From "Other Women's Voices," Two facts determined the course of Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans' life: she was the wealthiest woman in France, and she was, after the queen, the highest-ranking woman. She was the daughter of Gaston d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIII and heir-presumptive to the throne, and of Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier. Her mother died a few days after her birth, leaving her only child her many titles and her enormous wealth. As her father was called simply "Monsieur," by virtue of his relation to the king, so the new Duchess of Montpensier was called "Mademoiselle" (and later, to distinguish her from a niece of Louis XIV, "Grande Mademoiselle"). Because of her wealth and her position, when Louis XIII died in 1643 the question of Montpensier's marriage became important to Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin (respectively regent and chief minister for the child Louis XIV) and to Gaston. Anne and Mazarin considered marriages which would help France's international position; Gaston preferred that his daughter marry someone who would support his own political ambitions. What surprised everyone during these discussions was that the 16-year-old Montpensier began to express her own views on whom she would and would not marry. In 1648, the series of conflicts known as the Fronde began in France. In the conflict between Cardinal Mazarin and the Parlement, Montpensier took no direct part (though she was no fan of Mazarin); but in the "Fronde of the Princes," both Gaston and Montpensier were involved. In 1652, the 24-year-old Montpensier had the opportunity to be a warrior and a leader of the people. She immensely enjoyed her role but paid a heavy price for it --- exile from Paris, the only home she had ever known. In that five-year exile, at Saint-Fargeau in northeast France, Montpensier began to do her own writing. She had brought with her a satirical pseudo-memoir that she and her friends had already begun, Histoire de Jeanne Lambert d'Herbigny, Marquise de Fouquesolles; when that was finished and published in 1653, she began work on her Memoires, and probably began the 15 or more literary portraits that would become her contribution to the salon collection she had initiated, Divers portraits. In 1657 Montpensier was allowed to return to the court. She stopped working on the Memoires, but continued to write. Two novels were published in 1659, La Relation de l'Isle imaginaire, and L'Histoire de la Princesse de Paphlagonie, under the name of Jean Segrais, her secretary (as was Divers portraits). The first novel was a humorous tale describing the population of an island paradise; the second, an adventure story about a group of heroic women (Montpensier and her friends, under different names). In 1660 Montpensier and Madame de Motteville, one of Anne's attendants, exchanged a series of letters on the subject of living an idyllic life without romance or marriage; four of these would be collected in 1667 as Recueil des Pieces Nouveles et Galantes. In the mid-1660s Montpensier met the man with whom she would fall in love, the young Comte de Lauzun, an officer of Louis XIV's guard. In 1670 Montpensier decided to marry Lauzun. Louis first gave his approval; then he withdrew it; then he sent Lauzun away to prison. For the next ten years Montpensier worked to gain his release, and in 1677 resumed writing her Memoires, describing her love and the wonderful life the two lovers would have in the future.

Henrietta Anne Stuart, Duchesse d'Orleans, third daughter of the English king, Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria, was born during the Civil War at Exeter 16th June 1644. A few days after her birth her mother left England.