0:00:06 > 0:00:08Bonjour. Welcome to Inside Versailles,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10where we'll be chatting more about the history
0:00:10 > 0:00:12behind the show we've just seen.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15- And it's a really exciting start, isn't it?- Amazing episode.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Power, intrigue, glamour, amazing costumes
0:00:18 > 0:00:20and quite a lot of bedroom action.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Absolutely, which I think is valid, because Louis XIV,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25he was known for loving the ladies.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27The most important lady, really, diplomatically,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30we've just seen giving birth to a black baby.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32This is an amazing moment.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34There really was a baby
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and there was some discussion about what colour it was.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It's controversial stuff, but we should talk about the queen herself.
0:00:40 > 0:00:41So here's the queen.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43She is a great diplomatic match
0:00:43 > 0:00:45because she's the Spanish princess.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47She is not really Louis' type.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49She's not witty. She can't speak French.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52She prefers to play with her dogs and her dwarves.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56So Louis very much sees her as someone that he takes for politics,
0:00:56 > 0:00:57but not for love.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59In terms of the scene, we've got so many people
0:00:59 > 0:01:02packed into that bedroom, watching the...you know, the birth.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Oh, public birth was the thing.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06We see the queen in the drama saying, "There's too many people,"
0:01:06 > 0:01:09but actually, for a queen, she had a tiny crowd.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Usually, those birthing chambers were so full of people
0:01:12 > 0:01:14that poor old Marie Antoinette, some years later,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18she had to have the windows open because it was just so overwhelming.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Births were packed out.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21It was an honour, and also people were there
0:01:21 > 0:01:24to make sure that the right baby came and was kept.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26- So no stunt babies brought in. - No stunt babies.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28OK, that's interesting.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29So, Marie-Therese,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31not particularly charismatic,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33which is why, perhaps, Louis is drawn to...
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Somebody else, and that is Henriette-Anne.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38We've got a portrait of her here,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40looking absolutely marvellous.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42We first see her in the drama
0:01:42 > 0:01:45coming out of the water in a sort of 17th-century swimsuit.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47- Yes, although it's not really a swimsuit.- (Not really.)
0:01:47 > 0:01:49It's more her underwear.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51She's English. She's been brought up at the French court.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53She comes here from England aged, what, two?
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Aged two, after her father, Charles I,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58is about to be executed.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01She's sent over, and there she grows up with Louis.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04It's a perfect friendship and he really, really loves her.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Only one tiny problem.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Minor snag is that she's married to his brother,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and, under 17th-century Catholic law,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14there's no such thing as a sister-in-law.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16- You're a sister.- You're a sister.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18So, the idea is, basically,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21that if you're having an affair with your sister, that is a sin.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23That's incest. It's straight to hell.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It is. "Do not pass Go."
0:02:25 > 0:02:27And not even Louis is going to do that.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30No. So, in the drama, we see him quite happily cavorting with her
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and some historians have gone down that path,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36but I think it's more likely there was certainly an emotional affair.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38I think they had a dangerous friendship
0:02:38 > 0:02:40- and it COULD have tipped over.- Yeah.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42But even flirting with your sister-in-law
0:02:42 > 0:02:45is outrageously shocking, and they've got this amazing idea
0:02:45 > 0:02:48to cover up this shocking affair that's going on.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51So what they're going to do, their cunning plan,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54is to use someone as a clever decoy.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56- Yeah, it's a genius plan.- Genius.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Apart from the fact that Louis then falls in love with the decoy.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Well, let's have a look at the decoy.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03And the decoy is this lady here,
0:03:03 > 0:03:04Louise de La Valliere.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07We see her in the drama, giggling at mass with the king.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10- Yes.- And she is the lady-in-waiting to Henriette.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14So the idea is that they're going to pretend that he's flirting with her,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17but really he's going to be flirting with Henriette.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18But it works too well.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Yeah. I mean, she's beautiful. She's young - she's 16 or so -
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and one of the things that Louis loves about her,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and many of his mistresses, is that she loves to hunt and to ride.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28So that's why she's all Diana'd-up here.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29Yes. Diana, goddess of the hunt.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31She can ride, she can shoot, and that's...
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- What more could you want in a girl? - Well, yeah, but it's also useful,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37because you can take her away from the prying eyes of the court.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40You can take her off a few miles out and go "chasing stag",
0:03:40 > 0:03:42but, actually, you're having a lot more fun rolling in the hay.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44What about his 30 promise?
0:03:44 > 0:03:46So this is the thing.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49When he's in his 20s, he promises his mother and his queen
0:03:49 > 0:03:51- that when he hits 30, he's going to stop flirting.- Settle down.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54You know, he's going to be a proper husband and king.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56At the beginning of this drama, he's 29 years old.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59- He's on the threshold of 30. - Oh, carpe diem.- Carpe diem.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Grab those moments.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Carpe ladies, I think is also happening at the moment.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The question is, is he actually going to settle down,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08or is he going to keep with the wandering eye -
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and the wandering hands?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Well, what an episode.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15It's been full of sex and drama and excitement and violence -
0:04:15 > 0:04:16and there's lots more next week.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19So join us next week for more Inside Versailles.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21- Absolutely. Bonsoir.- Bonsoir.