Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchess de Châteauroux

Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle duchesse de Châteauroux (October 5, 1717 - December 8, 1744), was a mistress of Louis XV of France.

In 1740, upon the death of her husband, the marquis de la Tournelle, she attracted the attention of Louis XV; and by the aid of the duc de Richelieu, who, dominated by Madame de Tencin, hoped to rule both the king and the state, she supplanted her sister, Madame de Mailly , as titular mistress in 1742.

Directed by Richelieu, she tried to arouse the king, dragging him off to the armies, and negotiated the alliance with Frederick II of Prussia, in 1744. Her political role, however, has been exaggerated. Her triumph after the passing disgrace provoked by the king's illness at Metz did not last long, for she died on the 8th of December 1744.

See Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, La Duchesse de Châteauroux et ses sœrurs (Paris, 1879).