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# Everyone loves to recall the story of Peter I scooping up the seven-year-old Louis XV in his arms; the event even has a monument at Peterhof, the original of which was stolen during the war and may well now stand in some private park…
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/vse-ochen-liubiat-vspominat-istoriiu-kak-piotr-i-podkhvatil-na-ruki-semiletnego-liudovika-xv-etomu-sobytiiu-dazhe-est-pamiatnik-v-petergofe-original-kotorogo-ukrali-vo-vremia-voiny-i-vp/
- Published: 2017-02-15T16:48:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:46:00.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Monarchies, Observations, Heritage, Mores, Humour

Speaking of parks, when I think of Louis XV, what comes to my mind is his boarding house of harlots, which was called the [Parc-aux-Cerfs](https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc-aux-cerfs?ref=theparnassian.com) (the Deer Park), after its location, not far from Versailles.

Louis was altogether a dreadful whoremonger and was constantly unfaithful to his wife, [Marie Leszczyńska, one of the most beautiful queens of Europe](https://theparnassian.com/krasavitsa-doch-polskogo-korolia-mariia-leshchinskaia-stala-korolevoi-frantsii-no-byla-neschastna-iz-za-mnozhestva-izmen-liudovika-xv/?ref=theparnassian.com).

But the story of the Deer Park is especially greasy. It was a kind of boarding house to which noblemen brought their young daughters, and the king slept with them until they turned 17\. Then, when they had grown up, Louis gave them a generous dowry of a hundred thousand livres, and they were gladly taken in marriage. Not only for the fortune, but also for the honour of having a woman whom the King of France had chosen. Have no doubt, the boarding house was crammed with well-born maidens; parents queued up to lay their daughters beneath the king, and many even had to be turned away, with bookings stretching several months ahead, as you will understand.

There are, incidentally, interesting studies of the countless illegitimate children of Louis XV. They say there may be close to a thousand of them.

*Note the headline of the article below. That is what a Russian museum means*