Love between Queen Anne of Austria and Duke of Buckingham

The love between Queen Anne of Austria and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, is the hidden engine of the novel's political and romantic plot—a passion so intense that it threatens war between France and England, and so dangerous that its discovery could mean the queen's ruin. Anne of Austria, a Spanish princess married to the cold and suspicious Louis XIII, finds in Buckingham a lover whose devotion is as reckless as it is absolute. Their relationship, conducted through stolen glances, secret letters, and perilous rendezvous, becomes the target of Cardinal Richelieu's relentless persecution, and the catalyst for the adventures of d'Artagnan and the three Musketeers.

Origins and Nature of the Passion

Buckingham first saw Anne of Austria at a court function three years before the novel's main events, and the encounter fixed her image indelibly in his mind. He recalls every detail of her appearance that day: "You were seated upon cushions in the Spanish fashion; you wore a robe of green satin embroidered with gold and silver, hanging sleeves knotted upon your beautiful arms—those lovely arms—with large diamonds. You wore a close ruff, a small cap upon your head of the same color as your robe, and in that cap a heron's feather." From that moment, Buckingham's love became an obsession that neither time, nor absence, nor the threat of death could diminish. For his part, he has seen her only four times in those three years, yet each meeting has furnished him with a "fresh diamond" to enclose in "the casket of his heart." The queen, for her part, is drawn to him despite her royal duty. She admits, under the pressure of his declarations, that "it is possible that the influence of the place, the charm of the beautiful evening, the fascination of your look—the thousand circumstances, in short, which sometimes unite to destroy a woman—were grouped around me on that fatal evening." Her resistance is real but fragile; she calls for help at the first liberty he dares to take, yet she cannot entirely suppress her own feelings.

The Secret Rendezvous and Its Consequences

The most dramatic expression of their love occurs when Buckingham, lured to Paris by a forged letter, risks his life to see the queen. Guided by Constance Bonacieux, he enters the Louvre disguised as a Musketeer and is led to a chamber where Anne of Austria meets him alone. In this scene, Buckingham throws himself at her feet and kisses the hem of her robe, declaring that he would betray his country, his king, and even his God for a word from her. The queen, torn between her duty and her heart, gives him a rosewood casket containing the diamond studs that King Louis XIII had given her—a gift that will later become the instrument of Richelieu's plot to expose her. Their interview is cut short by the fear of discovery, but not before Buckingham vows, "Within six months, if I am not dead, I shall have seen you again, madame—even if I have to overturn the world." This promise sets in motion the chain of events that leads to the siege of La Rochelle and Buckingham's eventual assassination.

The Cardinal's Persecution and the Queen's Peril

Cardinal Richelieu, who himself harbors a frustrated love for the queen, uses every means at his disposal to destroy her reputation and her relationship with Buckingham. He spies on her correspondence, has her trusted servants exiled or imprisoned, and orchestrates the famous affair of the diamond studs: he learns that the queen has given Buckingham the twelve diamond studs the king gave her, and he persuades Louis XIII to command her to wear them at a ball, knowing she cannot produce them. The queen's terror at this moment is absolute; she believes herself "lost" and prays desperately for deliverance. It is d'Artagnan's journey to England to retrieve the studs from Buckingham that saves her, but the incident deepens the enmity between the queen and the cardinal, and confirms the king's suspicions. The queen's position is further compromised by her friendship with Madame de Chevreuse, who is also Buckingham's ally and a target of Richelieu's persecution.

The War for a Look

Buckingham's love for Anne of Austria is not merely a private passion but a force that shapes the foreign policy of England. He openly admits that the expedition to the Isle of Re and the league with the Protestants of La Rochelle are undertaken for the pleasure of seeing her: "I have no hope of penetrating, sword in hand, to Paris, I know that well. But this war may bring round a peace; this peace will require a negotiator; that negotiator will be me. They will not dare to refuse me then; and I will return to Paris, and will see you again, and will be happy for an instant. Thousands of men, it is true, will have to pay for my happiness with their lives; but what is that to me, provided I see you again!" This confession reveals the reckless, almost insane intensity of his devotion, and it is this same devotion that ultimately leads to his death. The queen, in her letter to him, begs him to countermand his armaments and end the war, warning him that his life is menaced. But Buckingham, even as he lies dying from Felton's knife, thinks only of her: upon receiving her letter, he asks Laporte, "Have you nothing else to say to me by the living voice?" and when told that the queen charged him to say she still loved him, he murmurs, "God be praised! My death, then, will not be to her as the death of a stranger!"

The Aftermath and the Queen's Grief

Buckingham's assassination at Portsmouth on August 23, 1628, is the tragic culmination of their love. The queen, when first informed of his death, refuses to believe it and exclaims, "It is false; he has just written to me!" But the truth is brought home by Laporte, who returns from England bearing the duke's dying gift: the silver casket containing the diamond studs, her two letters, and the knife with which he was killed. The king, by contrast, displays "lively joy" at the news and does not trouble to dissemble his satisfaction. The queen's grief is private and unspoken, but it marks the end of the novel's central romantic thread. The love between Anne of Austria and the Duke of Buckingham remains, in the end, a story of impossible passion—a love that could never be fulfilled, but that nevertheless shaped the destinies of nations and the lives of all who were drawn into its orbit.