200px, Diane de Polignac Diane Louise Augustine de Polignac (1746 – 1818), was a French aristocrat, writer and courtier, and a lady-in-waiting to

Princess Élisabeth of France Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

Biography

She was the daughter of Louis Héracle Armand, marquis de Polignac and Diane Adélaïde Zéphirine de Mancini, and never married; through her brother

Jules, 1st Duke of Polignac Jules de Polignac, 1st Duke of Polignac (Armand Jules François; 7 June 1746 – 21 September 1817) was a French nobleman and the husband of Yolande de Polastron, a confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette. He became the first Duke of Polignac in 1780. ...

, she was the sister-in-law to Yolande de Polastron. She had been introduced at court during the reign of Louis XV, served as reader and as lady-in-waiting to the countess of Artois in 1774-78, and to

from 1778 until 1789. She was described as shy but clever and with a sarcastic wit; she was not liked by queen Marie Antoinette herself, but she was described as a driving force within the so-called "Polignac Clan", who exerted so many advantages through her sister-in-law's position as a favorite of the queen.Hardy, B. C. (Blanche Christabel),
The Princesse de Lamballe; a biography
', 1908, Project Gutenberg She emigrated with the rest of the Polignac family after the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789.

Cultural references

Diane de Polignac is the main character of the novel ''Les Adieux à la reine'' by

Chantal Thomas Chantal Thomas (born 18 October 1945, in Lyon) is a French writer and historian. Her 2002 book, ''Farewell, My Queen'', won the Prix Femina and was adapted into a 2012 film starring Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux. Career Thomas was born in Lyon ...

(2002).

Works

* Diane de Polignac, ''Journal d'Italie et de Suisse'', Paris, 1789 * Diane de Polignac, ''Mémoires sur la vie de la duchesse de Polignac'', Piccadilly, 1796

References

* Jeanne-Louise-Henriette Campan, Mémoire sur la vie privée de Marie-Antoinette, reine de France et de Navarre, t. I, 1823 {{DEFAULTSORT:Polignac, Diane Diane French ladies-in-waiting 1746 births 1818 deaths 18th-century French writers 18th-century French women writers