Jeanne, Queen of Navarre, negotiated the marriage of her son Henri with Catherine de Medici’s daughter Marguerite. Jeanne died shortly before the wedding which meant that the nineteen year old was now Henri III, King of Navarre and his new bride was the Queen of Navarre.
The marriage was a disaster and they lived separate lives. One thing they had in common was that their individual love lives became legendary , inspiring authors from Shakespeare to Dumas, as well as numerous movies including “La Reine Margot”. Henri is reported to have had 33 mistresses. He came to be called the “Vert Galant”, which in French is a complimentary expression and a much nicer way of saying, “dirty old man”.
The best known of his mistresses was Gabrielle d’Estrées.
When he became King of France Henri had his marriage to Marguerite annulled. He married Marie de Medici. They had 5 children. Two of Henri’s grandsons would become Kings – Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England.
