Madame De Montesson

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou (4 October 1738 - 6 February 1806) was a mistress to Louis Philippe d'Orléans, duc d'Orléans, and ultimately, his wife; however, Louis XV would not allow her to become the duchesse. She wrote and acted in several plays. She is known simply as Madame de Montesson. Charlotte-Jeanne Béraud de La Haye de Riou was born in Paris of an old Breton family. On 11 October 1757, she married the seventy-year old widower Jean-Baptiste, marquis de Montesson, who died in 1769. Her beauty and intelligence attracted the attention of the widowed Louis Philippe d'Orléans, the fat (his wife Louise Henriette de Bourbon had died in 1759), whom she secretly married in 1773 with the authorisation of Louis XV of France. After her marriage to the Duke of Orléans, a member of the royal family and a Prince du Sang, her low rank did not allow her the title of Duchess of Orléans.