Diane de France, suo jure Duchess of Angoulême (25 July 1538 – 11 January 1619) was the natural (illegitimate) daughter of Henry II of France by his italian lover Filippa Duci. She played an important political role during the French Wars of Religion and built the Hôtel d'Angoulême in Paris. Birth and early life In October 1537, the eighteen-year-old Henry, who had recently become the dauphin but was not yet king, was in Moncalieri in northern Italy on a military campaign. There he had an affair with a young woman, Filippa Duci (), the daughter of a lesser noble of Fossano in the Piedmont and the sister of Jean-Antoine, a page or groom in the Grand Écurie. This union produced an illegitimate daughter, born 25 July 1538 and later known as Diane de France. It is not known whether she was born at court or was brought there when still very young. At court, her care and upbringing were entrusted to Henry's mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Diane's father treated her well: her household included a governess, tutors, maids of honor, chamber valets, and even a tailor. Her tutors turned her into an accomplished princess. She learned to write in excellent French, the proof of which can be seen in the large number letters that still survive. She also learned Italian (the second language of the court), Spanish, and enough Latin for religious ceremonies. Her artistic education was not neglected: she also learned to play lute and other instruments, and to sing. She was not formally legitimised until much later, in 1572 (not 1547 as previously believed). First marriage On 13 February 1552, when Diane de France was thirteen, a contract was signed by which she married Orazio Farnese, Duke of Castro (). The wedding ceremony on 15 February 1553 was attended by Orazio's brother Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and included masquerades and carnival banquets. She became a widow five months later, on 18 July 1553, when Orazio was killed while serving with French forces at the siege of Hesdin. She spent her period of mourning at the Château de Chantilly, home of Anne de Montmorency, Connétable de France, then returned to court in the service of Catherine de Medici. Second marriage Diane's second marriage was to Francis de Montmorency, eldest son of Anne de Montmorency, by a contract of 3 May 1557 and a ceremony that took place on 4 June