Marie Françoise de Brancas, Princess of Harcourt
Marie Françoise de Brancas (1650-1715), Princess of Harcourt and Marquise of Maubec, was a French aristocrat and courtier during the reign of Louis XIV. She was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie Thérèse and later became an intimate friend of Madame de Maintenon, the King's morganatic second wife. Early life and ancestry Marie Françoise was the eldest daughter of Count Charles de Brancas (1618-1681) and his wife, Susanne Garnier (1630-1685), widow of François de Brézé, Seigneur d’Isigny en Normandie. Her father was a Chevalier d'honneur to Queen Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV. Career at Versailles The Princess of Harcourt was one of the dames d'honneur to Queen Marie-Thérèse. Like many influential courtiers at Versailles, the Princesse d'Harcourt sold favors and offices to those who could pay for them. She was paid a large amount of money by Louis Phélypeaux, marquis de La Vrillière, to broker a marriage between him and a daughter of Anne-Marie-Francoise de Sainte-Hermine, Dame d'atours. The Princess also secured de la Vrillière the venal post held by his new wife's father as part of the deal. Harcourt sold invitations to the king's residence at Marly for ₤6,000 each. In his memoirs, the Duke of Saint-Simon