Prince Harry, in his latest book, has made scathing remarks about Queen Consort Camilla, who was King Charles III’s mistress when he was married to his mother, Lady Diana. One of the latter’s lovers, Captain James Hewitt, bears an unnerving resemblance to Harry. Sexual indiscretions have a long tradition in the British royal family. Including one in Quebec.
In 1790, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the son of King George III, who was studying in Geneva, fell in love with a married woman, Thérèse-Bernardine Montgenêt, seven years his senior. She will live with Edward for 27 years. Her husband, Baron de Fortisson, accepts the princely love affair and takes advantage of it.
As King George III. finds out about the affair, he sends the duke to Quebec. Edward brings his mistress with him. He presents her as a widow with the pompous artificial name Madame Julie de Saint-Laurent.
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Juliet of Saint Laurent
In August 1791, the couple moved into an imposing house at 25 rue Saint-Louis, which still stands near the Château Frontenac. In summer they reside in an elegant mansion near Montmorency Falls.
The prince spoke excellent French, which Julie sometimes corrected with amusement. The couple had close ties to Quebec’s elite, including the de Salaberry family. In 1794 the Prince was posted to the Royal Navy Headquarters in America in Halifax, where Julie’s beauty and intelligence charmed Governor John Wentworth.
He describes her in a letter as follows: “She is an elegant, well-mannered, agreeable and reasonable woman, far beyond most […] and possess the finest character and manners”. A young officer will write of her: ‘She is certainly the kindest, most good-natured and amiable of women; The charms of her spirit are surpassed only by those of her beautiful person. »
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Portrait of the Duke of Kent by Beechey in 1818.
Canadian descent?
According to some authors, Julie gave birth to a son in Quebec in 1793. A secret birth: A new addition to the ten illegitimate children already fathered by his brothers would have further increased his father, George III’s, hostility towards him, whose mental health is deteriorating.
The child would have been entrusted to a certain Robert Wood, for whom Edward was given the position of bouncer in the Lower Canada House of Assembly.
Photo National Archives of Quebec
Prince Edward’s summer residence at Montmorency Falls.
And while the couple were sailing from Quebec to Halifax in 1794, Julie would have given birth to a second son. Julie’s mother would have taken care of the child’s upbringing. Renowned author Mollie Gillen, who has gained access to the royal archives at Windsor Castle, says it is unfounded.
Canadian families who claim descent from the couple say the documents proving it were destroyed on orders from Queen Victoria, who did not want it discovered that she had illegitimate half-brothers. Gillen was therefore unable to consult her.
But until now the destruction of these archival documents has not been established.
Birth of Queen Victoria
In November 1817, the death of Princess Charlotte Augusta, second in line to the line of succession, meant that Prince Edward wished to marry quickly to secure his offspring. His separation from Julie took place in Brussels in March 1818. She did not blame him and moved to Paris, where Louis XVIII. gave her the title of Countess of Montgenêt. Through the Duc d’Orléans, a friend of the couple, Edward gave Julie a portrait of him that she wanted to commemorate their love.
Prince Edward’s marriage to German Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was brief.
Their only child, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, born 1819, became Queen Victoria on 20 June 1837.
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Queen Victoria.
Prince Edward died of pneumonia on January 23, 1820 at the age of 51. The prince’s wife, knowing his love for his former lover, wrote him a tearful letter.
Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent died in Paris on August 8, 1830. The Duke of Orleans ascended the French throne under the name of Louis-Philippe the day after his death.
Edward is credited with first using the term “Canadian” in 1792 to refer to both Her Majesty’s French and English subjects while attempting to quell a rebellion that clashed the two groups at Charlesbourg.
Prince Edward Island was named in his honor.