Constance-Émilie de Blois de Penthievre

## Title

### Predecessor

Marie-Augustine Laurene de Rochechouart de Mortemart [Madame la Princesse]Anne Clementine de Blois de Penthievre [Surintendant de la Maison du Dauphine]

## Biography

### House

House of Rohan [By birth]House of Blois de Penthievre [By marriage]

### Spouse

Louis Charles Emmanuel Marie de Blois de Penthievre

### Issue

Louis-Jean ThibaultPrince de Lamballe

Marie-Adèle Athénaïs

Mademoiselle de Rambouillet

Louis François Casimir

Duc de Châteauvillain

### Mother

Marie-Pauline Raphaëlle de Rochechouart de Mortemart

### Siblings

Anne Marguerite de RohanLouis Héraclè de Rohan

Héraclè Mériadec de Rohan

Alexandre Mériadec de Rohan

Henri Louis de Rohan

Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan

Émilie-Pélagie de Rohan

Éléonore Marie de Rohan

Maximilien Gaston de Rohan

Frédéric Paul Malo de Rohan

### Religion

Roman Catholicism

**Constance-Émile de Blois de Penthievre**(21st June 1740 - Present) is a Grandelumierian noblewoman and *Madame la Duchesse*, being the daughter of the late Duc Louis-Maximilien Frédéric de Rohan and Marie-Pauline Raphaëlle de Rohan (née Rochechouart de Mortemart). She is also married to the Monsieur le Duc, Louis Charles de Blois de Penthievere.

## Biography

### **Early Life**

Constance-Émile was born in the sunset hours of the 21st of June, 1740 at the *Chateau d'Argenteuil*. Being a member of the princely Rohans, decended from ancient Breton royalty, she was born a *Princesse Étranger* and granted the title *Mademoiselle de Rohan.*

Very soon after the birth, her father, the celebrated general, *Duc de Rohan* was dispatched to command in Saxony, as the Ten Years War gained traction. Her mother considered a fostering with the Penthievre family at their provincial home of Bizy with the recently born twins *Duc de Berry* and *Mademoiselle de Chartres*, though plans were quickly replaced with more local settlement in the *Hôtel Rohan-Soubise* in Paris with Marie-Jeanne Buzeau, who was previously established as governess to the two elder Rohan children.

### **Adolescence**

After a pleasant early childhood in the suburbs of Paris, during which time her mother insisted on frequent contact, Émile was sent off to the renowned *Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés,* which her mother was educated at, and still favored with her generous patronage. Thus she was given over to a long and thorough education at the convent with her sisters. At age 14, she emerged a well-bred and educated noblewoman, properly mannered and versed in etiquette, skilled in dancing, poetry, singing and at the harp; Émile was the envy of all girls of good birth, and such was reflected in her early years at court following her debut, though she was considered to be *non fluerit*, and inspired little interest from the male courtiers.

### **Engagement**

During Émile's early adulthood, she had fallen in love with the current *Duc de Berry*, Louis Charles Emmanuel Marie. Although very shy and awkward at the time they had met, Émile had still fallen in love with Charles. They had later confessed their love to each other and had a quick engagement on the 21st of May, 1758. The *Madame la Princesse* disagreed with the engagement at first, but later became accepting of it once she realized that Émile was a very educated girl and had much etiquette at court.

### **Marriage**

On the 17th of August, 1758, the couple were married. They had a spectacular wedding with many exotic items and foods. After the wedding, the two had retreated to the Chateau de Bizy where they had made their first child, Louis-Jean Marie. Months after the marriage, while being pregnant, Émile had begged for a Pavillion from Charles. She had excuses for it being a retreat for her to go to when she had stress with the child or a place to go and set her mind free of ideas that she had. Charles had finally accepted her plead and had begun construction a month later on *Le Pavillion Rose*, one of the most extravagant buildings throughout the Empire.

### **After the Marriage**

After being given *Le Pavillion Rose*, Émile had her first child, Louis-Jean Marie. He was born in the early morning hours on the 30th of April, 1759. Although it was Émile's first time giving birth, Jean had come out with ease. After Jean, Émilie had to recover from the pain she had for many months. After these pains, Émile and Charles had began reproduction once more and was pregnant soon after. Marie-Adèle Athénaïs, the second child of Émile and Charles was born in the mid-afternoon hours of the 5th of August, 1760. With her two children, Émile felt much happier than she ever did before. She had cared for her children and visited them at the *Chateau de Bizy* whenever she had gotten the chance. In 1763, Charles had left for his Grand Tour around Europe. Émile was very upset of this, but she had sent him letters each day he was gone and was comforted by her friends and family all the time he was gone. But after this tour, Émile and Charles' marriage had began to crumble to pieces.

### **The Affair of the Monsieur le Duc and Duchesse de Choiseul**

After returning from his tour, Charles was no longer awkward but he had a problem: he had become an alcoholic. Émile did not realize this for quite the long time until she and Charles had gotten into arguments and he'd sneak out to slip drinks. Many times this had happened, and Émile started to drift away from her husband. To suppress rumors of the two splitting apart, they had attended an event that the Duchesse de Mortemart had held an event at the *Pavillion de Lapis*. There, Charles had many drinks while Émile had watched him become a "fool", as she called him many times at the event. Shortly afterwards, Émile had seen that Charles and the *Duchesse de Choiseul* had grown very close to each other. As they grew very close, Émile had also been watching very close. As everyone had left, Charles and the Duchesse had secretly left the party together and headed to Rambouillet where *Le Pavillion Rose* was located. Émile had noticed and shortly after they had left, she followed far behind with the *Mademoiselle de Chartres* and the *Princesse de Mortagne* to hold a short tea time at the Pavillion. As they neared, Émile had noticed another carriage had arrived to the Pavillion. As they had arrived, Émile had went upstairs to see who was there and she found her husband on top of the *Duchesse de Choiseul*. Émile was very upset of this, but shortly forgave him hours later. After this affair, he was then known as a fool to the rest of court and made a terrible name for himself. Émile, however, had kept her head high and showed the court that she was unlike her husband and was fine.

## **Personality and Appearance**

### **Personality**

Though she was very stressed through her later years at court, Émile was a very bright woman. She had enjoyed anyone's company and enjoyed meeting new people. One of her best attributes was that she was very outgoing and had defended anyone who had something bad to say. Although Émile was very happy and nice most of the time, she had a very short temper that she used against many people. Émile was very protective of what she had owned because she had appreciated and loved her items very much. Émile had a very bad reputation of spending money on many items, but she also enjoyed saving and knew her limits when it had come to a large price. At court, Émile had a good attitude and kept her head up to tell everyone that she had been in a good mood that day. After the affair, Émile kept strong and still kept her good attitude, but had an even shorter temper when spoken to about it.

### **Appearance**

As a child, Émile was a thin girl, but very beautiful. She had bright hazel eyes and would always light up when she had met someone new. She also had very light blonde hair as a child. As she grew, Émile had become a beautiful woman. She had much brighter eyes with beautiful golden locks in her hair. She had also became more interested into makeup to cover up the features of her face. She had a beautiful porcelain skin tone that glowed in the sun. She had taken an interest to many expensive jewels such as silver jewelry, diamonds, and lapis lazuli gems. She enjoyed long and flowing dresses that she could feel comfortable in. Émile was known by many as one of the most beautiful woman at court.

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