In 1715, the palace became the residence of Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orleans, Duchess of Berry (1695-1719). The widowed Duchess was notoriously promiscuous, having the reputation of a French Messalina relentlessly driven by her unquenchable thirst for all pleasures of the flesh. The Luxembourg palace and its gardens thus became stages where the radiantly beautiful princess acted out her ambitions, enthroned like a queen surrounded by her court. In some of her more exclusive parties, Madame de Berry also played the leading part in elaborate "tableaux-vivants" that represented mythological scenes and in which she displayed her appetizing young person impersonating Venus or Diana. According to various satirical songs which scurrilously evoked her amours „the Lady of the Luxembourg” hid several pregnancies, merely shutting herself up in her palace when about to give birth. Her taste for strong liquors and her sheer gluttony also scandalised the court. The tempestuous life of the Duchess soon met a premature end. On 2 April 1719, shut up in a small room of the palace, the young woman gave birth to a still-born daughter, allegedly fathered by her captain of the guards, the Count of Riom. Ill-prepared by her lifeways, the delivery was harrowing and almost killed the labouring princess.