Naturalization Document 1820 - Lot 250

Naturalization Document 1820 ROYALISM - AMY BROWN - DUKE OF BERRY Naturalization document (dated October 1820) following Amy Brown's (mistress of the Duc de Berry) request for permanent residence in France following the assassination of Charles-Ferdinand d'Artois (her lover and, according to some sources, possibly her husband). Parchment signed by Louis XVIIIe and Garde des Sceaux Pierre de Serre. Parchment, 51x40 cm, accompanied by its large green wax seal, 12.5 cm in diameter. Clearly legible handwriting and signature. Amy Brown, daughter of a British Protestant family whose father was a minister. Renowned for her charm and beauty, Amy met the Duke of Berry in London in 1804, at the age of 21. Exiled since 1789, Louis XVI's nephew found refuge in the UK in 1801. Sources mention a possible marriage between the Duke and Amy in 1806. This union was kept secret from the royal family. Two daughters were born of this probable union: Charlotte, comtesse d'Issoudun, and Louise, comtesse de Vierzon. When Napoleon abdicated on June 6, 1814, the Duc de Berry returned to France with his two daughters. However, for political reasons, Charles-Ferdinand was forced to separate from Amy. His marriage, if it had indeed taken place, was declared invalid, and Amy's relationship with the duke changed from that of wife to that of mere mistress. In 1816, the Duc de Berry married the granddaughter of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Siciles, with whom he had four children. Two of them died in infancy, but the other two reached adulthood: Henri (1820-1883), pretender to the French throne, and Louise (1819-1864), wife of Charles III of Parma. Assassinated at the age of 42, the Duc de Berry died on February 14, 1820 of a stab wound inflicted by Louis Pierre Louvel, a saddler who wished to "extinguish the Bourbon race". On his deathbed, the Duc de Berry asked to see Amy and his daughters, and gave his wife, who later adopted both children, the responsibility of caring for them.