Five months before the twins were born, Claude-Elizabeth moved to court. The eldest set of royal children were now at court. One courtier said, "L'aîné des enfants de Sa Majesté, c'est-à-dire les Altesses Henry, François, Charles et Claude-Elizabeth, éblouissent tous les jours la cour. Les gènes de leurs pères brillent comme les pieux. Ils ont été bénis avec des cheveux blonds, les Altesses sont toutes belles à voir. Aucun des regards aigrelets de leur mère ne dilue leurs visages royaux."
"The eldest did set of his majesty's children, yond is the highnesses, henry, francis, charles, and claude-elizabeth art all anon dazzling the court. Their father's genes shine true as the godly ones. Did bless with blond hair the highnesses art all lovely to behold upon. None of their mother's sour looks dilute their royal faces."
"The eldest set of his majesty's children, that is the highnesses, Henry, Francis, Charles, and Claude-Elizabeth are all now dazzling the court. Their father's genes shine true as the godly ones. Blessed with blond hair the highnesses are all lovely to look upon. None of their mother's sour looks dilute their royal faces." The queen was still not overly liked, her italian roots as clear as day. The royal children however were well liked, earning the nickname "aîné Princen" or elder princen.
Ever since the return of King Henry the court had been restored to its former, lavish glory. Claude-Elizabeth entered a beautiful, cutthroat court. This was a court that regularly partied until they passed out while plotting to kill one another. Her mother had group of ladies whose purpose was to seduce information for the queen. The princess got a crash course in politics, espionage, deception, and manipulation. Escalating religious tensions were only belled by a veil of tolerance worn by Henry and Catherine.
Claude-Elizabeth's reception to court was mixed. The king and queen were not affectionate or attentive to their children. A customary ball for entrance to society was thrown. The court as a rule adored the royal children, placing them on pedestals, better versions of their flawed parents. Only one member didn't like Claude-Elizabeth's arrival at all.
The King's currently pregnant mistress, Louisa de Magnition was not pleased to have another female, royal rival for the court's favor. Though young, Claude-Elizabeth was distinctly beautiful. Between her looks, her wit, and her open heart, Claude-Elizabethwas a ready made rival for any woman. Lousia tried to spread a rumor that the 13-year-old Claude-Elizabeth was having an affair with the young son of the Duc de Epernon. Epernon was 13 as well and his family a growing power at court.
Claude-Elizabeth reacted quickly to safeguard her reputation, should the court become convinced of the affair she would be ruined. She started by biding a number of her more established and married ladies to publicly vouch for her virtue without mentioning the rumor. She was seen attending mass every day and was never seen without one of her respected ladies. She attended court parties as was expected from her but always refrained from dancing with anyone unmarried or unrelated to her. She became a paragon of virtue, giving her a moral high ground to last for decades.
Still, Claude-Elizabethkept the habits of a wealthy, high-ranking courtier, spending thousands on extravagant gowns and parties. She had a large household, consisting of 20 ladies-in-waiting to her mother's 30. She had a steward, a number of guards, roughly 25 servants in her own employ, and 15 maids-in-waiting.
Her mother, already sidelined by Lousia as well as the king and his other mistresses, often publicly belittled Claude. Claude-Elizabethhad a thick scar on her neck from a horse riding incident at Saint Germain. It would fade over time, but for now, Catherine enjoyed poking fun at it. Catherine also called Claude-Elizabeth"the little princess". At the time it was relatively apt, but still undermining for a girl trying to establish a foothold in a court. She would continue to do so even as Claude-Elizabethaged, even when Claude-Elizabethbecame a queen, she was still "that little princess".
King Henry, still at war and with no use for a daughter, mostly ignored Claude-Elizabeth until she was of marriageable age. Not long after she had joined court, Claude's brothers, Henry, 16, and Francis, 15 left for the front. It was unusual for both the heir and the spare to be sent to a war front but King Henry deemed it necessary to boost morale. And the moral of the army was dangerously low, near mass desertion. Henry and Francis risking their lives along side the common soldiers went a long way to earn the men's loyalty.
Two years later, just after Claude's incident with Lousia, news came from the front. Francis, Duc d'Angoulême, and Prince of France had been killed in battle. Prince Henry, the dauphin, was coming home. At 13 years old Claude-Elizabethexperienced her first loss, the death of her brother. Francis had been closer to Henry and Charles, as had she, but he was still a member of the tight-knit older four.
Despite the death of Francis, Henry's return was joyous for Claude. Henry was five years older than Claude-Elizabeth and had always doted on her at Saint Germain. In his journals', Charles noted "Ma soeur, l'élégante princesse Claude, s'est réjouie du retour de notre frère le dauphin, et non des circonstances. Nous étions debout avec notre père et notre mère, attendant son arrivée. Quand il descendit de son carrosse, ma soeur, toujours émue, courut avec joie le saluer."
"Mine sister, the elegant princess claude, was most overjoyed at the returneth of our brother the dauphin, an not the circumstances. We stood withal our lord father and lady mother, awaiting his arrival. When he stepped out of his carriage, mine ever-emotional sister ran withal joy to greet him."
"My sister, the elegant Princess Claude, was most overjoyed at the return of our brother the dauphin, if not the circumstances. We stood with our lord father and lady mother, awaiting his arrival. When he stepped out of his carriage, my ever-emotional sister ran with joy to greet him."
This one of the only overt displays of emotion from Claude-Elizabethon record, later in life she preferred to air her emotions privately as we see in some of Charles' journals and later, Claude's memoirs. This was likely another learned lesson, this time instilled by her mother who frequently mocked Claude's opinions and the emotion that she put behind them.
Francis' body was brought to the capital and buried with honor and extravagance befitting the warrior prince. For the funeral, the six younger royal children were called from the nursery to court and promptly placed in 13-year-old Claude's care. The queen was not a particularly maternal woman, and the king's mistress Lousia was in confinement to give birth to the child. This was seen as appropriate training for a young lady of noble birth. Francis' title, the Dukedom of Orleans was later conferred to Charles.
In the months after Francis' death, the crown renewed its efforts to have Prince Henry married. It had always been in some sort of negotiations for it dauphin's bride but now it was truly trying to get him married. It seemed that the death of Francis kickstarted an effort to secure the throne. And in no time at all, they succeeded. The bride, Archduchess Maria of Austria, arrived when Claude-Elizabethwas 14. The wedding of the dauphin and the Archduchess was an extravagant affair, costing about $5 million modern dollars. The crown paid this all while funding a war of nearly ten years. The treasury was depleted.
The new dauphine found herself instantly on the outs with her new family. Prince Henry was not pleased with his foreign bride, favoring the daughter of the Duc de Epernon, Hennrettia. Soon after Henry himself was married, Hennrettia married the Marquise de Veranda. Still, Henry took her as his mistress.
King Henry could have cared less after the promised support from the empire against the Spanish claim on Savoy never came.
The queen was not pleased to find herself with yet another young rival for favor.
Maria was yet another forgein bride to France, and as such the court cared even less for her than it did Catherine. This was not helped by the fact the unlike Catherine, Maria made no moves to endear herself to the french people. Maria did not speak french and refused to learn, insisting that she spoke Latin and Spanish, two superior languages. Her dress was distinctly different and she openly disrespected two court favorites, Henrettia of Epernon and Claude-Elizabeth.
Hennrettia, the new Marchioness de Verdana, and Claude-Elizabeth were closer, having grown the past few years at court together. Hennrettia was one of Claude's senior ladies-in-waiting. The two would keep a close communication for decades to come. Maria detested her husbands mistress on principle. In Spain, royal husbands taking lovers was also common, but these ladies were not nearly as flaunted and favored as the French mistresses.