Louis XV was certainly spoilt for choice as far as potential brides went. According to author Nancy Mitford there were no less than forty candidates considered before Marie Leczinska was chosen.
Following the grave illness of the king in the 1720s, the Infanta Mariana Vittoria was returned to Spain. And the king was to marry quickly:
"The Duc de Bourbon was very much of this opinion because the next heir to the throne after Louis was the Duc d'Orléans, and the Orléans and Condé families were at daggers drawn. (The feud between them was fanned by the Dowager Duchesses who were sisters, daughters of Louis XIV and La Montespan.)
The infanta was returned to Spain and the hurdle of the Princess’ return having been cleared without mishap, the Duc de Bourbon had begun to study lists of princesses to take her place. There were nearly forty in all, but they boiled down to very few suitable ones. Lorrainer and Savoyard princesses were ruled at once because they had Orléans or Condé blood and neither would consent to such an elevation of the other. Princess Anne of Hannover was considered, but the British would not allow her to change her religion; the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, was too parvenue and was also said to show signs of incipient madness, as did the King of Portugal who had an otherwise eligible daughter . The Princess of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rothenburg would have done very well if her mother had not been in the habit of giving birth alternately to heirs and hares. The Duc de Bourbon, thinking, perhaps, that there was room for any amount of hares at Chantilly, finally married her as his second wife."
Who would the best queen of France be?
Following the grave illness of the king in the 1720s, the Infanta Mariana Vittoria was returned to Spain. And the king was to marry quickly:
"The Duc de Bourbon was very much of this opinion because the next heir to the throne after Louis was the Duc d'Orléans, and the Orléans and Condé families were at daggers drawn. (The feud between them was fanned by the Dowager Duchesses who were sisters, daughters of Louis XIV and La Montespan.)
The infanta was returned to Spain and the hurdle of the Princess’ return having been cleared without mishap, the Duc de Bourbon had begun to study lists of princesses to take her place. There were nearly forty in all, but they boiled down to very few suitable ones. Lorrainer and Savoyard princesses were ruled at once because they had Orléans or Condé blood and neither would consent to such an elevation of the other. Princess Anne of Hannover was considered, but the British would not allow her to change her religion; the Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, was too parvenue and was also said to show signs of incipient madness, as did the King of Portugal who had an otherwise eligible daughter . The Princess of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rothenburg would have done very well if her mother had not been in the habit of giving birth alternately to heirs and hares. The Duc de Bourbon, thinking, perhaps, that there was room for any amount of hares at Chantilly, finally married her as his second wife."
Who would the best queen of France be?