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Louise Renee de Kérouaille

Louise Renee de Kérouaille

Female 1649 - 1734  (85 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Louise Renee de Kérouaille 
    Birth 1649 
    Gender Female 
    Death 14 Nov 1734  Paris, Île-de-France, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 1 Sibling 
    Person ID I32860  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2008 

    Father Comte Guillaume de Penancoët   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Marie-Anne de Ploeuc de Timeur   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F164435  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family King Charles II Stuart,   b. 29 May 1630, St. James Palace, London Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Feb 1685, Whitehall, Westminster, London Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Children 
    +1. Duke Charles Lennox,   b. 29 Jul 1672   d. 27 May 1723 (Age 50 years)
    Family ID F13781  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 15 Jan 2010 

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 14 Nov 1734 - Paris, Île-de-France, France Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 
    Pin Legend  : Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  • Notes 
    • As a young girl she was placed in the household of the Duchess of Orleans. However, she resented being a Maid of Honour to an Englishwoman as she regarded herself as noble, which she was, though she belonged to an impoverished Breton family. In 1670 the Duchess went to Dover to meet her brother, the English King Charles II. This meeting resulted not only in the Treaty of Dover, which was signed on 22 May 1670, but also in the infatuation of Charles with Louise de Kerouaille who had come to England as an attendant to the Duchess.
      The king wanted Louise to remain in England but his sister Henrietta insisted on taking her back to France. However, Henrietta died suddenly only a few weeks later and Louis XIV at once sent Louise back to England. Charles II brought her from Calais to England on a royal yacht and soon she was established at the English Court. Louis XIV had sent her both as a spy and a means of turning Charles II into an ally. After some feigned reluctance she went to Euston Hall, and here she was visited by Charles II who then turned her into his mistress. Exactly nine months later, on 29 July 1672, she gave birth to a son, Charles Lennox.
      Louise was gentle but also sly and intriguing, aware of her position and importance. In 1673 she was created Duchess of Portsmouth while in 1675 her son was made Duke of Richmond. Of all Charles II's mistresses she was the only one involved with politics, commanding respect and cooperation from statesman and ambassadors. She encountered the needling of the Duchess of Cleveland and Nell Gwyn, the hatred of the English people and Charles II's philandering, but still for many years she was virtually Queen of England. In December 1674 the news was received of the execution of the Chevalier de Rohan. He had fallen into disgrace at the French Court, was financially ruined and, it was discovered, was in treasonable negotiations with the Dutch. As a result he was beheaded on 27 November 1674. This news made Louise go into mourning to indicate she was a near relative of this scion of one of France's most important families.
      The following day Nell Gwyn also appeared in deepest black and was asked, in the hearing of Louise, for whom she had assumed these habiliments of woe. "Why!" she said, "have you not heard of my loss in the death of the Cham of Tartary?" And when asked how she was related to the Cham of Tartary she replied: "Exactly the same relation that the Chevalier de Rohan was to the Duchess of Portsmouth." However, Louise was a third cousin of Louis de Rohan, Chevalier de Rohan (1635-1674), as well as a descendant of both the English King Henry III and the French King Louis X, of which Louise was probably unaware.
      In extravagance she outdid the Duchess of Cleveland, but the Duchess was vulgar where Louise was refined. However, she was still dissatisfied as she wanted a French title, a 'real' honour. Charles II had to ask Louis XIV who proved to be reluctant. Louis XIV gave her the territory of the duchy of Aubigny but this didn't come with the title she really wanted. It took several years before Louis XIV gave in and, in January 1684, she was created Duchesse d'Aubigny. In the last years of Charles II's life she was in alliance with James and Lawrence Hyde dealing with the secrets of State. When the Duke of York wanted a husband for his daughter Anne, he consulted Louise and she had the French King Louis XIV first approve of George of Denmark.
      On his deathbed Charles II recommended Louise to his brother and concluded with: "Let not poor Nellie starve." Soon afterwards he died and an hour later the new king went to visit Louise to assure her of his protection and friendship. Nevertheless, she decided to return to France, but then a year later returned to England where she stayed until July 1688. When James II lost his crown, Louise lost her English pension. Her son returned to live in England in 1692 and also returned to the Anglican religion.
      From 1692 onwards Louise devoted herself to the care of her estate of Aubigny. However, her love of gambling brought her financial difficulties to the point that Louis XIV had to intervene for her in 1699. As a result she had her French pension increased and in 1721
      was paid 600,000 livres "in consideration of the great services she had rendered France". In 1715 she again went to England but failed to get the hoped-for annuity from King George I. Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth, outlived her contemporaries. She had survived Charles II by forty-nine years and their son by eleven.



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