Victoire-Armande-Josèphe de Rohan became the Princesse de Guéméné when she married her cousin, Henri-Louis-Marie de Rohan in 1761. As a member of the powerful Rohan-family, she was bound to lead a life at the very top of society. It was therefore not surprising when Victoire was given the prestigious post of governess to the children of France. As it happens, that precious charge had been in her family for generations as she counted amongst her relatives Madame de Ventadour (governess of Louis XV) and the Comtesse de Marsan (governess of Louis XVI).
The governess of the children of France (that is, the children of the king) was the most influential position available for women since the oppression of that of Surintendante of the Queen's Household. Besides a healthy wage the post was a goldmine for various benefits; her apartment was spacious and luxurious, she was entitled to a pension as well as the necessities provided for the children once these were changed for new ones - the latter was a very lucrative benefit, as these "necessities" included everything from linen to silverware.
Having been appointed in 1776, the Princesse de Guéméné expected to remain in her post until her death; due to the importance of the task assigned to the royal governess, it was one of the few posts at court of which the incumbent could not be dismissed. However, behind the scenes, the personal finances of the Prince and Princesse de Guéméné were abysmal - even considering the standards of their time. By 1782 the couple was left with no other choice but to declare bankruptcy when their debts reached a staggering 33.000.000 livres.
To complete the humiliation, the bankruptcy forced Victoire to resign from her post and retire from court entirely. Once a successor had been found - the Duchesse de Polignac - it became clear exactly how mismanaged the Princesse de Guéméné's tenure had been.
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| Princesse de Guéméné |
The household of the children of France was in utter disarray during the years 1776-82. The Princesse de Guéméné had no sense of economy and did nothing to restrict the expenditure of the household. In contrast, the household was hemorrhaging money in the six years she was in charge. It should be remembered that during her time as governess, she only had one child to look after: Madame Royale. It was not until 1781 that the dauphin was born. Therefore, the expenses ought to have been significantly lower than her predecessor, Madame de Marsan, who had had no less than five royal children to attend to: Louis XVI, the Comtes de Provence and d'Artois and Mesdames Clotilde and Élisabeth. Yet, the difference in the two households' expenditure could not have been more different.
During Madame de Marsan, the annual expenditure amounted to 100-200.000 livres. However, the Princesse de Guéméné managed to spend no less than 299.253 livres in 1779 - for Madame Royale alone! The situation became downright ridiculous when that sum rose to a staggering 539.334 livres in 1781.
Understandably, such clear financial abuse led to suspicions of deliberate abuse. Consequently a report was drawn up to clarify to the king exactly how the Princesse de Guéméné had managed his children's household. The auditor (an anonymous man) concluded that Victoire was not guilty of deliberate fraud or embezzlement. While thus cleared of criminal charges, the auditor also made it abundantly clear that her management had been disastrous.
As an example, each royal child was given a so-called "layette" which consisted of all the necessities the child might need including and was replaced every few years. As mentioned above, it was the prerogative of the royal governess to retain whatever she wanted from the discarded layette. The auditor lamented that for some unknown reason, the Princesse de Guéméné had spent no less than five times more on Madame Royale's layette than what was usual. As stated by the unknown (but clearly exasperated) man 234.795 livres had been "thrown out the window for nothing".
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| Madame de Guéméné with Madame Royale on her lap - the girl's parents are represented by a bust and a portrait respectively |
The king himself does not appear to have blamed Victoire for the dismal finances either. Instead, he believed that she had gained no financial advantage from her mismanagement but had been the subject of abuse and exploitation from those around her.
She certainly had plenty of opportunity to abuse her position. As the governess, she ordered new supplies for her charges and needed only the approval of the king himself, with the Secretary of State for the King's Household as her intermediary. As she was responsible for hiring staff for the household, it was indeed possible that she might have received a gratuity of sorts; considering that buying and selling offices were the norm, it is not unlikely.
Yet, despite the glaringly obvious explosion in expenses, few of her contemporaries appear to have truly considered it to be the fruit of malicious intent. For one, the bankruptcy of her and her husband had been caused by speculation on his behalf (and his acquaintance Marchand) - not her's. Likewise, she was generally described as a remarkably honest woman which would not correspond well with an embezzler. Even if she had siphoned money it clearly had done little to nothing to ease her own financial situation.
As a person, Victoire might have been both honest and kind but she was undeniable deeply irresponsible when it came to her finances. While she might not have had the same amount of control over their finances as her husband, she certainly showed no restraint in her personal expenditure. Besides owing 60.000 livres to her shoemaker alone, the Princesse de Guéméné was also had an immense gambling problem. She has been discredited with introducing Marie Antoinette to gambling for high stakes and would herself continue to place astronomical bets until the very last minute before their public declaration of bankruptcy. It does not seem that remarkable then that she would have had such difficulties managing the finances of the royal children.
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| Victoire in the later 1780's |
While the financial aspect of her (mis)management of the children's household undoubtedly drew the most attention, the governess does not appear to have been quite up to par on her other duties. As governess to the most important children at court it was her responsibility to maintain a constant vigilance near them. Yet, when a lower-ranking servant accidentally left a sharp piece of glass in the dauphin's food, Victoire not only failed to notice but even attempted to cover up the whole affair afterwards. As a consequence, the much-prayed-for infant came dangerously close to dying in infancy.
It says a good deal of the society at Versailles that the financial mismanagement would occasion little surprise but the carelessness of the governess caused outrage. Finances were tough for most families at court so few people could truly claim to be debt free. However, the heir to the throne - and one who had been long in the making - was entirely different. It was around him that the courtiers expected to focus their lives when he should come of age; he represented the future of the monarchy - and the nobles themselves - and the idea that he should nearly die needlessly was unacceptable.
Despite her good intentions, it would seem that the Princesse de Guéméné was entirely unsuitable for the task bestowed upon her.
The court and public at large naturally pointed a finger at the Guéméné-couple themselves but in a sadly all too familiar twist, one other person became the designated scapegoat for their ultimate bankruptcy: Marie Antoinette.
The enemies of the beleaguered queen were quick to argue that she herself had "encouraged" the couple's ludicrous spending by attending their soirées - it was argued that by doing so, she led them to host others despite not being able to afford it. The queen was also singled about - amongst a large group of people - as a party to their ferocious gambling parties. Others complained that she had not acted with sufficient decorum in the handling of the resignation of her children's governess. Few of these critics recognised that the king and queen granted the former governess an astounding pension of 60.000 livres which was large even for her former position. Unfortunately for Marie Antoinette, she had already become the go-to scapegoat for misfortune.
As for Victoire and her husband, they retired to a palace provided by her father, Charles de Rohan. During the revolution, she fled to Austria and then Bohemia where she settled permanently - her family remained there for 125 years.
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