Filippa Duci

Filippa Duci (or Ducci), dame de Couy (; 1520 – before October 1586) was an Italian-born French noblewoman, the mistress of Henry II and the mother of Diane de France.

Life Born in Moncalieri, Filippa's father was Gian Antonio Duci, member of a minor Italian noble family. During the Italian Wars in 1537, the French dauphin Henry (later Henry II of France) stayed with a squire, Filippa's brother, also named Gian Antonio Duci. Henry was seduced by Filippa on first sight, and she became his mistress. When Henri heard Duci was pregnant, he arranged for her to be maintained until she gave birth. Duci gave birth to their daughter, Diane de France, in Paris in 1538. This proved that Henry was not sterile; he had been married to Catherine de Médici, yet had still not produced an heir due to urological problems. The baby was named Diane after Henry's love, his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who raised the child along with her own two children.

In 1541, Filippa was granted 400 a year for life in an Ordinaire de Touraine and was allowed to retire to a Piedmontese convent by Francis I of France. She married the Italian gentleman and privy councillor Jean Bernardin de Saint-Severin in 1546. After Diane was legitimized, Filippa was known as dame de Bléré en Touraine. In 1582, she became a lady in waiting to queen dowager Catherine de Médici.