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Ernestine Lambriquet
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Ernestine Lambriquet
Ernestine de Lambriquet (Marie-Philippine Lambriquet, 31 July 1778 – 31 December 1813) was the adopted daughter (foster child) of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France.
She was the playmate of Marie Thérèse of France in her childhood, and after the death of her biological mother, she was formally adopted (foster child, in a modern sense). She did not become a princess, but lived as a foster child in the royal family. Because of her visual resemblance to Marie Thérèse there were speculations that she was the secret daughter of Louis XVI, but there is no information to indicate that this was the case.
She was born at Versailles as the daughter of Jacque Lambriquet (d. 1794) and Marie-Philippine Noiret (d. 1788). Her father began his career at court as a servant to the Comte de Provence. Her mother was a chambermaid at the Palace of Versailles.
She was said to have a physical resemblance to Louis XVI and to his daughter Marie Thérèse of France, and because of this, she has sometimes been speculated to be the secret illegitimate daughter of the king. She was the second eldest of her parents' four children, but she was the only one of her siblings to be adopted by the royal family. There is, however, nothing to indicate that she was the biological daughter of the king, a rumour which occurred merely because of her physical resemblance to Marie Thérèse. The kings of France often had illegitimate children who were normally recognized; the contemporary culture did not consider it necessary to hide them or keep them secret.
When she was a small child, she was chosen by the queen to be the playmate and companion of Princess Marie Thérèse. She spent her days with Marie Thérèse from their early childhood onward, although she returned home to her biological family at night. To informally allow a royal child a common playmate in this way was not an uncommon custom in early modern Europe, and Marie Antoinette considered it good for Marie Thérèse, since her daughter was known to be of a very proud disposition, in need of humility.
Having been an intimate of the royal family for years, she was formally adopted by the royal couple on 9 November 1788, after the death of her mother, and awarded a pension of 12,000 livres by the king. Marie Antoinette called her "Ernestine" from a character in a novel by Marie Jeanne Riccoboni.
She slept in the same room as Marie Thérèse, dressed the same way, ate the same food, was educated with her by the royal governesses and treated the same way materially. The royal couple did not merely allow Ernestine to share Marie Thérèse's things, but are noted to have paid high bills for Ernestine's personal expenses, such as when Ernestine needed extra lessons in Italian and geography. Marie Antoinette instructed the royal governesses to treat Ernestine and Marie Thérèse the same way in private, and made sure that the two girls took turns waiting upon each other as Marie Thérèse would have done with a biological sister, since Marie Thérèse was proud and Marie Antoinette thought it would be a lesson in humility to have a sister whom she was expected to treat as an equal. The adoption was however purely a private matter: Ernestine was not formally given the rank of royal princess, or treated as a royal princess in public. She was known at court simply as "the girl who was always in the company of Marie Thérèse". This was in fact not an uncommon thing in Europe in this time period, when royal children were sometimes given foster siblings as playmates, which were in no way acknowledged in public life.
The royal couple adopted three other children: "Armand" Francois-Michel Gagné, an orphan adopted along with his three older siblings in 1776; Jean Amilcar, a Senegalese slave boy given to the queen as a present by Chevalier de Boufflers in 1787, whom she freed and placed in a pension; and the orphan "Zoe" Jeanne Louise Victoire, daughter of an usher in service of the king, who was adopted along with her two older sisters after the death of her parents in 1790, and chosen to be the playmate of the Dauphin just as Ernestine had been the playmate of Marie Thérèse. Among the eight adopted children, however, only three (Ernestine, Armand and Zoe) actually lived with the royal family, and the rest simply lived on the queen's expense. Armand left the royal family after the outbreak of the revolution because of his republican sympathies, and Zoe was sent away to her sisters in a convent boarding school before the Flight to Varennes.
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Ernestine Lambriquet
Ernestine de Lambriquet (Marie-Philippine Lambriquet, 31 July 1778 – 31 December 1813) was the adopted daughter (foster child) of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France.
She was the playmate of Marie Thérèse of France in her childhood, and after the death of her biological mother, she was formally adopted (foster child, in a modern sense). She did not become a princess, but lived as a foster child in the royal family. Because of her visual resemblance to Marie Thérèse there were speculations that she was the secret daughter of Louis XVI, but there is no information to indicate that this was the case.
She was born at Versailles as the daughter of Jacque Lambriquet (d. 1794) and Marie-Philippine Noiret (d. 1788). Her father began his career at court as a servant to the Comte de Provence. Her mother was a chambermaid at the Palace of Versailles.
She was said to have a physical resemblance to Louis XVI and to his daughter Marie Thérèse of France, and because of this, she has sometimes been speculated to be the secret illegitimate daughter of the king. She was the second eldest of her parents' four children, but she was the only one of her siblings to be adopted by the royal family. There is, however, nothing to indicate that she was the biological daughter of the king, a rumour which occurred merely because of her physical resemblance to Marie Thérèse. The kings of France often had illegitimate children who were normally recognized; the contemporary culture did not consider it necessary to hide them or keep them secret.
When she was a small child, she was chosen by the queen to be the playmate and companion of Princess Marie Thérèse. She spent her days with Marie Thérèse from their early childhood onward, although she returned home to her biological family at night. To informally allow a royal child a common playmate in this way was not an uncommon custom in early modern Europe, and Marie Antoinette considered it good for Marie Thérèse, since her daughter was known to be of a very proud disposition, in need of humility.
Having been an intimate of the royal family for years, she was formally adopted by the royal couple on 9 November 1788, after the death of her mother, and awarded a pension of 12,000 livres by the king. Marie Antoinette called her "Ernestine" from a character in a novel by Marie Jeanne Riccoboni.
She slept in the same room as Marie Thérèse, dressed the same way, ate the same food, was educated with her by the royal governesses and treated the same way materially. The royal couple did not merely allow Ernestine to share Marie Thérèse's things, but are noted to have paid high bills for Ernestine's personal expenses, such as when Ernestine needed extra lessons in Italian and geography. Marie Antoinette instructed the royal governesses to treat Ernestine and Marie Thérèse the same way in private, and made sure that the two girls took turns waiting upon each other as Marie Thérèse would have done with a biological sister, since Marie Thérèse was proud and Marie Antoinette thought it would be a lesson in humility to have a sister whom she was expected to treat as an equal. The adoption was however purely a private matter: Ernestine was not formally given the rank of royal princess, or treated as a royal princess in public. She was known at court simply as "the girl who was always in the company of Marie Thérèse". This was in fact not an uncommon thing in Europe in this time period, when royal children were sometimes given foster siblings as playmates, which were in no way acknowledged in public life.
The royal couple adopted three other children: "Armand" Francois-Michel Gagné, an orphan adopted along with his three older siblings in 1776; Jean Amilcar, a Senegalese slave boy given to the queen as a present by Chevalier de Boufflers in 1787, whom she freed and placed in a pension; and the orphan "Zoe" Jeanne Louise Victoire, daughter of an usher in service of the king, who was adopted along with her two older sisters after the death of her parents in 1790, and chosen to be the playmate of the Dauphin just as Ernestine had been the playmate of Marie Thérèse. Among the eight adopted children, however, only three (Ernestine, Armand and Zoe) actually lived with the royal family, and the rest simply lived on the queen's expense. Armand left the royal family after the outbreak of the revolution because of his republican sympathies, and Zoe was sent away to her sisters in a convent boarding school before the Flight to Varennes.
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