Louise Poitelon du Tarde, vicomtesse de Lezay-Marnésia (1826–1891), was a French courtier. She served as

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

(''

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 ...

'') 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 Louis Gabriel Poitelon du Tarde and Louise Anne Vétillart du Ribert, and married to Joseph Antoine Albert de Lezay-Marnésia in 1845. After the introduction of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

and the marriage of Emperor Napoleon III to

, 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 Dame d'honneur or Dame d’honneur was a common title for two categories of French ladies-in-waiting, who are often confused because of the similarity. Dame d'honneur can be: * Short for Première dame d'honneur, which were commonly shortened to ...

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. Her husband was appointed chamberlain to the Empress, and served as such until 1869. Maxime Michelet:
L'impératrice Eugénie - Une vie politique
' She requested to retire for health reasons in 1864, but remained honorary lady-in-waiting. She was by that time described as an invalid.Carette, A. Bouvet:
My mistress, the Empress Eugénie; or, Court life at the Tuileries
' (1889) Her place as Dame du Palais was given to

Amélie Carette Amélie Carette née Bouvet (1839–1926) was a French memoir writer and courtier. She was the daughter of Colonel Pierre-Auguste Bouvet (1809-1864) and the grandchild of Rear-Admiral Pierre François Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve. In 1866, sh ...

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 ...

Franz Xaver Winterhalter Franz Xaver Winterhalter (20 April 1805 – 8 July 1873) was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court ...

from 1855.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poitelon du Tarde, Louise 1826 births 1891 deaths French ladies-in-waiting People of the Second French Empire Ladies-in-waiting to Eugénie de Montijo