Pauline-Félicité de Mailly

Pauline-Félicité de Mailly-Nesle (born 1712, died 1741), marquise de Vintimille, was one of the "sisters de Nesle" who served as mistresses to King Louis XV.

In 1740, Pauline wrote to her elder sister Louise-Julie de Mailly, the king's official mistress, asking to be invited to court. She received the invitation, and during her stay proceeded to seduce the king, who fell passionately in love with her.

Pauline then became the second official mistress of Louis XV, although her sister kept the position of titular-mistress. The king lavished her with gifts, the greatest being the castle of Choisy-le-Roi, newly decorated in blue and silver. The king also bestowed upon her the title "marquise de Vintimille" by marrying her off to Jean-Baptiste Hubert Félix, marquis of Vintimille, who departed to the country after their wedding. Pauline soon became pregnant by the king.

Pauline-Félicité is described as graceful with a long, swan-like neck, but not beautiful. She was much more ambitious than her older sister and predecessor, and possessed a great desire for money and political influence; her arrogance quickly made her hated within the court and by the people.

She could have been as politically influential as her two successors Marie-Anne de Mailly and Madame de Pompadour, if not more, but her period as royal mistress was cut short; she died while giving birth to the son of the king in 1741.

Her corpse was placed at Lit-de-parade in the city of Versailles, but during the night the guards left the room to drink and a mob broke in and mutilated the corpse of "the king's whore".

Both the king and her sister, the official mistress, were deeply devastated by the death of their lover and sister, and Louise-Julie is said to have begun to wash the feet of the poor as a Catholic sign of remorse.

The son of the king and Pauline-Félicité de Mailly was named Louis after his father and given the title "Duc de Luc". He so resembled his father that he was called "Demi-Louis", "small Louis". The king took care of his needs but never cared for him much. Later, Madame de Pompadour wanted to marry her daughter to him, but the king would not allow it.