Charles Stuart loved women…even before he became King of England. We’re going to take a look at the women who Charles bedded, had children with but didn’t wed during his lifetime (that I’m aware of). This week we’re learning about Louise de Kéroualle.
Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth: 6 September 1649 (France) – 14 November 1734 (France)
Louise was a Maid of Honour to Charles’ sister, Henrietta “Minette” Anne Stuart, Duchess of Orléans. The French poet Charles Robinet had stated that Minette’s “new maid-of-honour is as sweet as she is beautiful.”
Louise was strong-willed and intelligent. She was beautiful, with dark-colored hair and eyes with a very youthful beauty.
Charles is said to have fallen for Louise in 1670. She became his official mistress in 1671 and gave birth to a son, Charles Lennox (Duke of Richmond) a year later.
Through her son, Charles Lennox, Louise is an ancestress of both Diana, Princess of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Child by Charles II:
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond: 29 July 1672 – 27 May 1723
After the death of Charles II Louise returned to France with her son, Duke of Richmond.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_K%C3%A9rouaille,_Duchess_of_Portsmouth
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_21.html
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Louise-Renee-de-Keroualle-Duchess-of-Portsmouth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/10_october/23/charles_ii_mistresses.pdf
