'' by
François Clouet possibly depicts either Diane de Poitiers or Mary, Queen of Scots. A noted beauty, Diane maintained her good looks well into her fifties and was immortalized in both sculpture and paintings. She sat for other paintings of the time, often topless or nude, other times in traditional poses. In 1526, the princes
Francis and
Henry were sent to
Spain as hostages for their father who had been captured by Imperial troops at the
battle of Pavia in 1525 and imprisoned in Spain. Because their ransom was not paid, the two boys (eight and seven at the time) spent nearly four years isolated in a succession of ever-bleaker castles. This experience may account for the strong impression that Diane made on Henry as the very embodiment of the ideal gentlewoman: his mother being already dead, it was Diane, his grandmother's lady-in-waiting who gave him his farewell kiss when he was sent to Spain. At the
tournament held in 1531 for the
coronation of Francis's new wife,
Eleanor of Austria, the
Dauphin Francis wore the colours of the new Queen as expected, but Henry wore Diane's colours. In 1533, Henry married
Catherine de' Medici despite domestic opposition to the alliance, since the Medicis were no more than merchant upstarts in the eyes of many in the French court. However, Diane approved of the choice of bride, to whom she was related (Catherine's maternal grandfather and Diane's paternal grandmother were siblings, making Diane and Catherine second cousins). Based on allusions in their correspondence, it is generally believed that Diane became Henry's mistress in 1534, when she was 35 years old and Henry was 15. In the early years of their marriage, Henry and Catherine had been childless and Diane became concerned, once Henry became heir to the throne following the death of his elder brother in 1536, of a possible repudiation of the royal wife that she had in her control, so she made sure that Henry's visits to the marital bedroom would be frequent (in the end, the royal couple had ten children). In another act of self-preservation toward the royal family, Diane helped nurse Catherine back to health when she fell ill. , 1555 Despite his occasional affairs with other women, such as
Philippa Duci,
Janet Fleming, and
Nicole de Savigny, Diane remained Henry's lifelong companion. For the next 25 years, she was one of the most powerful women in France. When Francis I was still alive, Diane had to contend at the court with the enmity of his mistress,
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly. In 1544, Anne convinced Francis I that Henry (now the Dauphin) and Diane were working to reinstate
Constable Montmorency at court (Montmorency, a favourite of Henry, had been in disgrace with the King ever since the collapse of negotiations with
Emperor Charles V over the future of the
Duchy of Milan: Charles had withdrawn his promise to grant the duchy to Francis' third son, the
Duc d'Angoulême, for which Francis blamed Montmorency). When Francis banished Diane from court as a result of these accusations, Henry and his supporters retreated to Diane's chateau at
Anet; father and son would not reconcile until 1545. After Francis's death in 1547, Henry had Anne banned from court and confiscated her
Duchy of Étampes. By then, Diane's position in the Court was such that when
Pope Paul III sent the new Queen the "
Golden Rose", he also presented the royal mistress with a pearl necklace. She received the prestigious title of
Duchess of Valentinois in 1548 and was made Duchess of Étampes in 1553. Through the extensive patron-client network she cultivated, her sons-in-law received important positions. Although she was not openly involved in politics, Diane's sharp intellect, confident maturity and loyalty to Henry II made her his most dependable ally in the court. He trusted her to write many of his official letters, which were signed jointly with the one name: "HenriDiane". Until 1551, she was in charge of the education of Henry and Catherine's children, and gave orders to their governors, Jean and
Françoise d'Humières. Diane also took care of raising
Diane of France (1538 - 1619), natural daughter of Henry and
Filippa Ducci, whom she treated as if she were her own, to the point that some contemporary chroniclers wrote that Diane was actually the biological mother of the girl. Her daughter Françoise managed the Queen's household as ''
première dame d'honneur'' (chief lady-in-waiting). The King's adoration for Diane caused a great deal of jealousy on the part of Queen Catherine, particularly when Henry entrusted Diane with the
Crown Jewels of France and gave her the
Château de Chenonceau, a piece of royal property that Catherine had wanted for herself. However, as long as the King lived, the Queen was powerless to do anything about it. ==Construction projects==