Louise de Querouaille

September 1649 (Britanny) - 14 November 1739 (Paris). Full name: Louise Renée de Penancoët de Quérouaille/Kérouaille/Kéroualle. Duchess of Portsmouth, Countess of Fareham and Lady Petersfield. Mistress of Charles II of England.

French Origin

Louise was born in France, daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Sieur de Kéroualle. Because of this, she was later rumored to be a French spy. Although Louis XIV might have thought of her as a weapon, she didn’t fulfill her task of being a Trojan horse. Overall, the French authorities supported the affair with Charles II. She had a great Francophile influence at the English court. By becoming a mistress to Charles II, the duchess established the ground of future Anglo-French alliance [really? the mother of Charles was French, his sister was married in France. The claim that it was Querouaille who helped forge alliances has to be justified]. At French court, she was named “La Belle Bretonne”.

Mistress to Charles II

Louise was a maid in the household of Henriette Anne Stuart, the King's sister, in 1668. She had accompanied her to England in 1670. She arrived at court in England in 1670 and lost her virginity to the king. She first met Charles at Dover in 1672 [chronology somehow not correct]. She gave birth to a son in July 1672 after the seduction in October 1671 at Euston Hall [chronology still not correct]. When his sister died, the king made Louise de Querouaille “lady-in-waiting” of his wife Catherine of Braganza. Charles claimed that he was not attracted to her [why did she become his mistress, then?]. He called her “Fubbs” which means plump or chubby. She also had a heart-shaped face, a small mouth, a long nose and was not regarded as sexually attractive [sources?].

The son of de Querouaille and Charles was named Charles Lennox. He was made Duke of Richmond. Since she grew up with poor parents, she recognized the importance of money. Louise even manipulated Danby to sign documents to make her son gain precedence over another mistress, Barbara Palmer. It is rumored that she made more than £10,000 per year [source?]. Additionally, she was given a total of 24 rooms and 16 garrets.

Louise wanted to marry the king to make her son the heir of the king, but he was not interested [sources?]. She was associated with tears and hysterics and called “weeping willow” or “Squintabella” by Nell Gwyn who happened to be her rival. The Duchess of Portsmouth was a manipulator: she threatened suicide to avoid losing the King's favor [source?]. She was different to other mistresses because of her finesse and domesticity [what?! source?]. Charles II was not a romantic, he was rather looking for a confidante which is the reason why she failed being a Trojan horse to Louis XIV. She stayed with him until his death, consequently she is described as “mistress of his declining years” [source?]. After the King's death on 6 February 1685, she went back to France.

In contrast to Barbara Palmer, the Duchess was purposefully very respectful to the Queen. Hence, Catherine of Braganza protected her from the Test Act of 1678. The Queen put her name on a list of people who should not be harmed.

References

• Abbott, Wilbur C. “The Long Parliament of Charles II (Continued).” The English Historical Review, vol. 21, no. 81, 1906, pp. 21–56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/549415. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.
• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Louise-Renée de Kéroualle, duchess of Portsmouth". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louise-Renee-de-Keroualle-Duchess-of-Portsmouth. Accessed 21 November 2022.
• Ferguson, Abbey. "THE UNCROWNED QUEENS." (2016). https://ec.msvu.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/013f446f-4f42-4ce7-b510-2bb565d984b1/content.
• Fraser, Antonia. King Charles II. Hachette UK, 2011.
• Melo, João Vicente. “Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705).” Lives in Transit in Early Modern England: Identity and Belonging, edited by Nandini Das, Amsterdam University Press, 2022, pp. 61–68. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2fzkpnj.12. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.