Margaret of Valois refused to ever marry.
Margaret of Valois . In 1589 , after all her brothers had died leaving no sons , Margaret 's husband , the senior-most agnatic heir to France ( the `` Prince du sang '' ) , succeeded to the French throne as Henry IV , the first Bourbon King of France . Margaret took many lovers both during her marriage and after its annulment , of whom the best-known are Joseph Boniface de La Môle , Jacques de Harlay , Seigneur de Champvallon and Louis de Bussy d'Amboise . While imprisoned , she took advantage of the time to write her memoirs , which included a succession of stories relating to the disputes of her brothers Charles IX and Henry III with her husband . A term used to indicate an unmarried woman who was past the usual or legal age for marrying ( and sometimes also considered unlikely to marry ) , spinster originally referred to a woman whose occupation was to spin .