Louis Phélypeaux, Duc de La Vrillière

Born in Paris on 18th August 1705,  Louis was the son of two courtiers who both possessed considerable positions at court: his father, another Louis, was minister of state while his mother, Françoise de Mailly-Nesle who was dame d'atours to Marie Leszczynska for 11 years.

Growing up, Louis was given the title of Comte de Saint-Florentin. He was destined to follow in the familial career path: that of politician. Both his father and grandfather had been ministers for quite a specific area: Protestantism. In the profoundly Catholic France, the king had established the post of minister to deal with matters pertaining to the reformed religion.

Louis with his order of the Saint-Esprit

When Louis turned 20 years old, he inherited his father's title of Marquis de La Vrillière as well as his post as minister. Ten years later, he officially became a freemason. By this time, Louis had more than proved his worth as a minister to Louis XV. This meant that he was given a new post in 1749 - and a coveted one at that: Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi. As such, he was the nominal head of the king's household and wielded considerable power at court. Louis apparently pleased his king in this capacity since he was permitted to remain in office until 1770; that was a record amount of time spent in this post.

Louis married Amélie Ernestine de Platen-Hallermund on 15 May 1724. She was a German by birth as the granddaughter of the Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg; her father had been the first German Duke of York. The couple had no children and Louis lost his wife in 1767. When he was not at court, Louis spent his time at the Hôtel de Saint-Florentin which he had had designed by Chalgrin.

Louis does not appear to have been blessed with a comely face. His figure was rather corpulent throughout his life and his eyes were considered to be "beady". Nevertheless, he managed to remain at court - and in some power - due to his abilities as a courtier. He understood the king's mood quite well and understood even better that it was political suicide to make an enemy of the monarch's mistress. Thus, he made sure to throw dinner parties for them. For instance, he held one in honour of Madame du Barry to which he also invited many of Marie Antoinette's ladies - most refused. For this, the king was grateful, especially when it came to those of his mistresses that were otherwise shunned by the court. Louis reaped the rewards and was eventually made the first Duc de La Vrillère.

The classic portrait of a minister - seated at his desk

As minister, the Duc de La Vrillère was not necessarily well-liked by his fellow courtiers. One of the reasons for his reputation was based on the practice of lettres de cachet. These were used to dismiss a minister - or courtier - from court by the king's express order. Louis XV was particularly fond of using this conveniently passive aggressive manner of ridding himself of troublesome people; unfortunately for the Duc de La Vrillère, he was often tasked with delivering them. It is hardly a wonder that people would feel uneasy if he suddenly showed up. It was gossiped that his mistress sold blank lettres de cachets for those wishing to eliminate a rival from the courtly scene.

He would finally leave to replace Choiseul as minister of foreign affairs but would not remain in that post for long. He officially took the job on Christmas Eve 1770 and was replaced on 6 June 1771. Marie Antoinette was credited with the dismissal but she had no particularly influence on politics, especially not as dauphine. Louis' last post was also as minister which he resigned in 1775 when he turned 70 years old. Louis died on 27 February 1777.