Henri III, who succeeded his father and two brothers in the Valois line of French kings, was an ostentatious transvestite who surrounded himself with an obsequious band of gay young men that French scathingly called mignons. The king and his male harem loved nothing more than dressing up and prancing around Paris in lace and ruffles, with long curls flowing from under dainty little caps. On special occasions, Henri dolled himself up magnificently, dripping with diamonds and swathed in silk. “One did not know whether it was a woman king or a man queen,” a bewildered observer said at the time.
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “The Lust Emperors.” A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories of History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors. Penguin Books, 2001. 9. Print.
Further Reading:
[Henri III of France[(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_III_of_France)
This reminds me of the beginning of the new Beauty and the Beast.