Anne of Austria’s marriage to Louis XIII was unhappy to say the least. This was not helped by the fact it took more than 16 years for Anne to finally produce an heir to the throne. When her son Louis XIV inherited the throne at the age of five, Anne managed to overturn her late husband’s wishes and became Regent of France during his minority. She endured all sorts of political intrigue and ensured that her son was able to rule independently when the time came.
Unlike the two previous Queen Mothers who had also been Regents, she did not build her own Paris residence (Catherine de Medici had built the Tuileries Palace and Marie de Medici the Luxembourg Palace). Anne decided to become the benefactor of Val de Grace, a nunnery where she maintained an apartment.
Anne had apartments at all the royal residences. Visitors can walk through her lovely summer apartment at the Louvre, with the bedroom overlooking the Seine, although only the ceilings are original.
She redesigned the Queen Mother’s apartment at Fontainebleau which had been used previously by Catherine de Medici and Marie de Medici.
150 years later it was used by Napoleon to accommodate the Pope.
When his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 66 Louis XIV was grief stricken. A councillor tried to comfort him by saying what a great queen she had been. Louis replied:
“No monsieur, she was more than a great Queen. She was a great King.“
