Madame Adelaide and the Colonel

I came across this rather vicious description of of King Louis-Philippe’s sister, Madame Adelaide, and her connection to Colonel Thorn. It seems that within Parisian society they both had plenty of critics. If this can be believed, the Colonel was fearful of being “papped” by the likes of Alphonse Karr, who had written many scathing comments about him, in his magazine The Wasp.

Madame Adélaïde was a [mysterious?] woman. It is claimed that it was she who convinced her brother, King Louis-Philippe, to accept the crown. She had created many enemies among the legitimists who called her the best diplomatic head in France, “because she never unbuttoned”; perfidious allusion to an imperfection in her face. Indeed, “it was not only through energy and ambition,” wrote d'Alméras nicely, “that she deviated from her sex, it was also through ugliness. She aggravated this ugliness, her virago airs, her overly pronounced features, her pimpled and red complexion, with toilets of deplorable taste and where all the colors of the rainbow came together. She was trying to appear young. Never was an attempt prolonged with more illusion. Opposition libels attributed her overly accentuated complexion to habits of intemperance. She was attributed with a morganatic union with a general. Some did not hesitate to accuse her of incest with her/his brother! 

In truth, she had a beneficial influence on the king. She had followed him to the Tuileries and had rented the hotel on rue de Varenne to an American colonel named Thorn. He lived there for a dozen years. He had spent, it seems, more than a million to furnish it. The balls and concerts he offered were highly sought after by Parisian high society. 

Madame de Girardin assures us that he closed his doors at ten o'clock sharp. Too bad for late guests! But Madame de Girardin seems to take pleasure in somewhat ridiculing the “rich American”. Witness this page “The last party was disturbed by the apprehensions of the master of the house whose monomania is to always believe he is being pursued by journalists. Every time he hears M. d’Escars announce, despite himself, his anxieties begin again; he thinks he sees Mr. Karr appear. The other day Mr. Prince d'Henin was announced, he heard Mr. Jules Janin; he turned pale. A moment later, Count Charles de Mornay was announced; he thought he heard Viscount Charles de Launay; he fainted. He had barely come to his senses; that M. de la Villegontier has been announced; this time he heard Mr. Théophile Gautier;  It was too much, he had a nervous attack, he had to win. We hope that this condition will not have dangerous consequences; it is a disease well known under the name of follicular enteritis.