HENRI II
Unlike his two brothers, Henri had always had a strained relationship with his father François. He did not get on at all with François’ mistress the Duchess d’Étampes.
Henri and Catherine de Medici had been married almost three years when Henri’s brother François, heir to the French throne, died unexpectedly. Henri was now 17 years old and heir to the throne. There was renewed focus on the need for Henri and Catherine to produce children.
The pressure on Catherine intensified the following year. Henri had accompanied his father to war in Italy and had a very brief affair (one night it seems) with a young Italian girl named Filippa Duci. He was soon delighted to learn she had become pregnant. The daughter was named Diane and brought to France where she became part of her father’s court.
It would be more than five years before Henri and Catherine had their first child, the son and
future heir to the French throne who was named François after his grandfather.
Francois I died three years later and Henri II became King of France on his 28 th birthday.
Henri went on with his father François’ building works at the Louvre .
Henri II’s emblem appears on the section of the Louvre constructed during his reign. The H for Henri is interlaced with either a C for Catherine or a D for Diane, depending on who is telling the story. Henri probably enjoyed the ambiguity.
On buildings Catherine took ownership or built after Henri’s death (such as the Medici column in Paris) there is no question of a “D” for Diane.
It’s here you can see this large Henri II style* bed in the bed chamber he took over from his father.
*This was the original style of Henri II’s era, not to be confused with the “Henri II style” introduced into French décor in the 19th century as part of what was known as the “Second French Renaissance”. The Chateau of Amboise has renamed the “Henri II bedroom” to the “King’s Bedroom” to reflect the fact that other Kings, including François I, used the bed chamber.
At the age of 40 Henri was participating in a jousting tournament on what is now rue St Antoine, near Place des Vosges in Paris. As usual he was wearing his mistress Diane’s colours – black and white.