Amy Brown (royal mistress)

Amy Brown
Portrait of Amy Brown by an unknown artist
Born	8 April 1783 Maidstone, Kent, England
Died	7 May 1876 (aged 93) Chateau de La Contrie, France
Spouse	Mr. Freeman Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry
Issue	Georgina Emma Marshall George Granville Brown John Freeman Robert Freeman Charlotte Marie de Bourbon, Comtesse d'Issoudun Louise Marie de Bourbon, Comtesse de Vierzon
Father	John L. Brown
Mother	Mary Ann Deacon

Amy Brown (8 April 1783 – 7 May 1876) was the English mistress of Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, younger son of King Charles X of France and Marie Thérèse of Savoy. Some authors have stated that they married in a secret ceremony which was conducted in England by her father, a Protestant pastor, but there is no evidence of it. Together they had two daughters; however, when he returned to France, he was constrained to put an end to his relationship for reasons of state.

Amy Brown was born on 8 April 1783 in Maidstone, Kent, England, as the fifth child of eight born to John L. (in other sources named Joseph) Brown, a Protestant pastor, and his wife Mary Ann Deacon. By 1793, Amy's four older siblings had died in infancy or early youth, and thus she became the eldest surviving child of her parents.

On 10 January 1804 Amy gave birth a daughter, named Georgina Emma Marshall. Her second child, a son named Georges Granville Brown, was born on 20 February 1805 and ten months later, on 25 December, a third child, another son named John Freeman was also born. Apparently this last child was born in a legitimate marriage with a certain Mr. Freeman. Nothing further is recorded of her husband or his subsequent fate; however, author David Skuy describes Amy as having been a widow when she first met the duke.

Amy met Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry in 1805 in London, three years after the Bourbon royal family was exiled to England. As her son had been born in December of that year, it was likely that they had first met while she was pregnant, although the exact date of their meeting is not known. In late 1806 or early 1807, Amy gave birth to another son, named Robert Freeman; his surname established that Amy's husband appears as the official father, although is probable that the Duke of Berry was the biological father of both John and Robert Freeman, but never recognised them. Robert died young, in 1823.

Amy perhaps married Charles Ferdinand in a secret ceremony conducted by her father in 1806, without the duke having first obtained permission from his family and ignoring the fact that as a non-Catholic, no son of Amy's could ever ascend the French throne. As it turned out, they did not have a son (with the controversial exception of John and Robert Freeman), although Amy bore the duke two daughters: