Amy Brown (8 April 1783 – 7 May 1876) was the English mistress of
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry
Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820) was the third child and younger son of Charles X, King of France, (whom he predeceased) by his wife Maria Theresa of Savoy. In June 1832, two years after the overt ...
, younger son of King
Charles X of France
Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...
and
Marie Thérèse of Savoy
Maria Theresa of Savoy (french: Marie Thérèse de Savoie; 31 January 1756 – 2 June 1805) was a French princess by marriage to Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; he being the grandson of Louis XV of France, and younger brother of the future Lou ...
. Some authors have stated that they married in a secret ceremony which was conducted in England by her father, a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
pastor, but there is no evidence of it. Together they had two daughters; however, when he returned to France, he was constrained to put an end to his relationship for reasons of state.
Early years
Amy Brown was born on 8 April 1783 in
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
, Kent, England, as the fifth child of eight born to John L. (in other sources named Joseph) Brown, a
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
pastor, and his wife Mary Ann Deacon. By 1793, Amy's four older siblings had died in infancy or early youth, and thus she became the eldest surviving child of her parents.
On 10 January 1804 Amy gave birth a daughter, named
Georgina Emma Marshall. Her second child, a son named
Georges Granville Brown, was born on 20 February 1805 and ten months later, on 25 December, a third child, another son named John Freeman was also born. Apparently this last child was born in a legitimate marriage with a certain Mr. Freeman. Nothing further is recorded of her husband or his subsequent fate; however, author David Skuy describes Amy as having been a widow when she first met the duke.
The Duke of Berry
Amy met Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry in 1805 in London, three years after the
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
royal family was exiled to England. As her son had been born in December of that year, it was likely that they had first met while she was pregnant, although the exact date of their meeting is not known. In late 1806 or early 1807, Amy gave birth to another son, named
Robert Freeman; his surname established that Amy's husband appears as the official father, although it is probable that the Duke of Berry was the biological father of both John and Robert Freeman, but never recognised them. Robert died young, in 1823.
Amy perhaps married Charles Ferdinand in a secret ceremony conducted by her father in 1806, without the duke having first obtained permission from his family and ignoring the fact that as a non-Catholic, no son of Amy's could ever ascend the French throne. As it turned out, they did not have a son (with the controversial exception of John and Robert Freeman), although Amy bore the duke two daughters:
*
Charlotte Marie Augustine de Bourbon, comtesse d'Issoudun (13 July 1808 – 13 July 1886), married in 1823 Ferdinand de Faucigny-Lucinge, Prince of Lucinge, by whom she had issue. She is an ancestress of
Anne-Aymone Giscard d'Estaing
Anne-Aymone Marie Josèphe Christiane Giscard d'Estaing (née Sauvage de Brantes; born 10 April 1933) is the widow of former President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
Biography
She is a daughter of François Marie Joseph Abel Henri Sauvage, ...
, president
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981.
After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...
's wife.
*
Louise Marie Charlotte de Bourbon, Comtesse de Vierzon (29 December 1809 – 26 December 1891), married in 1827 Charles de Charette de La Contrie, Baron de La Contrie, by whom she had issue. She is an ancestress of French minister
Hervé de Charette
Hervé de Charette (; born 30 July 1938 in Paris) is a French centrist politician. He is a descendant of the royalist military leader François de Charette and of king Charles X of France. Member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), he was ...
. Her son
Athanase-Charles-Marie Charette de la Contrie
Athanase Charles Marie Charette de La Contrie (3 September 1832, in Nantes – 9 October 1911, in La Basse-Motte ( Saint-Père, Ille-et-Vilaine)) was a French royalist military commander, general, great-grandson of King Charles X, grandson of Cha ...
was a general and military commander.
After receiving the news of
Napoleon's
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
, the duke returned to France in 1814, taking his daughters with him. Amy remained behind in England. Upon his return, he was constrained to separate Amy for political reasons. If it was real, the marriage was declared invalid due to the lack of royal consent to the match, and therefore the official position was that Amy had never been his wife at all but rather his mistress. He subsequently married
Maria Carolina
Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. As ''de facto'' ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the p ...
(5 November 1798 – 17 April 1870), eldest daughter of King
Francis I of the Two Sicilies
Francis I of the Two Sicilies ( it, Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe Saverio Giovanni Battista; 19 August 1777 – 8 November 1830) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830 and regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1806 to 1814.
Biography
Fran ...
, by whom he had four children, including
Henri, Comte de Chambord
Henri, Count of Chambord and Duke of Bordeaux (french: Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonné d'Artois, duc de Bordeaux, comte de Chambord; 29 September 1820 – 24 August 1883) was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Hen ...
,
Legitimist
The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They re ...
pretender
A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...
to the throne of France. He also fathered two illegitimate sons by dancer
Eugénie-Virginie Oreille (8 August 1795 – October 1875), who was one of his many mistresses. The duke was assassinated by a saddler, Louis Pierre Louvel on 14 February 1820; while he lay dying, the duke asked to see Amy and his daughters, entrusting them to the care of his wife, who afterwards adopted the two girls.
Death and legacy
Amy's son by her first marriage, John Freeman died 26 August 1866 in
Zurich,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
; and Amy herself died on 7 May 1876 at the age of ninety-three at the Chateau de La Contrie, France. Through her daughter, the Baronne de Charette, Amy is the ancestress of
Hervé de Charette
Hervé de Charette (; born 30 July 1938 in Paris) is a French centrist politician. He is a descendant of the royalist military leader François de Charette and of king Charles X of France. Member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), he was ...
[François Velde, ''The French Royal Family: A Genealogy'' ] (born 30 July 1938) the French
Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
from 1995–1997
See also
*
:fr:Freeman de Bourbon
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
* Jean-Jacques Boucher, ''Charles-Ferdinand d'Artois, Duc de Berry'', Fernand Lanore, 2000
*
André Castelot
André Castelot, born André Storms (23 January 1911, Antwerp – 18 July 2004, Neuilly-sur-Seine), was a French writer and scriptwriter born in Belgium. He was the son of the Symbolist painter Maurice Chabas and Gabrielle Storms-Castelot (nà ...
, ''La Duchesse de Berry'', Perrin, 1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Amy
1783 births
1876 deaths
People from Maidstone
House of Bourbon (France)
Mistresses of French royalty