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

• Manuel Godoy favourite o Charles III o Spain an eventual lover o his wife Maria Luisa o Parma.
• 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 o Savoy, Princess of Lamballe, "Princesse de Lamballe dear friend o Marie Antoinette an stayed faithful tae her until the very moment o her gory daith
• Yolande de Polastron, Duchess o Polignac (died 1793) wis the favourite o the last queen o Fraunce, Marie Antoinette, an ane 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.