Anne de Richelieu née ''Poussard de Fors du Vigean'' (1622–1684) was a French court official. She served as ''

Première dame d'honneur ''Première dame d'honneur'' ('first lady of honour'), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' ('lady of honour'), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post ...

'' to the queen of France,

Maria Theresa of Spain Maria Theresa of Spain ( es, María Teresa de Austria; french: Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche; 10 September 1638 – 30 July 1683) was Queen of France from 1660 to 1683 as the wife of King Louis XIV. She was born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal a ...

in 1671–1679 and to the dauphine

Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria Maria Anna Christine Victoria of Bavaria (french: Marie Anne Victoire; 28 November 1660 – 20 April 1690) was Dauphine of France by marriage to Louis, Grand Dauphin, son and heir of Louis XIV. She was known as ''la Grande Dauphine''. The Da ...

in 1679–1684.

Life

Anne de Richelieu was the daughter of François Poussard, baron de Fors et sieur du Vigean and Anne de Neufbourg; she married François-Alexandre d'Albret, sire de Pons and comte de Marennes (16??–1648) in 1644, and

Armand Jean de Vignerot du Plessis Armand-Jean de Vignerot Du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (Le Havre, 3 October 1629 – Paris, 20 May 1715),Première dame d'honneur ''Première dame d'honneur'' ('first lady of honour'), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' ('lady of honour'), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post ...

'' to the queen on 21 November 1671. Anne de Richelieu did not have a bad relation to

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

but actually contributed to a cordial relationship between Montespan and the queen. During the temporary estrangement between the king and Montespan in 1675, Anne de Richelieu brought about a meeting and a reconciliation between the queen and Montespan, for which the king expressed his gratitude toward her. She had a cordial relationship to

Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

. Her husband was the lover of Françoise de Dreux who, during the

Affair of the Poisons An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...

(1679–82), was convicted for attempted murder on Anne de Richelieu. In 1679, she resigned from her office as the Première dame d'honneur because she was appointed to the same post at the court of the new Dauphine, awaiting her arrival, with her spouse being appointed chamberlain, Madeleine de Laval-Bois-Dauphin, Marechale de Rochefort as

Dame d'atour ''Dame d'atour'' was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The ''dame d'honneur'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. History At least from the Isab ...

, and

Marguerite de Montchevreuil Marguerite de Montchevreuil (1633–1699), was a French courtier. She was born to Charles Boucher d'Orsay, seigneur d'Orsay and Marguerite Bourlon and married Henri de Mornay, markis de Montchevreuil (1623–1706) in 1653. In 1679, she was a ...

as the governess of the Dauphines maids-of-honour. The position proved not to be difficult, since the dauphine preferred not to participate much in court life. Anne de Richelieu died in May 1684. Her court office was offered by the king to

, who refused it, an event which was a sensation at court and taken as a great sign of Maintenon's favor, since such an office would never have been offered to less than a duchess.
Louis XIV
'

References

*
Lettres de madame de Sévigné, de sa famille et de ses amis, Volym 7
' * http://www.chateauversailles-recherche-ressources.fr/jlbweb/jlbWeb?html=notdictionnaire&ref=85 * H. Noel Williams,
Madame de Montespan and Louis XIV
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Richelieu, Anne de 1622 births 1684 deaths 17th-century French people French ladies-in-waiting Household of Maria Theresa of Spain