Charles X of France - Marriage and Private Life

Marriage and Private Life

In November 1773, Charles married Marie Thérèse of Savoy. The marriage, unlike that of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, was consummated almost immediately.

In 1775, Marie Thérèse gave birth to a boy, Louis Antoine, who was created Duke of Angoulême by Louis XVI. Louis-Antoine was the first of the next generation of Bourbons, as the King and the Count of Provence had not fathered any children yet, causing the Parisian libellistes (pamphleteers who published scandalous leaflets about important figures in court and politics) to lampoon Louis XVI's alleged impotence. Three years later, in 1778, Charles's second son, Charles Ferdinand, was born and was given the title of a Duke of Berry. In the same year Queen Marie Antoinette gave birth to her first child, Marie Thérèse, quelling all rumours that she could not bear children.

Charles was thought of as the most attractive in his family, bearing a strong resemblance to his grandfather, Louis XV. His wife was considered quite ugly by most contemporaries, and he looked for company elsewhere, in his numerous extramarital affairs. According to the Count of Hezecques, "few beauties were cruel to him." Later, he embarked upon a lifelong love affair with the beautiful Louise de Polastron (1764–1804), the sister-in-law of Marie Antoinette's closest companion, the Duchess of Polignac.

Charles also struck up a firm friendship with his sister-in-law, Queen Marie Antoinette, whom he had first met at her arrival in France in April 1770 when he was twelve. The closeness of the relationship was such that he was falsely accused by Parisian rumour mongers of having seduced Marie Antoinette. As part of Marie Antoinette's social set, Charles often appeared opposite her in the private theatre of her favourite royal retreat, the Petit Trianon. They were both said to be very talented amateur actors; with Marie Antoinette playing milkmaids, shepherdesses and country ladies, and Charles playing lovers, valets and farmers.

A famous story concerning the two involves the construction of the Château de Bagatelle. In 1775, Charles purchased a small hunting lodge in the Bois de Boulogne. He soon had the existing house torn down with plans to rebuild. Marie Antoinette wagered her brother-in-law that the new château could not be completed within three months. Charles engaged the neoclassical architect François-Joseph Bélanger to design the building. He won his bet, with Bélanger completing the house in sixty-three days. It is estimated that the project, which came to include manicured gardens, cost over two million livres. Throughout the 1770s, Charles spent lavishly. He accumulated enormous debts, totalling 21 million livres. In the 1780s, King Louis XVI paid off the debts of both his brothers, the Counts of Provence and Artois.

Also around 1775, Louis Philippe d'Orléans, the future Duke of Orléans, schemed to create a rift between the King and his youngest brother. Louis Philippe introduced Charles to gambling and the brothels at the Palais-Royal, the ancestral home of Louis Philippe's family. Louis Philippe wanted Charles to catch a venereal disease, and either die as a result or become sterile, thereby increasing his own chances of one day gaining the throne of France. As first prince of the blood, Louis Philippe would have been fourth in line to the throne after the Counts of Provence, Artois and Angoulême, as Charles was the only member of his family to produce any children so far.

In 1781, Charles acted as a proxy for the Emperor Joseph II at the christening of his godson, the Dauphin Louis Joseph.