Favourite

A favourite (Australian, British, and Canadian English) or "favorite" (American English) was the intimate companion o a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. It was especially a phenomenon of the 16th and 17th centuries, when government had become too complex for many hereditary rulers with no great interest in or talent for it, and political institutions were still evolving. Frae 1600 tae 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much o Europe, particularly in Spain, Ingland, Fraunce an Sweden.

Historic examples

• Gaspar de Guzmán, Coont-Duke o Olivares favourite o Philip IV o Spain.
• Sarah Churchill, Duchess o Marlborough favourite o Anne, Queen o Great Breetain.
• Princess Marie Louise of Savoy, Princess of Lamballe, "Princesse de Lamballe dear friend o Marie Antoinette and stayed faithful to her until the very moment of her gory death
• Yolande de Polastron, Duchess o Polignac (died 1793) was the favourite o the last queen o Fraunce, Marie Antoinette, an one o the few women that Louis XVI liked an trusted.
• Marie Anne de la Trémoille , Princess Orsini, "Princesse des Ursins" favourite o Queen Maria Luisa, wife o Philip V o Spain.