THE MENAGE A TROIS –
HENRI II, CATHERINE DE MEDICI, DIANE DE POITIERS
Here’s how the story goes –
IT STARTED WITH A KISS…
As fate would have it, among her entourage to greet Francois on his release from Spain, François’ mother Louise had another lady in waiting beside the future Duchess d’Etampes. Her name was Diane de Poitiers.
Part of the deal with his captor Charles V was that François’ two sons would take his place as hostages in Spain until the terms of his release had been met.
FRANÇOIS’ TWO ELDEST SONS
François’ elder son and heir was eight years old and it was shortly before his second son Henri’s seventh birthday. Louise accompanied her grandsons to Bayonne where the handover was to take place.
Naturally there was more concern shown for the elder son who was heir to the throne. One of Louise’ ladies noticed the younger boy, who was already more timid and reserved, and she reached out to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead as he was taken away.
It was a kiss Henri would never forget. Someone had made him feel special. When he returned from captivity in Spain he was eleven. He saw what he regarded as “his lady” regularly because she was part of the court.
One day François confided in her he was worried that the period of imprisonment had affected his second son more than the first and that he needed help to adjust to court life. The elder son who was fifteen, already had a mistress. Henri was reserved and only seemed interested in sport. She told the king: “Trust me, Sire. I will make him my gentleman”. She became a sort of mother figure.
No one expected Henri would become king and no one, apart from Henri himself, expected
that this noblewoman, Diane de Poitiers, would become his mistress less than five years
later.