0:00:06 > 0:00:09Bonjour! And welcome to Inside Versailles.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Well, a pretty thrilling episode, lots of excitement.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14And there's a new girl on the block
0:00:14 > 0:00:19and that is the marvellous Liselotte - married to Philippe.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22And we're joined by Dr Linda Kiernan.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Why choose her? She's from a very minor part of Europe.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Why pick her as a wife for the brother of the King of France?
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Like all diagnostic marriages, they are played for the higher stakes.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37And they are playing for, basically, their power position within Europe.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40So for that reason, royal marriages are obviously never to do with
0:00:40 > 0:00:43the matches of the two individuals concerned.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44And, I mean, even that is reflected
0:00:44 > 0:00:46in the fact that they are married by proxy.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49They are already married by the time that they meet.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53So it shows, again, that there is negotiation,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55there are treaties involved,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59a huge amount of paperwork rather than any affairs of the heart.
0:00:59 > 0:01:00How does Philippe take to his new wife?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Because, obviously, he's slightly shocked.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04We know he's not really into women,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07but one of the things I've read is this first thing he says is,
0:01:07 > 0:01:08"Do I have to sleep with that?"
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Philippe knows what is expected of him,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16that he is an incredibly important part of his brother's statecraft.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Certainly, he's not a fan of the ladies, Philippe,
0:01:19 > 0:01:25but he is ready to do his duty as a husband, and they do get along.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28The other challenge she's got is there is the Chevalier de Lorraine.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30How does she react to having, you know,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33her husband's lover hovering around?
0:01:33 > 0:01:35She's very resilient about it.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37She writes that she doesn't...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41She hardly knows a single marriage or a single man who does not
0:01:41 > 0:01:43- have someone on the side.- Oh!
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Be it mistresses or boys.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49So she's resigned to her a lot and to the marriage.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52But she does console herself with the fact that so many more
0:01:52 > 0:01:57at court are dealing with a third, maybe fourth, fifth party
0:01:57 > 0:01:59in their marriages too.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02So for that reason she is...
0:02:02 > 0:02:05She's putting up with what goes with her husband,
0:02:05 > 0:02:06what goes with Monsieur.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09She's one of our key sources for this period of history.
0:02:09 > 0:02:10You know, one of the people that
0:02:10 > 0:02:13actually tells us what it was like at court, and obviously,
0:02:13 > 0:02:18- she's incredibly funny and frank and quite rude about herself.- Mm-hm.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20I mean, she has a cold at one point and says,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23"I look like a shat-upon carrot," isn't it?
0:02:23 > 0:02:28She doesn't see herself as, you know, overly attractive as such.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30But, I mean she calls herself hideously ugly in her letters.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33And she also asks for her portrait be sent to be sent to her
0:02:33 > 0:02:36and she refers to the portrait in code as the
0:02:36 > 0:02:40- Bear Cat Monkey Face portrait. - Right.- No vanity.- So she's very...
0:02:40 > 0:02:42No vanity there whatsoever.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46She also uses a lot of German idioms in the French language that
0:02:46 > 0:02:50they don't really translate well, even now.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53But she has lots of different lurid stories as well and kind of
0:02:53 > 0:02:57more body stuff, which she talks about at one stays for Philippe,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00that for a man who is supposedly in charge of etiquette,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02they have a passing wind competition.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03OTHERS LAUGH
0:03:03 > 0:03:07And that Monsieur can make a sound like a flute as well, she mentions.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10- An important skill. - And she's this fantastic figure.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13So different to every other woman in court.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17She's almost masculine in her behaviour, her love of exercise.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Was that really incredibly shocking?
0:03:19 > 0:03:23As a young bride, her lady in waiting panicked when she found
0:03:23 > 0:03:26that her trousseau had six shifts and six nightdresses included.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30And she had to scramble together a wider wardrobe before the
0:03:30 > 0:03:34French ladies in waiting found out and spread the rumours around court.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37So in terms of fashion and beauty,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39she's very different in that respect.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41She doesn't really fit in in the beauty of court.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45How did she get on with the epitome of glamour, which is Athenais?
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- She doesn't like her.- Oh. - She calls her a desperate woman.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53She views Montespan as being just after ambition and whatever she can
0:03:53 > 0:03:54get out of the position itself.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- She's a gold digger. - She's a gold digger, so she thinks.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59She does believe that Louise de La Valliere
0:03:59 > 0:04:02was genuinely in love with the king, but she views Montespan
0:04:02 > 0:04:04as a different kettle of fish.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07How does she bear the fact that basically in terms of precedence,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09it's the queen, the number one woman,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12then it's the maitresse-en-titre, and then she comes third?
0:04:12 > 0:04:16She doesn't handle it well, from her private correspondence.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20She... It's one thing that she constantly harps on about.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Having to walk behind Montespan.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26But just precedence in general, even for a woman who's very earthy,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30who seems to have the simpler tastes in life - she likes cabbage
0:04:30 > 0:04:33instead of chocolate, for instance.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36She's at the top level of the royal family.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39And, certainly, when she sees these usurpers wheedling their way
0:04:39 > 0:04:44in amongst the lineage and in amongst the levels of precedence,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46she doesn't like it whatsoever.
0:04:46 > 0:04:52And how does Louis react to this German princess arriving?
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Because, obviously, he's picked her but now she's at court.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Does he find it a bit, slightly disconcerting
0:04:57 > 0:04:59or is he actually rather amused by her?
0:04:59 > 0:05:03In her letters she's very admiring of Louis XIV.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06She seems to have been cast under his spell.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10She seems to have been very much part of his inner circle
0:05:10 > 0:05:11for things like hunting.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15The whole kind of elaborate hunting outfit that she wore out with him
0:05:15 > 0:05:17gets her into some trouble actually
0:05:17 > 0:05:19in one of her first hunting trips with the king.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Her dress gets caught underneath her on her horse.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23As she tries to pull it out,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28the horse bolts and it is Louis who arrives on the scene,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31ensures that she's totally fine, checks her skull,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34checks everything, goes back with her to the palace,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36stays with her to make sure that she doesn't get dizzy.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40So he seems to have been quite attentive to her.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Well, I think we're all fans of Liselotte
0:05:42 > 0:05:44and I'm hoping to see a lot more of her in this series.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Thank you so much for coming to talk about her, she's an absolute star.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49And thank you for joining us tonight.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Hopefully, you'll come back for more next week.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Until then, bonsoir.- Bonsoir!