Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine | |||||
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Chevalier de Lorraine | |||||
Born | 1643 | ||||
Died | 8 December 1702 Paris, France |
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Issue Detail |
Alexandre bâtard de Lorraine | ||||
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Father | Henri of Lorraine | ||||
Mother | Marguerite Philippe du Cambout |
Full name | |
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Philippe de Lorraine |
Philippe of Lorraine, called the Chevalier de Lorraine (1643 – 8 December 1702) was a French nobleman and member of the House of Guise, cadet of the Ducal House of Lorraine. He was the renowned lover of Philippe de France, Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV.
Philippe was the second son of the Count and Countess of Harcourt. His father, Henri of Lorraine, was created the Count of Harcourt in 1605, aged 4. Henri was also the Grand Squire of France, a prestigious charge of the royal stables, the transport of the king and his ceremonial entourage. He was known as Monsieur le Grand. His mother, Marguerite-Philippe du Cambout, was a member of the old House of Cambout, who traced their ancestry back to the Sovereign Dukes of Brittany (11th century–1547).
His oldest brother, Louis, was Count of Armagnac and husband of Catherine de Neufville, the youngest daughter of Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy, governor of a young Louis XIV. She was a sister of François de Neufville de Villeroy, the future governor of Louis XV.
Philippe was the titulary Abbot of four abbeys: Saint-Père-en-Vallée in the Diocese of Chartres, Tiron, Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire et Saint-Jean-des-Vignes de Soissons.
Known to be "as beautiful as an angel", Philippe became Monsieur's lover in 1658, while living at the Palais-Royal in Paris, where the young Princess Henriette Anne of England was living with her mother Queen Henriette Marie. The two Henriettes had fled England due to the English Civil War and had lived at the Palais-Royal as a grace and favour residence.