OlfactionaryThe King of France Banned Every Perfume From His Court Except One
Louis XIV soaked his shirts in scent, sprayed entire rooms of Versailles daily, and imported thousands of orange trees to build the largest orangery in Europe. By the end of his life, migraines meant he could tolerate only orange blossom.
The sweetest-smelling king of all
Contemporary perfumer Simon Barbe called Louis XIV "the sweetest smelling king of all," and the description stuck. The Sun King had his shirts soaked in scent and ordered entire rooms of Versailles sprayed with fragrance daily; in his younger years he favored bold, animalic scents built on musk and civet.
An orangery built for one obsession
Louis XIV's fondness for orange blossom went further than most royal fragrance habits: he imported thousands of orange trees from Spain, Italy, and Portugal, and commissioned his architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart to build the largest orangery in Europe at Versailles to house them, so his perfumers could extract the scent from trees grown on the grounds itself.
When the obsession reversed
In his final years, suffering severe migraines, Louis XIV came to believe perfume itself was responsible for his pain and banned it from his court entirely — with one exception. He could still tolerate the light, airy scent of orange blossom, distilled from the very orangery he'd built decades earlier.