Queer Places:
Domaine Château Ermenonville, Rue René de Girardin, 60950 Ermenonville, France
Ermenonville Communal Cemetery, 60950 Ermenonville, France
Prince Constantin Vincent Maria Radziwiłł (July 31, 1850 – September 8, 1920) was a prominent Polish-French aristocrat whose high-society standing,
eccentric lifestyle, and open homosexuality made him one of the most intriguing figures of Belle Époque Paris.
Born in Poloneczka, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, to Prince Constantine Michael Radziwill and Princess Adela Karnicka, Constantin belonged to the historic Trąby branch of the princely Radziwiłł family. Though his lineage possessed vast aristocratic prestige and royal bloodlines across Lithuania and Poland, the family's cash fortunes had depleted over time. In 1874, Prince Constantin acquired the grand Château d'Ermenonville, solidifying his presence in French high society. To restore his personal finances, he married the wealthy French heiress Louise Antoinette Sophie Blanc in Paris on March 30, 1876. Louise was the daughter of François Blanc, the mastermind founder of the Société des Bains de Mer and developer of the famous Casino de Monte-Carlo. Together, the couple had two children: Louise, later the Duchess of Doudeauville, and Prince Léon "Loche" Radziwill.
Constantin Radziwill holds a notable position in LGBTQ+ history due to his remarkably open homosexuality within the rigid social structure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rather than attempting to completely hide his desires, Constantin lived apart from his wife and was uninhibited about his sexuality, a dynamic fully recognized by Princess Louise. His domestic life at the Château d'Ermenonville was famous for its extravagance; he notably employed a staff of twelve attractive young houseboys and valets, insisting that each wear a pearl necklace around their neck. Among these valets was Albert Le Cuziat, a well-known figure in Parisian queer history who later became a prominent bathhouse proprietor and confidential associate to elite gay men in Paris.
Through his social status, lavish hosting, and obsession with aristocratic etiquette, Constantin became intimately connected to the queer intellectual network surrounding Marcel Proust, whom he befriended around 1904. Proust was a frequent guest at the Château d'Ermenonville and drew heavily upon Constantin's life and persona when creating characters for À la recherche du temps perdu. Constantin's strict adherence to aristocratic decorum and social rank served as one of the key inspirations for the Prince de Guermantes, while his former valet, Albert Le Cuziat, became a principal model for the character of Jupien. Furthermore, Constantin's son, Léon, became another of Proust’s close friends and romantic infatuations, inspiring the character of Robert de Saint-Loup.
Despite the financial infusion brought by his marriage to Louise Blanc, Constantin spent vast sums of money throughout his lifetime on his lavish lifestyle, staff, and personal pursuits, eventually depleting much of his family's capital and placing heavy financial pressure on his children. Constantin spent his later years navigating the high-society circles of France before passing away in Paris on September 8, 1920, at the age of seventy. He was laid to rest in the Ermenonville Communal Cemetery in Oise, leaving behind a legacy that directly influenced the literary landscape of French modernism and preserved an extraordinary chapter of European queer history.
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