On this day, Louis XV writes to the Duke of Parma from Versailles:
“My dear grandson, we have fortunately all arrived here. My cold still continues; it is not strong, but it is quite tenacious. Otherwise, I am very well. Madame la Dauphine was purged yesterday for a small upset of the stomach, which made her discontinue her consumption of milk, but she expects to resume it presently. I am very glad, my dear grandson, that the Prince of Brunswick was pleased with you. I love you and I embrace you with all my heart. Louis.”
Commentary:
The court has now returned to Versailles after a long stay at Compiègne that ended much later than usual.
Pictured: Marie-Josephe de Saxe (1731-1767), Princess of Saxony and Poland by birth and Dauphine de France by marriage.
Madame la Dauphine is the widow of Louis XV’s late son and heir, the Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand. Instead of being the wife of the Dauphin, she now finds herself the mother of the Dauphin. Her eldest surviving son, formerly Duc de Berry, is now the King’s heir.
Pictured: Louis-Auguste de France (1754-1793), formerly Duc de Berry, now Dauphin, later Louis XVI, painted in 1769 by L.M. van Loo.
For details of the Prince of Brunswick, please see 21 September.
The translation from the French is my own, as it always is unless I credit someone else. If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.