Anne Debelle, Princesse d'Essling (28 July 1802 – 28 January 1887), was a French

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

. She served as ''Grand-Maitresse'' (senior lady-in-waiting) to Empress

Eugénie de Montijo Eugénie de Montijo (; born María Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920) was Second French Empire, Empress of the French from her marriage to Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until he was overthrown on 4 ...

in 1853–1870.

Life

She was the daughter of

Jean-François Joseph Debelle Jean-François Joseph Debelle (22 May 1767, in Voreppe, Isère – 15 June 1802, in Saint-Raphaël, Haiti, Saint-Raphaël) was a French general and soldier. He fought at the Battle of Fleurus (1794), Battle of Fleurus (as a brevet général de bri ...

and Marguerite Justine Deschaux. She married the amateur ornithologist François Victor Masséna, 2nd Duke of Rivoli and 3rd Prince d'Essling, in 1823. She had four children.

Court career

After the introduction of the Second Empire 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 (, ) 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 Dame d'honne ...

or deputy, the Duchesse de Bassano, who both attended court on grand functions; and six (later twelve) Dame du Palais, who were selected from among the acquaintances to the Empress prior to her marriage, and who alternated in pairs fulfilling the daily duties.Carette Madame:
Recollections of the court of the Tuileries
' (1890) As Grande-Maitresse, Anne d'Essling was first in rank of all female courtiers. It was her task to supervise all the other ladies-in-waiting and their schedule, and receive all applications from people wishing to be given an audience with the empress. In practice, however, she normally delegated this to the next in rank, ''dame d'honneur''

Pauline de Bassano Pauline Marie Ghislaine de Bassano, née ''van der Linden d'Hooghvorst'' (23 September 1814 in Meise – 9 December 1867), was a French courtier. She served as ''dame d'honneur'' to Empress Eugénie de Montijo in 1853–1867. Life She was bor ...

.Seward, Desmond: Eugénie. An empress and her empire. (2004) Alongside the ''dame d'honneur'', it was also her task to be present at the side of the empress at all grander public representational state occasions, and she was as such a well known public figure. She did not attend court daily but only on state functions and important events, such as state dinners. She did, however, make a formal visit to the Tuilieres each day when Eugenie was in Paris, to learn the empress' wishes, and then leave again.Comte Fleury:
Memoirs Of The Empress Eugenie Vol-I
', 1920 It was noted how she often saved the empress from making a blunder with her naming list, as the functions Eugenie was required to host was so large that she often forgot the names of her guests. She accompanied the emperor and empress on the state visit to Great Britain in 1857.

' She was also a well connected society hostess, and her "elegant and eclectic salon" in the Rue Jean Goujon was "one of the most charming centers of polite Paris". Anne d'Essling has been described as thin and fragile in her appearance, and stiff, formal and proud in her behavior, though closer acquaintances saw her as friendly and intelligent. She was described in retrospect: :''Pretty and refined in appearance, with an exceedingly lofty manner, though small in stature, the Princesse d'Essling occupied throughout the entire duration of the empire the highest position in her Majesty's service. Scrupulously particular regarding her dignity, she never went out unless she rode in state. ..She was the sort of woman to mount the steps of the scaffold with dignity, like the ladies of Marie-Antoinette's court. She seemed, on first acquaintance, somewhat stiff and formal, but was in reality extremely kindhearted and intelligent. After the war, being old and feeble, she withdrew almost entirely from social activity; but the number of friends who still clung to her and who remained her faithful adherents proved the high esteem in which she was held.'' She remained in service until the fall of the monarchy and was present with the Empress in the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

during the fall of the Second Empire in 1870. She then retired from high society life.

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 lady-in- ...

'' by

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

from 1855.

René Primevère Lesson René (''Born again (Christianity), born again'' or ''reborn'' in French language, French) is a common given name, first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is th ...

named the “

Anna's hummingbird Anna's hummingbird (''Calypte anna'') is a North American species of hummingbird named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli. It is native to western coastal regions of North America. Until the late 20th century, Anna's hummingbirds migrate ...

” after her.

References

* Seward, Desmond: Eugénie. An empress and her empire. (2004) * Allison Unruh: Aspiring to la Vie Galante: Reincarnations of Rococo in Second Empire France * Philip Walsingham Sergeant: The last empress of the French (1907) * Carette Madame:
Recollections of the court of the Tuileries
' (1890) * Anna L. Bicknell:
Life in the Tuileries under the Second Empire
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Essling, Anne D' 1802 births 1887 deaths French duchesses French ladies-in-waiting People of the Second French Empire Place of birth missing Ladies-in-waiting to Eugénie de Montijo Court of Napoleon III