Prince Xavier of Saxony at the Court of Versailles

The youngest son of the King of Poland, Prince Xavier of Saxony visited Louis XV several times and had the honor of being hosted at the Château de Versailles. Temporary honor because the question of accommodation for visitors, whatever their rank, proves to be thorny when the Court is overcrowded and indelicacies take the form of diplomatic errors.

By Vincent Dupanier, the doctor in the history of modern art, Paris Ouest Nanterre

When in September 1758 Prince Xavier of Saxony (1730-1806) went to the Court of France, Minister Marigny offered him accommodation in Paris at the Tuileries Palace. The administration of the King's Buildings attributed to him the apartment of the Bishop of Orléans which was finishing being renovated (1). But upon his arrival, Prince Xavier preferred to stay in Versailles, with his sister, the dauphine Marie-Josèphe. From this date, the prince occupied several lodgings, for himself and his suite, at the castle (2). The apartment is left to him on condition that he returns it to the usual tenant upon departure.

A considerate welcome

Thus in November, but perhaps as early as September 1758, the prince and his suite had several rooms in the castle at their disposal (3). First of all, the governor of Versailles assigned him the apartment of the Count of Clermont, and that of the Duke of Lauraguais was added, as commander of the Saxon corps. Accommodated with the prince are the surgeon Wolf, a certain Stein, his valet, a cook, and three servants. Accommodations were allocated for his suite: to Baron de Weichs and Major-General von Polens, the apartment of Mr. Count de Maillebois, and Colonel Poninsky, Colonel Martange and his aide-de-camp Charles de Block, an accommodation in town. His secretary and Boccard's father, his chaplain, are housed in an apartment owned by Mr. Abbot d'Argentré. According to the historian Newton, this apartment, then occupied by the Count of Clermont, is the one called “Mrs. de Maintenon’s apartment” (4). It was reattributed to the prince until 1761 – because Mr. Count of Clermont did not want to “resume his accommodation as long as Mr. Count of Lusace was making trips to court.” The Duke of Noailles therefore decides that the apartments of the Count of Clermont and the Duke of Lauraguais will be reserved until the end of the Seven Years' War for the visits to the Court of members of the dauphine's family (5). In April 1761, the Count of Noailles proposed to the king, when Prince Xavier was not there, to place the king's wardrobe there "until the place could be arranged" for another tenant ( 6). This remark clearly shows that the lack of rooms is felt at the castle and that all available spaces are used as soon as possible.

But the suite of the Prince of Saxony poses a problem because the prince wants to have him near him, in the castle itself: in November 1759 “the accommodation of Madame the Duchess of Broglie” is allocated to the prince’s suite (7). In 1762, one of the apartments occupied by the Martange couple was the “dwelling of M. le prince de Tingry” (8). The less important members of the retinue must find accommodation in town at their own expense.

Return incognito

After a trip to Saxony between 1772 and 1774, Xavier de Saxony hoped, as the uncle of the reigning king, to have accommodation at the castle. But the prince has not been present in France since 1763. Indeed, after the death of his elder brother the prince-elector of Saxony Frederick Christian, Prince Xavier, as the eldest of the family of the new elector Frederick-Auguste, still a minor, had to ensure the regency as prince administrator (“Administrator”). He made the electoral castle (“Residenzschloss”) in Dresden his official residence (9).

After this period, he decided to leave Saxony in 1768 for Italy where he resided until 1771 then he went to France where he settled in the Château de Chaumot (Yonne) which he had just acquired before deciding to buy the castle of Pont-sur-Seine (Aube) in 1775. Furthermore, having returned incognito to France, he could no longer claim accommodation as an official envoy of Saxony. Only as a courtier can he obtain one. Due to his secret marriage with Countess Chiara Spinucci, daughter of Giuseppe Spinucci, secretary of Cardinal Borgia (family ennobled by the Polish king John III Sobieski who had given them the Polish stronghold of Milanow, in the Palatinate of Volhynia), he adopted incognito for his travels to allow himself what his status as royal prince and administrator previously prohibited him.

Unsuccessful housing applications

During the hunting season of 1774, the prince was able to follow the king and be housed at the Château de Fontainebleau. On numerous occasions, he asked the Count of Noailles to be able to be installed at the Palace of Versailles after the hunts (10). This request was refused by the minister because the prince seemed to have made it known that he did not need it (11). This explanation seems troubling because he has regularly reiterated his request for several months. But in 1785, Prince Xavier finally got the last word on the matter: “I found the opportunity to ask him without affectation what had happened regarding the accommodation requested by V. A. R. He was said the truth on this subject and the king refused it, but it was in circumstances which, at that time, gave rise to fears that V. A. R. would be at Versailles too often and probably the refusal came more from M. of Maurepas than of the king. » (12)

On this date, Minister Maurepas seemed to want to accommodate Choiseul's relatives at the castle, rather than those of the deceased dauphine.

A clumsily diligent court

Louis XVI was, moreover, at odds with his uncle. Relations weakened when the prince gave a letter to his nephew after the death of Louis of condolences to the new king, in which, after the compliments similar to the circumstance, I slipped that it was his mother in concert with his father who called me to France and attached to this service, and that, during the administration in which I was obliged to leave this country, I only sought to give existence to Saxony to make it even more united to France for reasons of interest than it is for reasons of blood relationship; and I finished it by recommending myself, as well as my sister, to his protection, and that we flatter ourselves to find in him the same happy existence that had been granted to us by his late grandfather who had showered us with his kindness in all the occasions, and that his precious benevolence would be sufficient for our mutual happiness. » (13)

The king is said to have given a "very friendly" response, by which he shows me that he knows the ties that unite us together, that the memory of his mother will always be dear to him" and that he knows that the prince is very attached "to the crown in the last war and the administration of Saxony” (14). But this answer is misleading. We know what the king thought about it thanks to what the Austrian ambassador Mercy-Argenteau wrote to the empress: “H.M. deigned to tell me that Prince Xavier of Saxony, in a rather unceremonial letter, had congratulated the king for his accession, saying on this occasion that he was happy to find himself the king's uncle, and finally he recommended the Duke of Aiguillon to the kindness of the king as a conscientious minister. The king responded with polite expressions to the first part of this letter, but regarding the end, he replied that he knew how to choose his ministers very well despite his age. » (15)

Unaware of the king's true opinion of his letter, the prince continued to pay his "courts assiduously to the new monarch" who had spoken to him numerous times. He adds that they discussed “indifferent things, but you know that in this country that is a lot” (16). Despite the first impressions given, Louis XVI did not keep the ministers in place. The Duke of Aiguillon resigned on June 2, 1774, retaining command of the chevau-égers (17). Until this resignation, the prince tried to play a leading role with the king. Gazetteers echo this, as evidenced by the Secret, Political and Literary Correspondence of 1787: “The Duke of Aiguillon will forever be a famous character in the annals of France; we daily discover the means he used to keep the two departments [sic] he occupied in the Ministry: it was not enough for him to have employed Mr. Count de Maurepas. He also called in the Count of Lusatia, who simply offered to the King to hold the reins of government under him and to guide him in the career of administration. At the same time, he sent a letter to Madame Princess Christine, to bring her to the Court and make use of it, and in this, he was powerfully assisted by the brother and sister by Mr. de Martange: but all these means were useless. The king found the proposal of the Count of Lusace very extraordinary; and Princess Christine, poorly received, only spent twenty-four hours at Court twice. » (18)

The prince explains that the course of events is very different “from that spoken of by so many bribed gazetteers” (19). The prince denies having been clumsy in a letter dated July 15, 1774: “You have known me for quite a long time, my dear Sayffert, and you are doing me wrong by doubting that I like the frankness with which you speak to me, of not saying anything having written on the occasion of the death of the king, flattering to the reigning one. » (20)

Mutual resentment

Prince Xavier may therefore be unhappy with the new king, who has not given him the place within the government that he considers rightfully his. From July 15, 1774, he wrote several letters, where he compared the king to his nephew the elector, with whom he had quarreled during his administration. He highlights the figure of a king who is not involved in the affairs of the state and allows nothing of his will to show: "I even knew that the ministers told their friends about the lack of discernment that they see in him in the different Councils. Outside of these hours when he is obliged to attend, he does not apply himself to anything: hunting, rides in cabriolets and on foot, and a lot of games of billiards are his amusements. It is also said that in his interior he had a lot of fun with carpentry and marquetry. In public, he speaks to no one, and we barely see him for half a quarter of an hour during which he chats with his brothers or some young courtier. Of the four times in a row that I have been there, he has not said a word to either the Duke of Deux-Ponts or the Minister of Spain. The latter himself, one day as we were going, said to me: We won't complain that it won't take too long, and that's all said for the day. Twice he asked me the same question if I had heard from my sister Christine, and I barely had time to answer him yes or no. » (21)

The prince accuses the queen of influencing her husband too much and "with that, she is so fickle and childish that no system is followed, and no one doubts that her follies will sooner or later cause her to lose her credit" (22).

From this moment on, the prince seemed to lose interest in the political conflicts of the Court and retired to his castle in Pont. This position made him say during the coronation of his nephew in March 1775: “In the dispute of rank between the Princes and the Archduke, I behaved quite naturally without getting involved in anything. » (23) From 1775, the prince was in a complex position. He maintains a link with the Court thanks to his agents with the ministers, but can no longer appear there without being reminded of his former political alliances with the exiled Countess Du Barry and the Duke d'Aiguillon.