Anne Mortier de Trévise, marquise de Latour-Maubourg (1829-1900), was a French courtier. She served as lady-in-waiting (''
dame de Palais
The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position w ...
'') to the empress of France,
Eugénie de Montijo
''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...
.
Life
She was the daughter of Napoléon Mortier, II. duc de Trévise and Anne-Marie Lecomte-Stuart, and married
César Florimond de Faÿ, marquis de La Tour-Maubourg in 1849. After the introduction of the
Second Empire and the marriage of Emperor Napoleon III to
Eugénie de Montijo
''Doña'' María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick, 19th Countess of Teba, 16th Marchioness of Ardales (5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo (), was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napo ...
, she was appointed to the Household of the new Empress. The ladies-in-waiting of the new Empress consisted of a ''Grand-Maitresse'' or senior lady-in-waiting, the
Princesse d'Essling; a
Dame d'honneur or deputy, the
Duchesse de Bassano, who both attended court on grand functions; and six (later twelve)
Dame du Palais
The Dame du Palais, originally only Dame, was an historical office in the Royal Court of France. It was a title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a female member of the French Royal Family. The position w ...
, who were selected from among the acquaintances to the Empress prior to her marriage, and who alternated in pairs fulfilling the daily duties.
She kept her position from 1853 to 1870.
She was described by a contemporary as a "most interesting and amiable woman", who lived in a very happy marriage.
Her open adoration of her spouse made people tease her somewhat, and when she was at one occasion asked what she would do if her husband should be unfaithful, she replied: "I should be so astonished, I should die of sheer surprise."
Empress Eugenie often selected her to accompany her on her travels and journeys and preferred her as a travelling companion.
Her domestic happiness and economic security had made her life so sheltered, that when she was one day told of the mortal illness of her father, she exclaimed: "It is the first trouble of my life. God knows what may now come to me!"
Her parents both died shortly before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, followed by her son, who died in battle, and her daughter, who died in childbirth shortly after the peace.
This succession of blows caused her husband a deep depression, and she devoted herself to nursing him.
By the time of his death, she was described as deeply pious, and reportedly wished to enter a convent.
Legacy
She belongs to the ladies-in-waiting depicted with Eugenie in the famous painting ''
Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting
''Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting'' is an oil on canvas painting by the German artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter completed in 1855. It features depictions of the empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo, and eight of her ladies-i ...
'' by
Franz Xaver Winterhalter from 1855.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortier de Trevise, Anne Eve
1829 births
1900 deaths
French ladies-in-waiting
People of the Second French Empire
Ladies-in-waiting to Eugénie de Montijo