Pauline Félicité de Mailly

Pauline Félicité de Mailly-Nesle (1712–1741), marquise de Vintimille, was the second of the five famous de Nesle sisters, four of whom would become mistresses of King Louis XV of France.

Pauline Félicité was born the second 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. Pauline Félicité 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 successful in manipulating him and becoming politically powerful.

Pauline Félicité 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, Pauline Félicité was known as Mademoiselle de Nesle.

In 1738, Pauline wrote to her elder sister, Madame de Mailly, the king's official mistress, asking to be invited to court. She received the invitation, and during her stay proceeded to seduce the king, who fell passionately in love with her.

Mademoiselle de Nesle then became the second official mistress of Louis XV, although her sister kept the position of maîtresse en titre. The king lavished her with gifts, the greatest being the castle of Choisy-le-Roi, newly decorated in blue and silver. To provide her an appropriate status at court, the king arranged for her to marry a nobleman only too pleased to leave the couple alone. On 28 September 1739, Mademoiselle de Nesle married Jean Baptiste Félix Hubert de Vintimille, marquis de Vintimille, comte du Luc (born 1720), who departed to the country after their wedding. The new marquise de Ventimille soon became pregnant by the king.

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