Mathilde de Morny – Queen Hortense’s unconventional grandchild (Part three)
In 1904, the Marquis and Marquise de Belbeuf were finally officially divorced after a separation of many years. Despite not having been together, the actual divorce would have still been a huge scandal, so the proceedings happened in the utmost secrecy. The Marquis died quite suddenly in early 1906.
Around the time of the divorce, Mathilde had three young men among their close circle of friends whom they called “my three sons.” They were Sacha Guitry, Auguste Heriot and Prince Ghika. While some used the words “sons”, “daughters”, or “children” to refer to lovers, for Mathilde, there was no sexual attraction. They unofficially adopted their “sons”, and they were loyal to Mathilde until death. To keep things private, Mathilde founded their own private club, “the Cercle des Arts et de la Mode”, and they rented the apartment next door. They settled on a monthly dinner to bring together artists and authors. The first one, on 27 March 1905, brought Colette to them.
Colette and Mathilde (public domain)Colette was the author of the well-known Claudine books, and she was no stranger to taking women as lovers, despite being married to Henry Gauthier-Villars. Mathilde began by supporting Colette’s aspirations for the theatre and rented a small theatre for her debut. Mathilde never missed a performance and even taught Colette how to walk like a man. Not much later, Mathilde and Colette spent the summer together in a rented villa.1 In November 1906, Colette left her husband, having fallen in love with Mathilde. They were soon inseparable, but the relationship also brought trouble with the press. While they had previously been somewhat discreet when writing about Mathilde, they now used their full name. When Mathilde was persuaded to perform with Colette in the Moulin Rouge, their on-stage kiss nearly caused a riot. When it was reported upon, Mathilde’s brothers refused to see them anymore. Even their beloved stepfather, the Duke of Sesto, could no longer officially receive them.2
Colette’s husband officially divorced her, but Mathilde was there to catch her, and she was installed in her own apartment with a maid. Once while performing in Paris, Colette wrote to Mathilde, “I love you. I am with you, to the depths of my being, profoundly grateful for everything you are to me, for everything you do for me. I embrace you with all my heart, my darling love.”3 Life began to revolve around Colette’s career, and Mathilde took care of everything.
By 1910, Mathilde had begun to doubt Colette’s fidelity. Attempts to reassure Mathilde were hampered when flowers arrived from a woman. However, Colette did not intend to leave Mathilde and wrote to them every day when she was away. Meanwhile, Mathilde tried to hide their sorrows with ether. In August 1911, it was over.
The start of the First World War made Mathilde’s mental state worse. Their Russian cousins wrote to them about the carnage and eventual revolution in Russia. When Emperor Nicholas II abdicated, Mathilde thought back to the fall of the French Empire and the abdication of Queen Isabella II. When the war finally ended, the world had changed.
By 1920, Mathilde had moved into the apartment they would spend the rest of their life in. They travelled between Paris and Switzerland, where they were the financier of a magazine. They also financed a newsletter to allow for the exchange of news in the aftermath of the war. They met Pierre Gilliard, who had taught the Romanov children, and he told them about the massacre. Mathilde, who had always believed that their mother was an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, was haunted by what had happened to their cousins. They tried to help Russian friends who arrived in Paris as much as they could.
The 1920s had more family tragedies for Mathilde. In 1920, their brother, Auguste, the second Duke of Morny, died. Two years later, their second brother died of cancer. Mathilde’s niece, Anita de Morny, died in 1924, following an operation, but nobody bothered to invite Mathilde. That same year, the Spanish royal family was sent into exile again, which must have been a deja vu for Mathilde. To take their mind off the many tragedies, they turned to cinema. They also found themself reconciling with old partners, such as Colette.
As the years passed, there were inevitably more deaths. Their nephews, who subsequently were known as the 3rd and 4th Duke of Morny, died in 1935 and 1943, respectively. Their mother, Mathilde’s sister-in-law, died in 1939. One of the last major events that Mathilde attended was the wedding of the last of their three “sons”, Sacha. Mathilde attended wearing a monocle and a top hat.4 Mathilde spent the war years in their apartment on the Rue des Eaux.
At the end of May 1944, Mathilde took a dagger and committed harakiri, a sort of disembowelment. They were found in time and saved. One month later, on 29 June 1944, Mathilde stuck their head inside the gas stove and died kneeling. They were 81 years old.
Colette, who had been out of touch with Mathilde for two years, wrote, “She signified to me that she wouldn’t see me again, and I took good care not to protest. She proceeded to lose more and more of her memory, and couldn’t find her way around Paris, even with little notes to remind her of where she was going. There is nothing gay about the end of her life…”5
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