Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier—Europe’s Richest Single Princess

Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans holding a portrait of her father the late Duke of Orléans. Image from Wikimedia Commons

In 17th century France, there were only three “grand” personalities in the family: Louis XIV, known as Louis le Grand; Louis, le Grand Conde, perhaps the greatest military leader of that period; and Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, who would pass on in history as France’s Le Grande Mademoiselle. The leading figure during the Fronde rebellion, her grandness was made possible by the fact that she was then the richest princess in all of Europe.

La Grande Mademoiselle was born on May 29, 1627 at the Palais du Louvre in Paris, France, the only daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, and his first wife, Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier. Her mother died five days after giving birth to her, leaving Anne Marie the sole heiress to Marie de Bourbon’s vast fortune, which included the Principality of Dombes, the Dauphinate of Auvergne, as well as five duchies. Instantly, she became one of the richest people in France.

Anne Marie Louise, being the eldest daughter of her father, who was known as Monsieur, was officially called Mademoiselle since the day of her birth. Since Anne Marie Louise was the granddaughter of Henry IV, a King of France, her uncle King Louis XIII had created and given her the title petite-fille de France, which translates to “Granddaughter of France”. She was particularly close to her uncle King Louis XIII and his wife Anne of Austria, who had gone through three stillbirths, calling them mon petit papa and mon petit mama, respectively.

Anne Marie Louise was placed under the care and tutelage of Jeanne de Harlay, Madame de Saint Georges, who taught her how to read and write. Her education was considered to be seriously lacking. When Queen Anne gave birth to the future King Louis XIV on September 1638, Anne Marie Louise was utterly ecstatic that she called him “her little husband”, much to the amusement of Louis XIII. Cardinal Richelieu, however, was not happy with the remark that he sent the duchess back to Paris.


One of the most popular and revered chapters of Anne Marie Louise’s life was her involvement in Fronde, a series of civil wars in France that occurred between 1648 and 1653. She journeyed to Bordeaux with her friend, Claire Clémence de Brézé, Madame la Princesse, and was instrumental in ending the siege and achieving peace in the city.

Her attempt to put a halt to the second part of Fronde, however, was rather unsuccessful. Anne Marie Louise travelled to Orléans to represent her father, however, was denied entry from the city gates. Luckily, a boatman offered to take her to a gate on the river, the Porte de La Faux. After successfully climbing through a gap in the gate, she was greeted enthusiastically by townsfolk who carried her on a chair and paraded her through the streets for everyone to see. She stayed there for five weeks before returning to Paris. Fearing for her safety, she then went into exile at her Saint-Fargeau residence. There, Anne Marie Louise was able to muster a short biography, Madame de Fouquerolles, despite her bad spelling and grammar.

Also, while at her place of exile, Anne Marie Louise discovered that her father had been dishonest towards her regarding her finances, which left her with an accumulated debt of 800,000 livres. She would later forgive him despite his financial misdemeanors.

Once, Charles, the Prince of Wales, had expressed his attraction towards the Anne Marie Louise, however such thing never materialized despite the blessing of her aunt, Queen Henrietta Maria of England. Also, her plea to marry the widower, Emperor Ferdinand III, was ignored by Queen Anne. Her participation in Fronde meant she was left with little to no chance of marrying her “little husband”, Louis XIV. Anne Marie Louise once toyed with the idea of tying the knot with another cousin, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, however his homosexuality got in the way of a possible marriage.

Her father’s death in 1660 made Anne Marie Louise even wealthier. Being Gaston’s eldest daughter, she was automatically his principal heiress, leaving her some enormous amount of fortune.

King Louis XIV arranged for her to marry Alfonso VI of Portugal, an offer that Anne Marie Louise had bluntly refused, saying she would rather stay in France with her immense estates and income than be wedded to someone rumored to be alcoholic, paralytic, and impotent. Her disobedience caused the ire of her cousin, who sent her into exile at the Château d'Eu in Normandy. A year later, she appealed to Louis XIV for her return to the court. The king relented to her request, but not without proposing to marry another man in the name of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, the former husband of Françoise Madeleine, her younger half-sister. Though Mademoiselle seemed interested, Charles Emmanuel was not, making numerous excuses.

Anne Marie Louise found herself deeply in love with Antoine Nompar de Caumont duc de Lauzun, a poor nobleman known for his “sex appeal” despite being "the smallest man God ever made". He was also close to the king. Louis XIV initially permitted for them to marry; the king, however, would later reverse his decision due to pressure from court, telling the outraged Mademoiselle that “kings must please the public”.

In 1671, Lauzun was arrested and sent to Pignerol fortress sans any official reason. Anne Marie Louise did everything in her power to free the love of her life, selling two of her most profitable lands, not realizing that she was only buying the poor man’s freedom as well as his right to live in her estates while in exile. Despite her efforts, still, she and Lauzun would not end up with each other.

She died on April 5, 1693 at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, France, a month after suffering from stoppage of the bladder. Lauzun asked to see Anne Marie Louise for the last time, but due to her pride, the duchess refused to admit him. She was 65 years old. The “Granddaughter of France” was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis. Anne Marie Louise died unmarried and childless, leaving her massive fortune to her cousin, Philippe of France. At her funeral, she was noted as "the wealthiest single princess of Europe".