DIANE DE POITIERS
Diane de Poitiers married Louis de Brézé in 1515, the year François I became King. Louis had occupied a number of important positions at the French Court under the two previous Kings and François was happy for him to continue in these roles, which included Sénéshal (administrator) of Normandy.
Louis was a fifty two year old widower. Diane was fifteen years old. She joined the household of François’ mother Louise, later becoming a lady in waiting.
In spite of the age difference, the marriage was happy. They had two daughters and there was never any whiff of scandal.
François was a regular visitor to their main residence, the Chateau d’Anet. It was there he signed the proposal to the Pope for the marriage of his second son Henri, who was 12 at the time, to Catherine de Medici. Two months later, Louis de Brézé died at the age of 68. Diane was now a widow at the age of 31. She organised her husband’s funeral at Rouen Cathedral.
François’ mother Louise died a month after Louis de Brézé was interred. Diane’s position as
lady in waiting was transferred to the new Queen Eleonore.
The following year Diane was part of the court when they met with Henry VIII of England in Boulogne and Calais. Henry VIII was accompanied by Anne Boleyn whom he wished to marry. He was seeking François’ help with the Pope to negotiate the annulment of his marriage. François was accompanied by his sons who formerly thanked Henry VIII for his part in securing their release from captivity in Spain.
François confided in Diane that he was worried about his second son who didn’t seem interested in women, unlike his older brother. Henri was introverted and seemed to be only interested in sport. Diane, whose daughters were about the same age as Henri, reassured François. She said she would make young Henri her “galant” – a gentleman in the chivalrous sense.
Diane was supportive of the marriage of Henri to Catherine. They were related – Catherine’s
mother was Diane’s father’s first cousin. When Catherine arrived in France she would have seen Diane acting in an almost mother substitute role with Henri.
Diane, like François’ mother Louise, had made the choice to never remarry after the death of
her husband. Like Louise, she made this a public statement by always dressing in black trimmed with white. Henri adopted her colours. She presented to world as a virtuous mother figure but behind closed doors, that all changed. Within six months of Henri becoming heir to the French Throne they became lovers.
Diane was 37 and Henri was 19.
They kept up appearances but Catherine was not deceived. She could not fathom her husband’s interest in a woman literally old enough to be his mother. (That changed when she spied on them from a room above). Diane on the other hand, insisted on Henri sleeping regularly with Catherine because the birth of an heir to the throne was essential. It was not in her best interests for Catherine to be replaced by someone who could threaten her.
Diane’s relationship with François’ mistress the Duchess d’Etampes was filled with animosity. At one stage Diane was sent from the court to her residence at Anet. Henri was outraged and left the court himself until she was reinstated.
When François died, Diane’s world changed. Henri was now king. He made her the Duchess of Valentinois and showered her with gifts. He settled a dispute over Anet in her favour and rebuilt de Brézé’s Chateau d’Anet in the Renaissance style.
Henri gave her other lands including Chenonceau which she turned into a model of business
based on agriculture.
Her bed there is just one of an impressive collection which includes queens, princesses and king’s mistresses.
Henri described these as overdue payments to her, owed from her late husband’s service to
the crown, which was probably justified. In the documents she is referred to as his cousin*
*In fact, in addition to Catherine’s relationship to Diane with their parents being first cousins, Louis de Brézé was the great grandson of French King Charles VII by his mistress Agnes de Sorel.
Catherine and Diane joined forces to eliminate the threat caused by Jane Stuart, aka Lady Fleming, a member of Marie Queen of Scots’ entourage. Henri started an affair with Jane while Diane was indisposed with a broken leg. Jane thought her future was secure when she announced she was pregnant. Diane was furious. Jane was packed off home to Scotland with the baby who was named Henri after his father. He returned to France nine years later after the death of his father. He was accepted by the French royal family. He was officially called the “Bastard of Angouleme” and given important positions by his brothers who each became King.
Catherine waited in vain for the aging process to eliminate her rival but it didn’t happen. One
explanation for her legendary beauty was that Diane was given the secret of eternal youth by an old lady she rescued from drowning. Realistically, Diane was literally centuries ahead of her time. She went horse riding at dawn and had ice cold baths every morning. She was careful with her diet and made sure she had a lot of sleep. She was a remarkable swimmer and one of the first to use hydrotherapy. However the discovery of her skeleton in 2010 revealed the secret to her timeless beauty – a daily dose of liquid gold.
After Henri died, Diane returned to her Château d’Anet where she died seven years later at the age of 66.
At that stage, Catherine de Medici had finally found herself in the leading role, but there were a few hurdles to overcome.