue, lieutenant of the regiment of Burgundy. The wedding's organisation was overseen by Alexandre Bontemps, first valet of the king's bedchamber, who secured a dowry of 40 000 livres, silver, and jewels for the bride. This was close to nothing compared to the dowries of her legitimised half-sisters: when Marie-Anne de Bourbon married in 1680, she received 1 million livres. So did Louise-Françoise de Bourbon in 1685, while Françoise-Marie de Bourbon received 2 million livres and the Palais-Royal.
Later, was appointed a member of the Gardes du Corps. As an adult, which allowed her to visit the Palace of Versailles, but she never frequented the court. She only ever went outside veiled in order to avoid scandals. She had 11 children by her husband, 6 of whom survived infancy. On their birth certificates, she was recorded as Dame Louise de Bourbon-Maisonblanche, fille naturelle du Roi. Two of her daughters, Charlotte-Angélique and Louise-Catherine attended the Maison royale de Saint-Louis in Saint-Cyr, Madame de Maintenon's boarding school for daughters of the nobility. In their school records, they were called petite-filles du Roi.
She died of smallpox on 12 September 1718 at La Queue-les-Yvelines.

Issue

Louise de Maisonblanche had 11 children by her husband, Bernard de Prez, Baron of La Queue, 6 of whom survived to adulthood:
  1. Louise Renée de Prez, died at the age of 6
  2. Louis Bernard de Prez, stillborn
  3. Charlotte Angélique de Prez, died of hypothermia at the age of 19 or 20 after falling into a lake
  4. Louis Charles Timothée de Prez, married Madeleine Marguerite Charlotte Soulaigre des Fossés and died after falling from a horse
  5. A son, maybe Stanislas Henri de Prez, stillborn
  6. Alexandre-Paul-Cyr de Prez, first married Marie Jeanne de Malebranche on 3 February 1755, then Claude Marguerite Le Cousturier du Meny in 1763
  7. Louise Catherine de Prez, married Timothée de Vaultier de Petitmont on 10 October 1745
  8. Françoise de Prez, died of scarlet fever at the age of 3 or 4
  9. Guillaume Jacques de Prez, married Françoise Perrette Le Bœuf in 1754
  10. Marguerite Françoise de Prez
  11. Philippe Charles de Prez, died at the age of 6 months