Catherine Grand

Family and parentage Catherine Noël Worlée (also spelled Werlée) was born in the town of Tranquebar, Danish India, in 1761 or 1762. She had both French and Danish heritage. Both her parents were French Catholics: her father Pierre Werlée was a colonial official of the French Indies Company stationed at nearby Pondicherry, and her mother was Laurence Alleigne, daughter of a French armourer in India. Laurence was Pierre's second wife: in 1744, at the age of 23, he had married Marguerite da Silva, who was aged 14. Marguerite died after having borne him four children, Catherine's half-siblings. At the time of Catherine's birth, her father was a British prisoner of war who had been captured during the Third Carnatic War; Catherine's family had fled to Tranquebar when British forces besieged Pondicherry in 1760. After his release the family settled in Chandernagore, a town in French India near Calcutta. She had a basic private education and was taught to read and write by her mother but excelled at art, dance, and etiquette. Her brother, Jean Xavier, was born on 20 September 1766. It served as the country house of the French Governors of Chandernagore. His annual salary was a respectable 1,300 rupees. His diary, published in 1814, provides much information about their marriage. Mrs Grand was well-received by the English ton of Calcutta. The newly-weds took up residence in a house near the neighborhood of Alipore in south Calcutta. Early affairs Mrs Grand caught the attention of British colonial official Philip Francis, a member of the Supreme Council of Bengal, who was discovered trying to seduce her at her home on the night of 8 December 1778 by her servants. The scandal caused Catherine's husband to send her back to live with her family in Chandernagore, and successfully sued Francis for adultery, receiving 50,000 rupees in damages on 6 March 1779. Catherine became Francis's mistress soon after. On 17 August 1780, Francis was seriously injured in a duel with his political rival Warren Hastings and decided to leave India. Francis and Catherine embarked on separate ships in December 1780 Once aboard, Catherine began an affair with fellow passenger Thomas Lewin, a colonial official from Madras and later father of Harriet Grote. Their ship was diverted to Cádiz, and the pair arrived together in London by a different ship in the summer of 1781. == Life in Europe ==

In 1782, Mrs Grand and Lewin moved to Paris. Their affair ended amicably soon after, and Lewin settled an annuity on her. She restarted her relationship with Francis, who would rendezvous with her several times in Paris and the resort town of Spa. 1783 portrait French artist Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted Catherine's portrait in 1783, which was exhibited at the Parisian Salon of the Royal Academy the same year, one of at least ten portraits Le Brun submitted. The oval painting shows Madame Grand holding a musical score. Curators at the Met have compared her pose, and in particular her eyes, to Domenichino's Saint Cecilia (1618). The painting is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. It has travelled extensively for exhibition, including at the 1939 New York World's Fair, twice at the Grand Palais of Paris, at the Yokohama Museum of Art in 1989, and various other museums around the world. Catherine fled to Britain in 1792 during the French Revolution, but returned to Paris in 1797. In 1798 she was arrested on suspicion of being a foreign agent, but was released upon the intervention of French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. troubled Napoleon Bonaparte, leader of the French First Republic. He issued Talleyrand an ultimatum to either marry Catherine or give her up, hoping to end the relationship. Concerned that Talleyrand meant to abandon her, Catherine forced herself into a diplomatic dinner being hosted by Talleyrand and declared their engagement. Talleyrand was too surprised to contradict her. They were married in a quiet ceremony at Neuilly on 9 September 1802; Napoleon and his first wife Joséphine signed their marriage contract. After marriage, Catherine's relationship with Talleyrand cooled considerably; however, despite his many infidelities, Talleyrand admired her beauty, her docile nature, and her gracious hosting at their homes at Hôtel de Galliffet and Château de Valençay. The marriage did not change Napoleon's contemptuous attitude toward Catherine. At a reception at the Tuileries Palace soon after her marriage, Napoleon is alleged to have remarked, "I hope that the good conduct of Talleyrand will cause the fickleness of Madame Grand to be forgotten." Catherine responded by saying, "In that respect, I cannot do better than to follow the example of [Joséphine] Bonaparte". The implied rebuke ensured that Catherine was rarely invited to Napoleon's court. Catherine was also disfavoured by Pope Pius VII, who found her background as a courtesan repugnant. When Talleyrand was made Prince of Benevento in 1806, Catherine became a princess of Napoleon's First French Empire. In 1808, Napoleon placed the Spanish royal family in the custody of Talleyrand; Catherine was believed to have had a relationship with the Spanish Duke of San Carlos. Catherine was with her husband when they welcomed Tsar Alexander I of Russia to Paris upon Napoleon's downfall in 1814. Separation and death Around the time of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Talleyrand took the much younger Duchess of Dino as his mistress and Catherine was banished to London. She returned to France in 1817, and settled into a life of quiet luxury from the income she received from Talleyrand and her own ventures. In her later years, Catherine grew obese and vain of her rank of princess. She died in Paris on 10 December 1835, and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery. == References ==