Diane Adélaïde de Mailly

Diane Adélaïde de Mailly, duchesse de Lauraguais (11 February 1713 – Paris, November 3, 1769) was the third of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become the mistress of King Louis XV of France. She was his first mistress as King.

Diane Adélaïde was born the third daughter of Louis de Mailly, marquis de Nesle et de Mailly, Prince d'Orange (1689–1767), and his wife, Armande Félice de La Porte Mazarin (1691–1729). Her parents had been married in 1709. Her mother was the daughter of Paul Jules de La Porte, duc Mazarin et de La Meilleraye (1666–1731), the son of the famous adventuress, Hortense Mancini, the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Diane Adélaïde had four full sisters:

The only one of the de Nesle sisters not to become one of Louis XV's mistresses was the marquise de Flavacourt. Louise Julie was the first sister to attract the king followed by Pauline Félicité, but it was Marie Anne who was the most ambitious of them all and who was the most successful in manipulating him and becoming politically powerful due his inexperience in governing, his lack of confidence, and his timidity.

Diane Adélaïde also had a younger half-sister, Henriette de Bourbon (1725–1780), Mademoiselle de Verneuil, from her mother's relationship with the duc de Bourbon, the chief minister of Louis XV from 1723 to 1726.

In her youth, Diane Adélaïde was known as Mademoiselle de Montcavrel. In January 1742, she married, as his second wife, Louis de Brancas, duc de Lauraguais, duc et pair de Villars (born 1714). Not noted for her intelligence, Madame de Lauraguais once said, "my husband cheated on me, so I'm not even sure to be the mother of my children."

She was a dame du palais of Queen Marie Leszczyńska.

In 1726, Diane Adélaïde's oldest sister, Louise Julie, wed her cousin, Louis Alexandre de Mailly, comte de Mailly. Shortly thereafter she caught the attention of King Louis XV, and was permitted by her husband to become a royal mistress. Although she became the king's mistress in 1732, Madame de Mailly was not officially recognized as his maîtresse en titre until 1738. Louise Julie did not use her new position at court to enrich herself or to interfere in politice.

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