5 of the most famous royal mistresses

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

On June 23, the daughter of the planter Josephine de Beauharnais was born, who, thanks to her charm and intelligence, became the main love in the life of the French emperor Napoleon I. She cheated on him and made huge debts, but she always managed to convince her powerful husband to forgive her and solve all her problems. It seems that some women have special power over men. Read about five of them.

Josephine. Do not be born beautiful, but become so

Marrying early and becoming a mother twice, Josephine did not receive either her husband's love or wealth: the couple soon divorced. Then Alexander Beauharnais was executed: there were revolutionary unrest.

Left alone with two children, Josephine foresaw gloomy prospects: no money, no connections, no special beauty. With the last pennies she buys mirrors, arranges them in her wretched dwelling and rehearses for hours in front of them: gestures, facial expressions, glances, grace, manner of speaking - all this was borrowed from ladies of society.

Lacking naturally beautiful teeth, Josephine learns to speak and laugh, covering places affected by caries. Gives the voice softness, speech - tenderness, look - affection.

At their first meeting, Napoleon was 26, she was 32, but he was struck by her beauty.

Having accepted the proposal of the future emperor, she does not suspect what future awaits him and her, therefore, having sent her spouse on another campaign, she continues to lead a secular life and respond to the courtship of her gentlemen. Bonaparte heard rumors about his wife's infidelity, but being blindly in love, he forgave her everything for a long time.

Catherine I. If fate smiles at you, smile back even wider

Pastor Gluck. Dragoon Kruse. Count Sheremetev. Alexander Menshikov - this is not a complete list of persons captured by the young, cheerful "orphan" Martha Skavronskaya. Moving from patron to patron, she changed her life in the provincial German Marienburg for the royal apartments in the northern capital.

Peter I, while visiting Menshikov, was amazed at the ease of communication between the dark-skinned woman (Russian young ladies brought up at Domostroy were once again afraid to tear their eyes off the floor, let alone flirt with the emperor). On the same night Martha became the king's mistress, having received the first ducat from him for her “night conversation”.

Skavronskaya is taught Russian literacy and converted to the Orthodox faith, naming it Catherine.

Having learned that Peter is going on another military campaign, she, at 7 months pregnant, goes after him. Always radiating gaiety, Catherine is the only one able to prevent the epileptic seizures that followed Peter.

When the Russian army is on the verge of shameful defeat, being surrounded by superior enemy forces, Catherine offers to bribe the representatives of the enemy with her decorations. Soon, the Turkish vizier receives the offering, the peace is signed, and Peter's reputation is saved.

Catherine did not betray her principle of cheerfulness, she even easily listened to her husband's confessions about his momentary hobbies.

In the portraits of the Empress, one cannot fail to notice this slight smile - her answer to a happy fate.

Marquise de Pompadour. Study the weaknesses of men, and then take advantage of them

Eight-year-old Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, a fortune teller predicted that she was destined to become the king's mistress. This predetermined the fate of not only the girl, but the whole of France. Having married and given birth to a child, Jeanne did not burden herself with worries about her daughter. She was interested in something else: the opportunity to be presented to the monarch.

And when she finally managed to get into the palace for a ball in the costume of the goddess of the hunt, she made a splash, the king persistently pursued the stranger. And he was not disappointed when the mask was flirtatiously removed.

But for some time the king hesitated, not trusting his new acquaintance. The question of moving to Versailles was decided after Madame d'Etiol (by her husband) ran into the chambers of the ruler in tears, exclaiming that it would be better to die at the hands of a jealous husband than to leave the love of his life - Louis XV. So she became the official favorite of the king. Soon he gave her the Pompadour estate and the title of marquise.

She did everything to please the monarch. Having learned that the king loves to correspond, she began to write letters to him. Noticing Louis' craving for the fine arts, she invited poets and thinkers, patronized the theater, and played tragic roles herself. Noticing that the king gets bored quickly, she changed costumes and hairstyles. And over time, she took over part of state responsibilities: she met with ambassadors, appointed to government posts and gave orders to the army commanders …

Diane de Poitiers. If there are witches, then here is one of them

They say that for the first time Diana saw the future King Henry when he was 6 years old, and she was 25: he went to Spain for a long time, and the moved Diana kissed the baby on the nose …

Returning to France, 20-year-old Henry II falls in love with 39-year-old widow Diana and declares her his favorite. Despite her age, Diana looked like a young and very beautiful girl, and evil tongues attributed her connection to the devil. Having become the first lady of the kingdom, Diana masterfully weaves intrigues: she gets rid of the courtiers who were under the influence of the former favorite, but retains the appearance of friendly relations with Catherine de Medici, the king's wife.

Having learned that the advisers are offering the king a divorce due to the fact that the Medici have no children, Diana persuades Henry to more often fulfill his marital duty. Therefore, the next ruler, Francis II, owes his birth to Diana.

The king did not make a single decision without consulting her. It is said that she was the only royal mistress in history who managed to completely subjugate the king. She even corresponded with other monarchs and the Pope as a full-fledged representative of the monarch.

Scientists recently examined the remains of the famous royal mistress and found 250 times the normal gold content in them. Perhaps Diana really took some kind of drink prepared by the alchemists, but the history did not keep the recipe.

Wallis Simpson. A real adventurer

Bessie Wallis Warfield from American Baltimore, before meeting the Prince of Wales, the future king, seemed to go through all the circles of hell: she was an illegitimate child, in childhood she learned the delights of a beggarly life. In her first marriage, she suffered beatings from her alcoholic husband - a sadist, who tormented her with his jealousy. True, her loyalty was not perfect either.

And one more dark page in her biography. After the divorce, she ended up in China. Rumor has it that here Wallis did not shy away from dubious connections and mastered the art of seduction of feng chang in brothels.

The second marriage was clearly concluded by calculation: the good-natured businessman Ernest Simpson lived in London and was well-known for high society.

Thanks to his connections, the Prince of Wales met with 40-year-old American Wallis Simpson. Love at first sight? Perhaps. But only from the prince's side. According to her contemporaries, the American woman used all her charms to seduce a weak-willed man and struggled to become a queen.

Having ascended the throne, Edward VIII did not change his decision to marry. It seemed that Wallis's dream had almost come true, but the king's entourage presented him with a choice: either an American or a throne. Edward VIII renounced, receiving in return a hysterical remark from his future wife: “Fool! You stupid fool! …