Life With Her Daughter
For the next twelve years, Clementina and Charlotte continued to live in various French convents, supported by the 10,000 livre pension granted by James Stuart. Charles never forgave Clementina for depriving him of "ye cheild", and stubbornly refused to pay anything for their support. On 1 January 1766 James died, but Charles, (now considering himself de jure Charles III of Scotland, England and Ireland) still refused to make any provision for the two, forcing Clementina, now styling herself "Countess Alberstroff", to appeal to his brother Cardinal Henry Stuart for assistance. Henry gave them an allowance of 5,000 livres, but in return extracted a statement from Clementina that she had never been married to Charles – a statement she later tried to retract. This lower amount forced them to find cheaper lodgings in the convent of Notre Dame at Meaux-en-Brie.
In 1772, the Prince, then aged fifty-one, married the nineteen year-old Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (who was only a year older than Charlotte). Charlotte, now in penury, had consistently been writing to her father for some time, and she now desperately entreated him to legitimise her, provide support, and bring her to Rome before an heir could be born. In April 1772, Charlotte wrote a touching, yet pleading, letter to "mon Augusta Papa" which was sent via Principal Gordon of the Scots College in Rome. Charles relented and offered to bring Charlotte to Rome (he was now resident in the Palazzo Muti – the residence of the Stuarts-in-exile), but only on condition she would leave her mother behind in France. This she loyally refused to do, and Charles, in fury, broke off all discussions.
Towards the end of 1772, Clementina and Charlotte unexpectedly arrived in Rome to press their desperate cause in person. (The trip pushed Clementina further into debt.) However, the Prince reacted angrily, refusing even to see them, forcing their helpless return to France, from where Charlotte's pleading letters continued. Three years later, Charlotte, now in her twenty-second year and already in poor health, (she was apparently suffering from a liver ailment shared by the Stuarts) decided her only option was to marry as soon as possible. Charles, however, refused to give permission either for her to marry or to take the veil, and she was left awaiting his royal pleasure.
Lacking legitimacy or permission, Charlotte was unable to marry. Thus, she otherwise sought a protector and provider. Probably unbeknown to Charles, she became the mistress of Ferdinand Maximilien Mériadec de Rohan, Archbishop of Bordeaux and Cambrai. She bore three of his children: Marie Victoire, Charlotte, and Charles Edward. Her children were kept secret, and remained largely unknown until the 20th century.
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