The most bizarre ménage à trois in history. Henri, second son of François I, married the Pope’s niece Catherine de Medici. They were both 14.
From childhood Henri had been obsessed with Diane de Poitiers, a respectable widow literally old enough to be his mother. Finally Diane succumbed to his advances when Henri was 19 and she was 38. (It helped that he was now heir to the throne after the death of his older brother).
While Diane appeared to be the de facto mother in law , Catherine de Medici was under no illusions. It was a torrid affair in private and Catherine knew that from watching them through a hole in the ceiling.
The strange relationship between the two women is an unlikely tale. The queen’s close friends advised all sorts of revenge plots but she waited, hoping the aging process would come into play to dethrone her rival. However Diane’s strict fitness and diet regime saw to it that she kept the King devoted right up to his death when she was almost 60.
Henri had always been judgemental about his father’s love life. The age difference with Diane allowed him to keep up the pretence he was different but in fact, unlike his father, he had two illegitimate children that he recognised.
Henri and Catherine had been married for five years without any sign of an heir. Away at war in Italy, Henri had a very brief affair (a single night, it appears) with Filippa Duci, resulting in the birth of a daughter. She was named Diane and proudly brought back to France as proof Henri could father children. She grew up at the French court and married the Pope’s grandson who died in battle five weeks later. Diane later married François de Montmorency, the son of one of her father’s closest friends.
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.
