Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Volume 14

Saint-Simon wrote these memoirs as an insider's weapon, a venomous chronicle from the heart of Versailles where he witnessed everything and forgave nothing. This volume turns its gaze north to England, where a king and his heir have torn the royal family apart with a fury that shocks even a court accustomed to brutality. George I has banned his son from sight; the Prince of Wales lounges in exile with his English mistresses while his German wife, the future queen, mediates between them with a patience that borders on martyrdom. Enter Archbishop Dubois, that insufferable climber who worms his way into the Regent's favor and schemes toward a cardinal's hat he has done nothing to deserve. Saint-Simon dissects this family catastrophe with surgical glee, showing how personal hatred becomes international incident, how a father's spite shapes treaties and alliances across Europe. The scandal was the talk of every court from Hanover to Madrid. Four centuries later, we read it not for history but for the pleasure of watching powerful people destroy each other with exquisite manners.