On the 21st of December, 1670, the the 43 year old Duchess of Montpensier married the 38 year old Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun. The couple are considered minorly scandalous within the court and there is much talk when on the 4th of May, 1671, the Duchess announces her first and only pregnancy, eventually giving birth to the Mademoiselles Marie Adelaide de Caumont and Christine Louise de Caumont on the 29th of November 1671, shortly after losing the younger twin Christine before December. There is excitement in 1674 when it seems that Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans might be pregnant again, however it ends with the knowledge that the Duchess is simply going through 'the change'.
Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchess of Montpensier holding her daughter Marie Adelaide de Caumont
On the 5th of April, 1686, Marie Adelaide de Caumont was engaged to Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine, the legitimised son of Louis XIV of France. This was against the wishes of her mother but her father, under the pressure of the King, allowed the engagement to occur, though asked that the wedding be postponed for a time. During this wait the Duchess of Montpensier looked for a replacement suitor, so that her daughter would have a more suitable husband for her daughter. However, by 1690 it had taken too long and the King rushed the marriage, leading to the marriage of Louis Auguste and Marie Adelaide. And the next year, 10 months after they had married, Marie Adelaide gave birth to her first child, Louise Francoise de Bourbon (b.1691).
Marie Adelaide de Caumont, Duchess of Maine
The Duchess of Maine became a Duchess in her own right when, on the 19th of May, 1692, her mother died. Her father left the following year, shortly after his daughter had given birth to twins, Louis Charles de Bourbon and Marie Christine de Bourbon. This followed the death of her eldest daughter that same year. This series of deaths and births left Marie Adelaide emotionally fragile and after discovering her husband's infidelity with Anne Marie de Bourbon, a former prospective bride of the Duke of Maine. Thus, Marie Adelaide left for a year for 'health' reasons. Finally, in December 1694, the Duchess returned and in November of 1695 she gave birth to her fourth child, Joseph Alphonse de Bourbon.
Marie Adelaide de Caumont, Duchess of Montpensier with her twins, Louis Charles and Maria Christine de Bourbon
On the 19th of March, 1696, the marriage of the Duke of Maine and the Duchess of Montpensier again faced a rough patch and again she left to 'take the waters'. Again, as had happened with their last fight, Marie Adelaide returned and in the 19th of August, 1697, she gave birth a fourth time with their fifth child, a stillborn son. This again left the Duchess extremely depressed and near the end of the year she was assigned a bedmate by her husband to ensure that "...nothing of an unsavoury or disastrous nature..." would take place. And then, in the early Spring of 1699, the Duchess was left a widow when her husband was killed in a duel. Aged 28, the Duchess would lose what would have been her next child after hearing the news and took to wearing exclusively white for the next year, harkening back to the ancient French tradition of wearing white to mourn.
The next year, aged 29, Marie Adelaide refused an offer from her former brother-in-law, Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse. Indeed, the Duchess, allowed the title of Her Serene Highness by the King, turned down many offers from both French and non-French suitors until, in 1704, she remarried to James Francis Edward Stuart, pretender to the English Throne. She would give the young man 3 children over their 9 year marriage: Louise Anne Stuart (b.1705), Henri James Stuart (b.1707) and Margaret Catherine Stuart (b.1708). On the 19th of March 1712 the two moved to the Château de Saint-Fargeau, where they played Court as King and Queen of England. However, this ended in that same year, when her second husband died due to an improperly deboned fish.
Marie Adelaide de Caumont, Duchess of Montpensier with her son, the titular Prince of Wales Henri James Stuart
Again a widow at 41, she once again had to refuse suitors who sought her fortune and in 1713 made a proclamation that she had gone through 'the change' shortly before her husband's death and thus was not going to remarry. This news was possibly a lie because, years later, a maid of the Duchess' announced her mistress had suffered a miscarriage in 1716, however this story was never verified and was very possibly fictional. Whatever the truth, the Duchess made it known she was not to remarry and would also be protecting the interests of her sons and daughters.
On the 8th of April, 1714, Marie Adelaide entered the city of London, followed by her Stuart children and her 18 year old son Joseph Alphonse de Bourbon. They were there for a momentous occasion and by the end of that day the Stuart cause was settled. Anne Stuart, Queen of England, officially proclaimed her grand-nephew Henry James Stuart the Prince of Wales and heir to England. The 7 year old boy had been raised under his mother in many odd ways. While all of his siblings were Catholics of various degrees of religious fervour (his sisters were the biggest juxtaposition, as Louise Anne would eventually turn from Catholicism entirely and become a Protestant until her own marriage while Margaret Christine was raised under the fanatical ways of Marie Christine, who would eventually take her sister with her to a convent) Henry was raised to be as religiously tolerant as possible and with mainly protestant preachers at the head of his religious training. And thus, when Anne I of England died in August of that year, 7 year old was raised to be King of England, with his mother as regent with the parliament.
Henry IX of Great Britain
This ideal situation lasted until 1720 when, aged 49, the Duchess suffered a severe case of smallpox, as did the rest of her household. This would not kill her, but her favoured son Joseph Alphonse de Bourbon would die, along with 20 others who she shared her home with. Under this terrible loss, Marie Adelaide finally suffered the mental collapse so often forewarned in her past and later in the year returned to the Château de Saint-Fargeau, where she was joined by her elder Stuart daughter for a time. Eventually Louise Anne Stuart would leave her mother to pursue marriage in 1724 and her eldest surviving daughter Marie Christine took over as her mother's caregiver until 1727, when she herself left, in this case to join a convent with Marie Adelaide's remaining daughter. This act was one the recovering Duchess took to heart and from that point on she would refer to her daughter as a betrayer and a traitor to the Duchess.
Eventually the Duchess seemed ready to return to her son in England, but it was her physical health that took a turn this time, ending with her losing the use of her leg and severe pains through her shoulders, causing her to say to her eldest son, Louis Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Maine, "...I had mocked your father for this pain like this. Is this his jest. Does he mock me himself from heaven; sending me his earthly ills..." This of course was in reference to her first husband's lame leg, which Marie Adelaide had frequently made a point of, causing humiliation to Louis Auguste. However, the pain seemed to subside somewhat and Marie Adelaide looked to, if not fully travel, enjoy the outdoors and some of the sport that had been her favoured activity when on 'time at the waters' during her youth. And thus, she had a horse saddled and against her son's pleas she went for a ride. This seemed to be uneventful until, as she rode in, a bee stung her on her left cheek. This shocked the Duchess so much that she through herself from the horse and managed to break her painful leg and both wrists. This caused another psychological breakdown and on the 19th of May, 1732, the Duchess of Montpensier slipped away from this world, foaming at the mouth and crying in pain.
Marie Adelaide de Caumont, Duchess of Montpensier (b.1671: d.1732)
Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchess of Montpensier (b.1627: d.1692) m. Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun (b.1632: d.1723) (a)
1a) Marie Adelaide de Caumont, Duchess of Montpensier (b.1671: d.1732) m. Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine (b.1670: d.1699) (1), James Francis Edward Stuart (b.1488: d.1712) (b)
1a) Louise Francoise de Bourbon (b.1691: d.1692)
2a) Louis Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Maine and Montpensier (b.1692: d.1750) m. Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (b.1700: d.1761) (a)
1a) Marguerite Francoise de Bourbon (b.1719)
2a) Louise Christine de Bourbon (b.1721)
3a) Joseph Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Maine and Montpensier (b.1724)
5a) Stillborn Girl (c.1725)
6a) Stillborn Girl (c.1725)
7a) Anne Isabelle de Bourbon (b.1727)
8a) Miscarriage (c.1730)
9a) Jeanne Charlotte de Bourbon (b.1733: d.1740)
10a) Louis Henri de Bourbon (b.1737)
3a) Marie Christine de Bourbon (b.1692: d.1750)
4a) Joseph Alphonse de Bourbon (b.1695: d.1720)
5a) Stillborn Boy (c.1697)
6a) Miscarriage (b.1699)
7b) Louise Anne Stuart (b.1705: d.1739) m. Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b.1701: 1773) (a)
1a) Maria Christina of Savoy (b.1726)
2a) Charles Augustus IV of Sardinia (b.1730)
3a) Stillborn Boy (c.1732)
4a) Stillborn Boy (c.1733)
5a) Anna Vittoria of Savoy (b.1736)
8b) Henri IX of Great Britain (b.1707: d.1750) m. Mariana Victoria of Spain (b.1718: d.1781) (a)
1a) Catherine Stuart, Princess Royal (b.1735)
2a) James Charles III of Great Britain (b.1738)
3a) Stillborn Son (c.1740)
4a) Edward Francis Stuart, Duke of York (b.1742: d.1749)
5a) Stillborn Boy (c.1743)
6a) Stillborn Boy (c.1745)
7a) William Louis Stuart, Duke of Gloucester (b.1748)
9b) Margaret Catherine Stuart (b.1708: d.1780)
2a) Christine Louise de Caumont (b.1671: d.1671)