Missier: The Fascinating Life of Philip I, Duke of Orléans

The king Louis XIV Everyone knows him; one of the most powerful kings in history, a military leader, a dancer, a man of art and music, with an uncontrollable appetite for women and food, and the patron of the French Baroque who built the world-famous palace, the Palace of Versailles. Much has been written about him, but little has been written about one man who surpassed his brilliance. If Louis XIV was the Sun King, then he would be a whole trail of twinkling stars.

Philip I, Duke of Orléans, nicknamed the Monsieur, was the eccentric younger brother of Louis XIV. A homosexual with effeminate mannerisms who won the affection of his brother the king and who had unlimited wealth and privileges at his disposal, Philip was free to live his life as he pleased.

Philippe was born in 1640 at the Château Saint Germain En Laye. NearPalace of VersaillesThe youngest son of Louis XIII, he was second in line to the throne. A beautiful, gentle, and intelligent boy, he charmed everyone who met him, or as Madame de Lafayette described him:

Beautiful and developed, but his beauty and proportions are more suitable for a princess than a prince.

Like his brother, he was closely accompanied by his mother and Cardinal Mazarin, but they were careful to keep him away from the centers of power so that he would not interfere with his brother in the affairs of state. To this end, they also limited his financial resources, which would change in his adulthood when he accumulated much money and assets.

Philip comes out of the armoire (closet)

When Philip was a child, his mother Queen Anne called him 'my little girl' and encouraged him to dress in women's clothes along with his friend, the future Abbot de ChoisyPhilip may have loved dresses, but he was definitely not a dress-hunter.

At the age of 18, he officially 'came out' when he fell in love with none other than Cardinal Mazarin's nephew, Philippe Jules Mancini, with whom he experimented with what was then called 'the Italian sin', which in simple terms meant anal intercourse. However, he would meet the person who would be his lover for most of his life shortly after.

The knight on the white horse was indeed a handsome knight, Philip the Chevalier de Lorraine (Philippe Chevalier de Lorraine) was a nobleman of the Guise family. They first met in 1667 on the battlefield in the Spanish Netherlands where the Duke of Orléans led the king's army in a victorious battle against the Habsburgs. Their relationship was filled with passion, jealousy, intrigue, and scandal.

Although the 'Italian sin' was forbidden and punishable by death under various tortures, and although Louis XIV abhorred homosexuality, his great affection for his brother and the thought that a female brother would not usurp or threaten his rule caused him and his court to accept the Duke of Orléans' sexual orientation and the accompanying scandals. But even the king's love and patience had limits that almost cost Chevalier de Lorraine his life.

Either Scandal or Carnival

Despite his life and sins, Monsieur took care to fulfill his duties and married Princess Henrietta, daughter of the deposed King Charles I of England, after she and her mother fled England and found refuge in the Palais Royal. About a year later, they had a daughter, and Henrietta, who was very popular at the French court, flirted with the king so openly that they claimed that their first child was actually the king's daughter.

The Duke of Orléans, who had tried to be a model husband up to this point, discovered that Henrietta had begun to keep as a lover the Count of Meser, who was not only a notorious playboy but also his former lover. Philippe did not remain unfaithful and took care to exile the Count from France and at the same time began to externalize his sexuality in order to embarrass and upset her. If their relationship was not bad enough already, Chevalier de Lorraine made sure to deteriorate it even further.

Eventually, the Duke told Henrietta that he could not love her without the Chevalier's approval. As a result, the two sworn enemies never ceased to stand in each other's way. Relations deteriorated to the point that Henrietta managed to convince the King in 1670 to imprison the Chevalier and then to exile him to Rome. The Duke's pleas to the King to return the Chevalier to his bosom were successful and he quickly returned to his lover's court, this being the final nail in the coffin of the relationship between the Duke and his wife.

Shortly afterwards, Henrietta returned to the Palace of Saint-Cloud from England, where she had been acting as an intermediary between the court of her brother King Charles II and the French royal court, when she began to feel unwell. She asked for a glass of cold water, which she drank and felt a sharp pain. She screamed that she had been poisoned and called the entire court to her in the palace – she died that night.

Although she suffered from severe digestive problems and although no proof of this has been found, the claim is that the Chevalier de Lorraine poisoned her in revenge for his arrest and exile. While the royal court mourned the loss of Henrietta, the Duke of Orléans and his lover showed demonstrative indifference. The affair of her death, which damaged the close relationship between the Duke and the King, brought an end to the unhappy marriage of the Duke and his first wife.

The couple's only son did not survive and died as an infant, forcing the Duke to remarry, much to his displeasure. After a frantic search, they found the Elizabeth Charlotte – Princess PalatineAlthough the court liked her, neither the Duke nor his lover were really keen on her or as the Duke put it, 'How the hell can I sleep with her?'

And indeed, as soon as she provided him with the longed-for heir, they immediately stopped sharing a bed. Despite this, their relationship was good and they had several children, one of whom would be named after his father and would in the future be the regent of France During the minority of Louis XV. The easygoing nature of the Princess Palatine allowed the Duke a more comfortable life together and although her relations with the Chevalier de Lorraine were tense, unlike her predecessor in office they did not reach the point of overt hostility.

Sex, drugs and minors

Philip I, Duke of Orléans, had no official position and this was no accident. As part of drawing lessons from the attempted coup against his father Louis XIII in which his brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans, took an active part, Queen Anne and Cardinal Mazarin decided that Gaston would not return with Philip. They took care to castrate him of all power and influence so that he remained completely dependent on the kindness of his brother and until his first marriage he lived on an allowance given to him by the king. He did not even receive the inheritance of his uncle Gaston, although he inherited his title – Duke of Orléans.

This attitude from his family and his life, which was condemned to shelter in the shadow of his brother, caused Philip to lead a wild and extreme lifestyle, and not only did he not try to hide his tendencies and lifestyle, he externalized them to anger the king and the court, he knew that no one could control him and he took advantage of this.

Philip enjoyed sexual freedom and open sexuality at a time when a person's life, sexuality, and privacy were determined by the church and relationships between men were considered moral debauchery at the most serious level that led to his death. But Philip, who used to dress in women's clothing and whose lovers were part of his official entourage, ignored all prohibitions and his wild sex life was known to all.

At his official residence, the Chateau de Saint Cloud, at his Parisian residence,Palais Royal Or even at his brother the king's pleasure palace – Chateau de Marly. Philip used to have wild orgies and drinking parties not only with his lover Chevalier de Lorraine but with many and varied partners, but a notorious orgy involving none other than the king's bastard son was already one scandal too many.

Louis de Bourbon was the bastard son of the king and his mistress Louise de La Vallière. He was recognized by the king at the age of two and given the title of comte de Vermandois. A child 'beautiful as an angel', he moved to the Palais Royal after his mother became a nun and there, at the age of just 15, he became acquainted with the wild lifestyle of his uncle the Duke of Orléans and his lover the Chevalier de Lorraine. He quickly entered a circle of sexual promiscuity that also included the Prince de Conti, known as the 'Holy Brotherhood of Sodomites'.

But the celebration of the minors' orgy did not last long after word of the brotherhood and its exploits reached the king's ears. The wrath of Louis XIV The entire court must have felt good when their bastard son was publicly flogged under the king's scowl. He also banished and exiled the Chevalier de Lorraine and several other high-ranking nobles who were involved in the scandal.

At first, they thought of marrying the boy off in a hurry to clear his name, but he was exiled to Normandy before they could arrange the marriage. Since this did not work, they decided to send him to the battlefield. The idea to send him to battle came from his aunt, the Princess Palatine, who was looking for a solution to the crisis created by her husband. The king agreed and the boy was sent to Flanders where the city of Courtai was under siege. The boy fell very ill there but refused to return to Lille because he wanted to prove to his father, the king, that he was worthy of being his son. He died of his illness on the battlefield at the age of only 16. The king accepted his death with indifference, and his nun mother commented that she mourned his birth more than his death.

The man in the dress became the 'grandfather of Europe'

In his later years, Philip lived a more relaxed life, enjoying the company of his many children and grandchildren. He was busy expanding his palaces, the Château de Saint-Cloud and the Palais Royal in Paris. He became a patron of the arts, music, and dance, was involved in engineering projects, and amassed a great fortune of his own. He also amassed an impressive art collection and lived a life of luxury that few could afford, and was beloved by many of his contemporaries.

His relationship with his brother had its ups and downs, but the king's refusal to send his son, the Duke of Chartres, who was an outstanding general, to the War of the Spanish Succession angered Philip. The king, who did not want Philip's son to amass too much power and threaten his rule, tried to prevent him from rising to the greatness he aspired to. And so one day in mid-June 1701, the king arrived at the Château de Marly to have lunch with Philip, and what began as a pleasant meal ended in a bitter quarrel over the king's refusal to promote his son.

That evening, Philip returned distraught to dine with his son, the Duc de Chartres, at the Château de Saint-Cloud, and upon meeting him, suffered a cardiac arrest and died in his arms. The king and court took his death very badly, as upon hearing of his death the king exclaimed, "I cannot believe that I shall never see my brother again." It was probably as a result of the guilt he felt that he adopted his late nephew as his son, who was given the title Philip II, Duke of Orléans.

Philip I essentially founded the House of Orléans, which became a rival to the House of Bourbon. Philip II became Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV, and a century later Louis Philippe d'Orléans became the last king of France in the July Revolution. The descendants of Philip I have mixed with most of the kingdoms of Europe, and to this day there are kings and queens who are his direct descendants, for which he has been given the title 'Grandfather of Europe'.

Today, the legitimate claimant to the French crown is Henri de Orléans, Count of Orléans. Paris, so that if they decide to return the monarchy to France (a slim chance) the king will be Henry VII of Orléans. And if you asked what happened to Chevalier de Lorraine, well he died about a year after Philip at the age of 7 from internal bleeding after spending the night with a woman.