Louise d'Aumont

Who was Louise d'Aumont?

Louise d'Aumont, duchesse d'Aumont, duchesse Mazarin et de La Meilleraye was the only child and daughter of Louis Marie d'Aumont, duc d'Aumont, and his wife, Louise Jeanne de Durfort, duchesse Mazarin et de La Meilleraye.

She married Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco, on 15 July 1777 in Paris.

The couple had two children both of whom in turn ruled Monaco: Prince Honoré V and Prince Florestan I. Following their incarceration during the French Revolution the marriage of Honoré IV and Louise ended in divorce in 1798. On 28 March 1794, Louise gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Amélie Céleste Erodore d'Aumont. Louise married secondly René François Tirnand-d'Arcis on 6 February 1801. This marriage too ended in divorce in 1803.

Louise d'Aumont Mazarin was a direct descendant of Hortense Mancini, the mistress of King Charles II of England, who was the sole heiress of her uncle, King Louis XIV's chief minister Cardinal Mazarin.

Through their descent from Louise and her mother, the princely family of Monaco now lays claim to the wealth and estates bequeathed by Cardinal Mazarin, including the Duchy of Rethel, and the Principality of Château-Porcien.