A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Orleans, Elizabeth Charlotte, Duchess of
ORLEANS, ELIZABETH CHARLOTTE, DUCHESS OF,
Only daughter of the Elector Charles Louis of the Palatinate, was born at Heidelberg, in 1662. She was a princess of distinguished talents and character, and lived for half a century in the court of Louis the Fourteenth without changing her German habits or manners. She was carefully educated at the court of her aunt, afterwards the Electress Sophia of Hanover, and when nineteen, married Duke Philip of Orleans, from reasons of state policy. She was without personal charms, but her understanding was strong, and she was celebrated for her wit. Madame de Maintenon was her implacable enemy; but Louis the Fourteenth was attracted by her frankness, integrity, and vivacity. She often attended him to the chase. She has described herself and her situation with much life and humour in her "German Letters." The most valuable of these are contained in the "Life and Character of the Duchess Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans," by Professor Schütze, published at Leipzic, in 1820. Her second son was made regent, after Louis the Fourteenth's death. Her own death occurred in 1722.