Where They Build the Thrones

When Charles 2nd, The Cursed, dies without leaving an heir, a never-ending parade of pretenders to the Spanish throne come to light. Through a series of plots and palace intrigue, the Duke of Anjou is crowned King under the name Philip the 5th.

Philip is a timid young man who in a matter of weeks becomes the most powerful person in the world and finds himself married to little Marie Louise of Savoy. Everyone knows the risk of putting control of the Empire in the hands of one so young and inexperienced and his grandfather, the great Louis 14th of France, charges the Princess of Ursins with the task of protecting, guiding and watching the royal couple. Marie Anne de Trèmoille, Princess of Ursins, is thus named Head of the Queen's Bedchamber, She is close to sixty years of age but is still a handsome and very influential woman. A spy for Louis 14th in Rome, her new mission to control the young monarchs will make her powerful enemies. During her fourteen years in the palace, she manages to manipulate and guide the royal designs of the King as his advisor until he is widowed. Then she tries to marry him in spite of the difference in age but eventually Isabel de Farnese becomes the new queen of Spain. Marie Anne de Trèmoille is unable to best the woman from Farnese who, one cold morning in 1714, puts her in a carriage with nothing but the clothes on her back and sends her back to France.