Amable Gabrielle de Noailles, Duchesse de Villars

One of the numerous members of the Noailles-family, Amable Gabrielle was born on 18th February 1706 as the second child of the Duc de Noailles. Little is known of her childhood which was likely spent with her family's governess before a suitable match was found for her. At the age of 15 she was betrothed and married to Honoré Armand de Villars, the heir to the dukedom of Villars. At the time of her marriage she was described as being "beautiful, very well-made and perfectly brought up".

The marriage was not particularly good; Honoré was notoriously homosexual which greatly impeded the couple's quest for an heir. As it happens, they would only have a single child. On 18th March 1723, Amable Gabrielle gave birth to a daughter whom she named Aimable-Angélique. Aimable-Angélique would later be married to the Comte d'Egmont. It was rumoured that Aimable-Angélique was not the daughter of Honoré at all but rather of more elevated parentage - and considering that her supposed father was a duke, that is saying a lot. The potential candidate for Aimable-Angélique's father was Jean-Philippe d'Orléans, a prince of the blood as the son of the Regent, Philippe II. Either way, Honoré officially accepted paternity of the young girl - the couple never had more children.

Meanwhile Amable Gabrielle's career at court was taking off - she was presented at court and placed as dame du Palais to Marie Leszczynska in 1727. The two women found a common cause in their love of philanthropy; Amable Gabrielle was often with the queen when she undertook charitable work. Furthermore, Amable Gabrielle was accepted as one of the queen's personal friends which secured her position but did not grant her particular influence at court as the queen herself had none. On the contrary, Louis XV ensured that his wife had no impact on politics or even appointments at court. 

A true testimony to the regard she had inspired with the queen was the appointment in 1742 of Amable Gabrielle as dame d'atours. This position was amongst the highest available to women at court and placed the Duchesse de Villars in charge of the queen's wardrobe. The benefits were considerable and she became one of the few ladies at court with her own income.

Amable Gabrielle

Amable Gabrielle made very little fuss at court during her tenure ship. She was a remarkable bibliophile, pious, and readily slipped into the retired inner circle of the queen. It was also rumoured that she had an affair with the Comte d'Argenson but that is unconfirmed. It does seem, though, that her and her husband lived entirely separate lives. It was to her - and the Duchesse de Luynes - that Madame de Pompadour turned when her physical relationship with the king ended. In an interview with the two ladies, the royal mistress confessed that henceforth her relationship with the king would be as a close friend and advisor. 

She remained in her position until the queen's death in 1768 - a considerable feat for any court official. Upon the death of Marie Leszczynska, Amable Gabrielle was amongst the women who were promised a role in the household of the soon-to-arrive dauphine, Marie Antoinette. Consequently, Amable Gabrielle transferred to the service of the 15-year old dauphine.

By this point, Amable Gabrielle was 64 years old and found it difficult to properly fulfill her role. Unfortunately, the dauphine's wardrobe descended into chaos with spending going through the roof and administration becoming chaotic. According to the report by the Austrian ambassador to Marie Antoinette's mother, Empress Maria Theresia, the age and infirmities of the Duchesse de Villars was wrecking havoc on the dauphine's wardrobe. During the 18 months that Amable Gabrielle was in charge, the wardrobe's expenses rose from 120.000 livres to 350.000 livres. 

It was a rather awkward state of affairs as high-ranking officials were rarely fired. Amable Gabrielle herself was both from a powerful family and had married into another; furthermore, she was widowed in 1770 which would have made a dismissal seem callous. However, before long that problem solved itself in a very natural way. 

On 16th September 1771, Amable Gabrielle died and was succeeded by the far more suitable Adélaide Diane de Cossé. 

Marie Adélaide of Savoy: A Spy in Their Midst?

The arrival of the just 11-year old Marie Adélaïde of Savoy in 1697 ushered in a rejuvenated era at Versailles. The court had become increasingly morose during this latter part of the Sun King's reign, especially as the influence of Madame de Maintenon rose. However, the newly arrived girl breathed fresh air into the marble halls of the palace with her natural joy and childlike naïveté. Marie Adélaïde became the Duchesse de Bourgogne when she married the king's eldest grandson which also placed her on the path of becoming Queen of France - she technically already ranked as first-lady of Versailles as there was neither queen nor dauphine.

Tragically, Marie Adélaïde died prematurely at the age of just 26 - she was followed shortly after by her husband and eldest son. Upon her death, her private apartment was naturally gone through and the clean-up brought an unexpected surprise. Several letters found in her apartment clearly showed that the devoted grand-daughter in law of the Louis XIV had been forwarding sensitive information to her birthplace, the court of Savoy. But was it spying?

Upon the discovery, the king is said to have exclaimed: "So the little rascal tricked us!" - the statement smacks of invention. Firstly, it was claimed by Duclos in 1745 - he was just 8 years old when the event took place. Secondly, how would he possibly have known what two people had said in a private conversation at a place he was not at?

Marie Adélaïde

The recipients of these letters included her father, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, whose most reliable characteristic was his tendency to change sides in the never-ending conflicts of Europe. As it happens, it had been one of those conflicts that had even placed Marie Adélaïde at Versailles. 

From the very beginning of her stay at Versailles, she had utterly charmed Louis XIV. It was later said - somewhat cynically - that she was one of two people the king had ever truly loved, the other being his mother. She had cast herself into the arms of Madame de Maintenon whom she affectionately called "ma tante" (my aunt), a discreet middle-ground as Maintenon was not officially recognised as the king's wife. As mentioned, she had been in France longer than in her native Savoy but nevertheless remained in contact with her parents and sister in Savoy.  

But was Marie Adélaïde truly a spy - and if so, a willing one? Surely, keeping in contact with one's family cannot be said to be espionage per say but she might have been unwittingly regaled her family with information that turned out to be important.

Yet it would erroneous to suppose that the charming, naive 12-year old bride remained so her entire life. Actually, she was already remarkably politically astute at that tender age. She certainly recognised the need to keep on the good side of Madame de Maintenon although she might not have entirely understood her relationship with the king. For one, while she would certainly have been briefed by her parents and instructors beforehand, it was her own doing that they became so close. That she was keenly intelligent was obvious. One observer described her as having a "solid intellect and much good sense".

So it seems unlikely that the childish child turned into a childish woman - but intelligence or keen wit does not necessarily lead to maliciously spying on the people she loved. After all, she seemed genuinely attached to both the king, her husband and ma tante - she certainly knew them better than she had ever known her father. Her letters definitely proof as much. Her sister had been married off to the Spanish king but that did not prevent Victor Amadeus of attempting to work against both his daughters' adoptive countries. In fact, Marie Adélaïde was often highly critical of her father in her letters which seems to emphasise that she did not habour an unquestioning filial loyalty. 

Marie Adélaïde's father,
Victor Amadeus II

There is another aspect to be considered: what, exactly, could she have imparted to Savoy, even if she had wished to divulge French state secrets? She had no access to either state nor military councils or papers, she was not included in political discussions and the king infamously never discussed politics with either family or courtiers. Even though she was occassionally allowed to rummage playfully through the king's drawers, it is extremely unlikely that such a prudent man would have permitted it if he had had state secrets lying around.

A letter from 1711 to her mother gives an indication of what might have been the motive for providing intimate details from her life: the alliance. She expressed her desire to bring her father "back to reason" - the man was (once again) considering abandoning his current alliance for a fresh, tempting one. To Marie Adélaïde that would have been disastrous. Not only would it cause an immense rift between her birth family and her in-laws, it would make her situation extremely unpleasant. By keeping "the family" close, she might have attempted to restrain her father from any lapses in loyalty.

Nothing from her behaviour since her arrival in France indicated that she still personally identified herself as a Savoyard rather than a Frenchwoman - the sad reality of princesses was the expectation that they surrender their entire identity upon their marriage into the French royal family. For instance, she repeatedly referred to "us" and "our" when speaking of French interests.

Those interests were not merely those of an ailing grandfather-in-law - her own husband stood to become king and once she had given birth, her son would inherit after him. Any trouble caused by such division would have had a direct impact on not only her life but on the country she was adored by.

The conclusion must be that Marie Adélaïde certainly kept a correspondence with her family - but it seems very unlikely that she was actively betraying her French family.