The Disastrous Wedding Night of Louis Ferdinand

The young Dauphin Louis Ferdinand - son of Louis XV - had contracted his first marriage in 1745 to Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle and had quickly fallen in love with his wife. To his despair his Dauphine died after just little over a year of marriage.
But time waits for no one and he needed an heir. Louis XV was quick to find a new bride for his son and by 1747 Louis Ferdinand was once again at the altar. This time his bride was Marie Josèphe of Saxony.

That night the couple were put through the ritual bedding ceremony but once the attendants had left things went awry. It was not unheard of that royal marriages were not consummated on the wedding night. Frederick II had spent a mere hour talking to his bride before spending the rest of the night promenading in the garden. Louis Ferdinand's own son, the later Louis XVI, would take a notorious seven years to consummate his marriage to Marie Antoinette.

Louis Ferdinand

However, few royal wedding nights had gone quite this way. Before anything could happen poor Louis Ferdinand burst into tears. The ceremony had reminded him so much of his beloved late wife that he could not hold back his grief. Thankfully for their marital bliss Marie Josèphe was a patient and kind woman. She patiently comforted her new husband and from that moment a new relationship sprung up.

The couple soon found out that their natures suited each other and eventually had eight children - including three Kings and a Queen!