Philippe d’Orléans, Regent of France, arranges a princess exchange to secure peace with Spain. 11-year-old Louis XV must marry 4-year-old Infanta Anna Maria Victoria, while his sister, 12-year-old Mlle de Montpensier, marries the Spanish heir. These young girls are forced into political games, losing their innocence prematurely.
L'Échange des princesses
Philippe d'Orléans, Regent of France, had a daring idea.
Louis XV, aged 11, was about to become King, and an exchange of princesses would consolidate peace with Spain, after years of war had left both kingdoms bloody.
He would therefore marry his daughter, 12-year-old Mlle de Montpensier, to the heir to the Spanish throne, and Louis XV was to marry the 4-year-old Infanta of Spain, Anna Maria Victoria.
But the precipitous entry of these young princesses into the court of royalty, sacrificed on the altar of power plays, will be the undoing of their carefree spirit.
