The next five years passed relatively peacefully. Hennrettia had two children, one with Henry, and one with her husband. Therese, Henry's new daughter, born December 8th, 1566 was to be raised with the Dauphin at Saint Germain. Matthieu, Hennrettia's child with her husband, born January 2, 1568 would be raised at the family's home Chateau. Henry had had a baby girl, Marilène with his wife Maria on May 8, 1568. Claude-Elizabeth herself had had a son and a daughter with Phillp. Her son Juan Carlos was born March 4, 1566. His sister Isadora Maria was born January 18, 1568
Claude-Elizabeth and her husband remained a model renaissance couple, if they had major grievances with each other they were aired privately, for we do not know of any. Phillpe had his affairs of course, but they remained discreet, and if they produced children we do not know. Claude-Elizabeth had reached her goal, the conservative spanish court was now a bustling hub of culture, the she profited from and enjoyed immensely.
On the 31st of December, 1570, tragedy struck the French royal family again. Henry, one of Claude's favorite siblings, died of what was likely lung cancer. Claude-Elizabethwouldn't hear about it until mid-January when she would also hear that Charles, her brother, was now the regent for the six year old king. Claude-Elizabeth raced across the country to France to be with her family for yet another royal death. She arrived in a flurry of activity in March, having missed the funeral by a month.
The King's death was part of a double tragedy for Henrettia who had lost her husband and the child that she was carrying just a month before. The two would be great comforts to each other in the coming months.
Claude-Elizabeth, her brother Charles, and their loyal advisors hold themselves up to try to solve their problems. Of which they had two: Dowager Queen Maria and Poland.
Out of all the royals in the world, Poland had elected Charles to be their king. And they wanted him in Poland. Charles could not rule both Poland and France, one would have to go. The siblings saw the opportunity that Poland presented: Money. Both the French and to a lesser extent the Spanish's treasure had dwindled thanks to the war and the excessive amounts that their monarchs' spent. Poland had no such problem.
Maria was making waves, she wanted to be regent to her son. The siblings were not overly worried about her, no one in France liked her. If Charles vacated the regency without a successor, Maria could step in despite her lack of support.
A solution was made: Claude-Elizabeth would be France's regent providing that she signed a contract agreeing to act in France's interest only for the duration of her tenure. Meanwhile Charles would go play King of Poland for as long as he desired. In April of 1571 the council agreed to the plan despite Maria's protests that she should be regent.
Queen Claude-Elizabeth was back in France. Claude-Elizabeth had a reputation that was similar to Marie Antoinette in a number of ways, she was known for her large gowns, beautiful looks, and copious amounts of spending. Unlike the infamous future queen of France, Claude-Elizabeth knew how to run a kingdom. Just like it had since the end of the war, the kingdom mostly prospered.
Within the first few months of her reign a group of courtiers attempted to overthrow Claude-Elizabeth in the name of the dowager queen, but they were quickly stopped and all the conspirators lost their heads. Fortunately for the dowager queen Claude-Elizabethcould find nothing that suggested that Maria had encouraged the revolt. Claude-Elizabeth's decisive actions secured her regency.
Meanwhile Spain was shocked to hear of their queen becoming regent to France. Phillpe saw the advantaged of his wife's power, but was displeased to have not been consulted. To the court though, he acted as if it were his own plan. This save of face allowed Claude-ELizabeth to retain support in Spain while governing for another country's interests.
In the summer of 1572 the Queen decided that it would be in the crown's best interests to see Prince Louis married. Claude-Elizabethhad the perfect person in mind: Hennrietta: the dowager and regent Marchioness of Verdana. Nobody knows quite what Henrettia was thinking when she married her former lover's brother, but she went on with it without a word. Claude-Elizabeth continued to marry off the Epernon family by marrying Christophe, now the Duc de Brittany to Mary, 16 year old Princess of France. The two were married in September of 1572. They solidified the royal families control over the nobles of France, the duchal houses of Epernon and Brittany, two of the most powerful, were now firmly ensconced in the royal family's interests.
For the next few months life in the French court continued as usual, the parties, drinking, and gowns remained opulent, the Queen remained in complete control, and the King continued to be a child. King Phillp only moderately wanted his wife home, he had settled himself in with a mistress named Clara de Launa. Clara was a loyal lady of Claude's who would cede power to her mistress as soon as she returned. Clara was also the lady that Claude-Elizabeth had left in charge of her children's education. Clara having raised 5 children herself.
In August of 1573 a new threat to Claude's reign emerged, her brother, Louis, Duc d'Alencon. Louis had decided that as the next of age brother, the regency ought to go to him after Charles. A number of courtiers were displeased with two main things: Claude-Elizabeth being a woman and the amount of tolerance given towards the Protestants.
Claude-Elizabeth operated under the policy of being discreet, so long as you weren't public with your scandals, be it affairs or religion. Many staunch Catholics disliked this policy as the longer it was implemented the more flagrant the Protestants became.
Louis and his conspirators first took their case to council, but were heartily denied. The prince despite being of age was too young, too inexperienced. Then in October they took their case to the streets, raising men using their personal guards. Within two weeks on the streets of Paris they had raised 5,000 men. Claude-Elizabeth, having caught wind of the plot, began to barricade the court inside the palace. Louis and his men, sensing their opportunity, attempted to storm the palace.
The problem: most of their men were untrained civilians with no order whatsoever. Claude-Elizabeth's guard and the royal army regiment that was in Paris slaughtered the uprising. All of the soldiers and civilians involved were killed on the steps and the nobles in charge arrested to be charged with treason.
The trials, verdicts, and executions were quick, brutal, and public. In November of 1573 Prince Louis lost his head. His wife, Claude-Elizabeth's dear friend, Henrietta, was confined to her rooms while her role in the attempted coup was investigated. The only thing that was discovered was that Hennrietta was pregnant.
Her twins, Joan and Henry were born in June of 1574. Claude-Elizabeth allowed Henry to keep his fathers dukedom but did not remove the attainder on the family preventing them from inheriting the throne. They would not be addressed as royal family members. Only Henrettia would receive the privilege of the style of Her Highness. Henrietta did not observe mourning customs for husband after his traitor's death. This allowed Claude-Elizabeth to order her engaged just two months after the twins birth. 27 year old, twice widowed Henrietta was engaged to 15 year old Prince Francois. Through everything, the death of two husbands, a lover, and a child, as well as the birth of two children, Henrietta never complained, following Claude-Elizabeth's orders to the letter. Her loyalty to Claude-Elizabeth was absolute.
Over in Poland, Charles had gotten himself married in winter of 1572 to a Polish noblewoman, Matilda of Pomerania, daughter of the Duke of Pomerania. Upon hearing of his brother's execution Charles began to make his way home, He would not arrive until September of 1574, nearly a year after his brother's death. The noble men of the areas he passed through entertained him extensively. He brought with him his wife, who would much rather have stayed in Poland. Charles very much disagreed, deciding once and for all in October that he would not be returning. Poland was simply too dour and cold. After nearly four years of reigning over Poland, Charles abdicated. His wife, who had married for the sole purpose of getting herself and her father power in Poland, was not a fan of this decision.
Now that Charles was home, there was no reason for Claude-Elizabeth to hold on to the regency. In January of 1575 Claude-Elizabethceded the regency of France to Charles and left for Spain. The dowager queen, Maria, was passed over once again.
After Claude-Elizabeth left Charles called off Henrietta's engagement to Francois. Charles for a short time would pursue Henrietta as his own mistress but she would reject him at every turn. Charles never took offense and still treated her as a favored sister at court.
Charles proposed to Henrietta an engagement between her son, the Marquis of Verdana and his niece the Princess Marilene. Henrietta would accept the proposal and exchange, the 7 year old Marquis would be made the Duc de Auvergne. In March of 1575 the betrothal contract was signed.