3-097-973 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Anne Marie Louise of Orléans, 1655. Anne Marie of Orléans (1627-1693), the only child of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIII, and Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, was the sole heiress to her mother's vast fortune from birth. As Duchess Regnant of Montpensier and Sovereign Princess of Dombes, she became the wealthiest heiress in France, later adding the considerable wealth she inherited upon her father's death. Strong-willed and independent, she rejected numerous marriage proposals and was generally known as "La Grande Mademoiselle", a title derived from her father's name, Monsieur (traditionally given to the king's younger brother), which was later modified to Grand Monsieur to distinguish him from his nephew, Philippe, younger brother of Louis XIV, who was known as Petit Monsieur.