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Principessa Giuseppina Maria di Sardegna
(1753–1810)

Other names: Maria Giuseppa Luigia

Biographical

After Giuseppina was educated at Turin, her marriage plans began, and after Ferdinand of Bourbon-Naples was considered, her grandfather, King Carlo Emanuele III, arranged her marriage to Louis, Count of Provence (the future Louis XVIII of France). Negotiations were conducted between 1769 and 1770 directly with Louis XV, who was a nephew of the Carlo Emanuele III. Papal dispensation was required due to their close blood links. There was great celebration at Turin after the marriage contract was signed on 16 April 1770. Giuseppina was initially on friendly terms with Marie Antoinette, but relations soon became strained between the due to court envy and the fact that Marie Antoinette was still childless. Marie Antoinette's mother, the Empress Maria Theresia, feared a plot against her daughter by the supporters of the counts of Provence, leading to the breakup of the alliance between the Empire and France. This was exacerbated by the marriage of Maria Teresa, Giuseppina's sister, to the count of Artois (the future Charles X), and the involvement of their cousin, the Princesse de Lamballe. Giuseppina was expecting a child in 1774, and if a male child had been born, he would have been the heir to the French throne. However, she suffered a miscarriage, and she was to never have children. Another failed pregnancy, her deteriorating relationship with her husband, and her worsening relationship with Marie Antoinette, led her to leave the palace of Versailles and reside in seclusion at Grand-Montreuil in 1781. Giuseppina developed a relationship with Jeanne-Marguerite Gallois, Madame de Gourbillon, which became the subject of a scandal and in 1789 Louis XVI decided to sent Madame de Gourbillon into exile. Giuseppina managed to arrange for her return in the following years, but in 1791, the Revolution broke out. She and her husband attempted to escape, but their plans were thwarted during the dramatic events of Varennes. However, due to the actions of Madame de Gourbillon, they managed to flee to the Austrian Netherlands. After the execution of Louis XVI, and death of his young son, Louis XVII, the counts of Provence became the nominal sovereigns of France. During this period, the couple spent most of their time apart. Giuseppina returned to Turin to her father in 1792, but Louis joined them in 1794. During the French invasion of Savoy in 1796 Giuseppina moved to Novara with Madame de Gourbillon, and they later moved to Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. She reunited with her husband at Latvia in 1799 where they received support from Tsar Paul I, and there they established a small court consisting of refugees from the Revolution. Madame de Gourbillon was prevented from joining her. Finding the climate too harsh, Giuseppina began to travel incognito, under the name of Countess d'Oliergues or Lille, in 1800, and went to Germany, to Pyrmont, and then to Schleswig-Holstein in 1801. She was in Wildungen, Hesse, in 1802, but her health was declining. In 1803, she was in Warsaw, where Louis had established a court at the Wasilewski palace. In 1805 the couple returned to Latvia, but finding little support from Tsar Alexander I, and with the rise of Napoleon who enjoyed both military successes and dynastic alliances, the counts of Provence were finding no support from the former anti-French sovereigns. They moved to England in 1807 and were welcomed by the English aristocracy, and they eventually settled at Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire, in 1808. Madame de Gourbillon also lived in London, but Louis prevented her from reuniting with his wife. Giuseppina had been suffering from dropsy for some time and had been prone to nervous breakdowns. After her death, she was initially buried in Westminster, in the chapel of Henry VII, but in 1811, was transferred to Cagliari, as she had wished.

Place of birth: Turin
Place of marriage: Versailles
Place of death: Hartwell House, Bucks
Place of burial: Cathedral of Cagliari

Daughter of King Vittorio Amedeo III of Sardinia and Infanta María Antonieta of Spain (Borbón). She married Louis, comte de Provence (later Louis XVIII of France) (Bourbon) in 1771, and had no issue

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