Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon-Condé
Encyclopedia
Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon (Louise Élisabeth; 22 November 1693–27 May 1775) was a daughter of Louis III de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, and his wife, Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France
, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France
and Madame de Montespan.
She was the wife of Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
. She was the Princess of Conti
by marriage. It was Louise Élisabeth who presented the famous Madame de Pompadour
to the court of Louis XV
; she also built the Hôtel de Brienne, present seat of the French Ministry of Defence
. Louise Élisabeth possessed various titles and land; she was the Duchess of Étampes in her own right, having succeeded to the title at the death of her aunt the Dowager Duchess of Vendôme. The county of Sancerre, previously been held by her brother the Duke of Bourbon, also became her property in 1740 at his death.
. As a member of the House of Bourbon Condé, she was a princesse du sang
. In youth, she was known at court as Mademoiselle de Charolais, a style later borne by her younger sister. Her parents' second daughter, and third child, she was a pretty, smart and fun-loving girl. She was one of nine children:
Louise Élisabeth's father was the son and heir of Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and First Prince of the Blood of France. Her mother was a Légitimée de France. At the time of her birth her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon, had been married for just over 8 years.
She was baptised in the chapel of Versailles on 24 November 1698 with her brother Louis Henri and her sister Louise Anne.
Her youngest sister, Élisabeth Thérèse Alexandrine de Bourbon was born in 1705; Élisabeth Alexandrine was named after her sister, "Élisabeth" and their uncle Louis-"Alexandre" de Bourbon
, the Count of Toulouse.
. The marriage, however, did not take place due to the machinations of Louise Élisabeth's aunt, the Duchess of Orléans
, who wanted the duke for her own daughter, Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans
.
As a result, Louise Élisabeth did not benefit of certain coveted privileges dictated by the strict étiquette
at Versailles, such as the right to sit on a stool in the presence of the king.
On 9 July 1713, Louise Élisabeth married her first cousin Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
, at Versailles. Her husband, who was three years younger than his bride, had become the Prince of Conti in 1709 upon the early death of his father François Louis, Prince of Conti
. His mother was the pious and sweet-natured Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, eldest grand-daughter of Le Grand Condé
.
Her marriage was part of a double marriage between the Condé and Conti family; Louise Élisabeth's older brother Louis Henri de Bourbon married Mademoiselle de Conti, Marie Anne de Bourbon. Marie Anne would die childless in 1720. The ceremony was carried out in the newly built Royal Chapel of Versailles
.
Present at the wedding were her mother, Madame la Duchesse
; her paternal grandmother Dowager Princess of Condé
; the earlier mentioned Duke of Berry and his wife Madame de Berry
; her uncles the Duke of Maine
, the Count of Toulouse
and the Duke of Orléans
and her aunts the Duchess of Orléans
and the two widowed Princess of Conti, Marie Anne de Bourbon
and Marie Thérèse de Bourbon.
In August 1716, at the age of twenty-two, Louise Élisabeth contracted smallpox
; she had caught it off her husband who she had been nursing closely through the illness. A year later she gave birth to her first child. She and her husband had five children.
Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
, sister in law of Louis XIV and famous memoir writer said of Louise Élisabeth circa 1719:
Louise Élisabeth had several extramarital affairs, such as her liaison with the handsome Philippe Charles de La Fare. These infidelities incensed her unattractive husband, whose jealousy made him turn physically violent against his wife. He is reported to have hurt his wife to the point that she had to see a doctor on two separate occasions. After a particularly dramatic scene in the Conti household, the princess refused to live with her husband anymore and took refuge with her mother. Later she fled to a convent to escape him. According to Saint-Simon, she once said of her husband:
The first years of her marriage were full of court cases at the Parlement de Paris against her husband due to his violent temper and her desire to leave him. In 1725, she consented to return to the Prince of Conti, who had her confined to the Château de l'Isle-Adam. She was able later, however, to convince him to allow her to return to Paris in order to give birth to her daughter, Louise Henriette. Her husband died a year later.
Due to his open support of the Scottish economist John Law
who had implemented the introduction of paper money to France during the Régence
of the young King Louis XV of France
, her husband had made a fortune.
Her husband died in 1727 at the Hôtel de Conti
in Paris due to a "chest swelling"; he died not having apologised to his wife for his actions. Louise Élisabeth was known at court as either as Madame la Princesse de Conti troisième or Madame la Princesse de Conti dernière douairière. This was done in order to distinguish Louise Élisabeth from the other two widowed Princesses of Conti still alive:
In her widowhood, Louise Élisabeth led a life typical of an aristocrat of the Ancien Régime, visiting the various château
x of her cousin, King Louis XV, and attending the court at the Palace of Versailles.
In order to try and smooth over the family rift between the House of Condé and House of Orléans
, the Dowager Princess arranged the marriage of her son to her first cousin, Louise Diane d'Orléans
, and that of her daughter to Louise Diane's nephew, the heir to the House of Orléans
.
This helped to somewhat smooth over the century-long feud between the House of Condé and the House of Orléans, feud fueled by the animosity between Louise Élisabeth's mother and aunt, the Princess of Condé and the Duchess of Orléans, both legitimised daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
After the death of her mother in June 1743, she acquired the château de Louveciennes
, which later reverted to the Crown. Louis XV in turn gave it to the successor of Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry
. The Dowager Princess of Conti later also acquired the château de Voisins.
She and her aunt the Dowager Duchess of Orléans joined forces in 1743 and organised the marriage of Louise Élisabeth's only daughter Louise Henriette to Madame d'Orléans' grand son Louis Philippe d'Orléans
, the Duke of Chartres.
Later, in 1746, the Dowager Princess was asked by Louis XV to present his new mistress, the future Madame de Pompadour
, at court. She attended the ball at Versailles in honour of the marriage of Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain to the Dauphin of France in 1745. According to Nancy Mitford's Madame de Pompadour book, the proud Dowager Princess was annoyed at no one recognising her. She obliged the king in the hope that he would help her escape her debts, a tactic which worked.
The princess died at her town house
in Paris at the age of eighty-one, on 27 May 1775. She was buried at the Église Saint-Sulpice in Paris. She had just sold the Hôtel de Conti to her grandson Louis François de Bourbon
who moved in in the next year.
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and Madame de Montespan.
She was the wife of Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince of Conti, from 1709 to his death, succeeding his father François Louis, Prince of Conti. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang. His mother was the pious Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, a grand daughter of Louis de...
. She was the Princess of Conti
Princess of Conti
-First Creation:-Second Creation:...
by marriage. It was Louise Élisabeth who presented the famous Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
to the court of Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
; she also built the Hôtel de Brienne, present seat of the French Ministry of Defence
Minister of Defence (France)
The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
. Louise Élisabeth possessed various titles and land; she was the Duchess of Étampes in her own right, having succeeded to the title at the death of her aunt the Dowager Duchess of Vendôme. The county of Sancerre, previously been held by her brother the Duke of Bourbon, also became her property in 1740 at his death.
Biography
Louise Élisabeth was born on 22 November 1693, at the Palace of VersaillesPalace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
. As a member of the House of Bourbon Condé, she was a princesse du sang
Prince du Sang
A prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
. In youth, she was known at court as Mademoiselle de Charolais, a style later borne by her younger sister. Her parents' second daughter, and third child, she was a pretty, smart and fun-loving girl. She was one of nine children:
- Marie Anne Gabrielle Éléonore de BourbonMarie Anne de Bourbon (1690–1760)Marie Anne Éléonore de Bourbon was a daughter of Louis de Bourbon. She was the Abbess of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, an abbey in the Villejuif suburb of Paris.-Biography:...
(22 December 1690 – 30 August 1760) - Louis Henri de Bourbon (18 August 1692 – 27 January 1740)
- Louise Anne de Bourbon (23 June 1695 – 8 April 1758)
- Marie Anne de Bourbon (16 October 1697 – 11 August 1741)
- Charles de Bourbon, Count of Charolais (19 June 1700 – 23 July 1760)
- Henriette Louise Marie Françoise Gabrielle de BourbonHenriette Louise de BourbonHenriette Louise de Bourbon was a French Princess by birth and a member of the House of Bourbon...
(15 January 1703 – 19 September 1772) - Élisabeth Alexandrine Thérèse de Bourbon (15 September 1705 – 15 April 1765)
- Louis de Bourbon (15 June 1709 – 16 June 1771)
Louise Élisabeth's father was the son and heir of Henri Jules de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and First Prince of the Blood of France. Her mother was a Légitimée de France. At the time of her birth her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon, had been married for just over 8 years.
She was baptised in the chapel of Versailles on 24 November 1698 with her brother Louis Henri and her sister Louise Anne.
Her youngest sister, Élisabeth Thérèse Alexandrine de Bourbon was born in 1705; Élisabeth Alexandrine was named after her sister, "Élisabeth" and their uncle Louis-"Alexandre" de Bourbon
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
, the Count of Toulouse.
Marriage
At the age of seventeen, it was suggested by her ambitious mother that she marry one of the king's grandsons, the young Duke of Berry. Such a marriage would have raised her daughter to the prestigious rank of petite-fille de FranceFils de France
Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France .The children of the dauphin, who was the king's heir apparent, were accorded the same style and status as if they were the king's children instead of his...
. The marriage, however, did not take place due to the machinations of Louise Élisabeth's aunt, the Duchess of Orléans
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...
, who wanted the duke for her own daughter, Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans
Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry , was a member of the House of Orléans who married Charles, Duke of Berry.-Biography:...
.
As a result, Louise Élisabeth did not benefit of certain coveted privileges dictated by the strict étiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
at Versailles, such as the right to sit on a stool in the presence of the king.
On 9 July 1713, Louise Élisabeth married her first cousin Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti
Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince of Conti, from 1709 to his death, succeeding his father François Louis, Prince of Conti. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang. His mother was the pious Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, a grand daughter of Louis de...
, at Versailles. Her husband, who was three years younger than his bride, had become the Prince of Conti in 1709 upon the early death of his father François Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin...
. His mother was the pious and sweet-natured Marie Thérèse de Bourbon, eldest grand-daughter of Le Grand Condé
Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé
Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
.
Her marriage was part of a double marriage between the Condé and Conti family; Louise Élisabeth's older brother Louis Henri de Bourbon married Mademoiselle de Conti, Marie Anne de Bourbon. Marie Anne would die childless in 1720. The ceremony was carried out in the newly built Royal Chapel of Versailles
Chapels of Versailles
The present chapel of the Palace of Versailles is the fifth in the history of the palace. These chapels evolved with the expansion of the château and formed the focal point of the daily life of the court during the Ancien Régime .-First chapel:The château's first chapel dated from the time of...
.
Present at the wedding were her mother, Madame la Duchesse
Louise-Françoise de Bourbon
Louise Françoise de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman that her mother had replaced as the king's...
; her paternal grandmother Dowager Princess of Condé
Anne Henriette of Bavaria
Anne Henriette of Palatinate-Simmern, in France known as Anne Henriette of Bavaria was a Princess of Palatinate-Simmern by birth and by her marriage in 1663, the Duchess of Enghien and then the Princess of Condé...
; the earlier mentioned Duke of Berry and his wife Madame de Berry
Marie Louise Elisabeth d'Orléans
Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry , was a member of the House of Orléans who married Charles, Duke of Berry.-Biography:...
; her uncles the Duke of Maine
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine
Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Legitimé de France was the eldest legitimised son of the Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan...
, the Count of Toulouse
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse , duc de Penthièvre , d'Arc, de Châteauvillain and de Rambouillet , , was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Madame de Montespan...
and the Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
and her aunts the Duchess of Orléans
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the youngest legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. Originally known as the second Mademoiselle de Blois, that style eventually gave way to the name Françoise Marie de...
and the two widowed Princess of Conti, Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage...
and Marie Thérèse de Bourbon.
In August 1716, at the age of twenty-two, Louise Élisabeth contracted smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
; she had caught it off her husband who she had been nursing closely through the illness. A year later she gave birth to her first child. She and her husband had five children.
Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine was a German princess and the wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV of France. Her vast correspondence provides a detailed account of the personalities and activities at the court of her brother-in-law, Louis XIV...
, sister in law of Louis XIV and famous memoir writer said of Louise Élisabeth circa 1719:
Louise Élisabeth had several extramarital affairs, such as her liaison with the handsome Philippe Charles de La Fare. These infidelities incensed her unattractive husband, whose jealousy made him turn physically violent against his wife. He is reported to have hurt his wife to the point that she had to see a doctor on two separate occasions. After a particularly dramatic scene in the Conti household, the princess refused to live with her husband anymore and took refuge with her mother. Later she fled to a convent to escape him. According to Saint-Simon, she once said of her husband:
he could not make a prince du sangPrince du SangA prince of the blood was a person who was legitimately descended in the male line from the monarch of a country. In France, the rank of prince du sang was the highest held at court after the immediate family of the king during the ancien régime and the Bourbon Restoration...
without her, while she could make one without him.
The first years of her marriage were full of court cases at the Parlement de Paris against her husband due to his violent temper and her desire to leave him. In 1725, she consented to return to the Prince of Conti, who had her confined to the Château de l'Isle-Adam. She was able later, however, to convince him to allow her to return to Paris in order to give birth to her daughter, Louise Henriette. Her husband died a year later.
Due to his open support of the Scottish economist John Law
John Law (economist)
John Law was a Scottish economist who believed that money was only a means of exchange that did not constitute wealth in itself and that national wealth depended on trade...
who had implemented the introduction of paper money to France during the Régence
Régence
The Régence is the period in French history between 1715 and 1723, when King Louis XV was a minor and the land was governed by a Regent, Philippe d'Orléans, the nephew of Louis XIV of France....
of the young King Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, her husband had made a fortune.
Her husband died in 1727 at the Hôtel de Conti
Hôtel de Conti
The Hôtel de Conti, sometimes the Palais Conti refers to two Parisian townhouse's that were the property of the Princes of Conti, the relatives of the ruling Kings of France and Princes of the blood.-History:...
in Paris due to a "chest swelling"; he died not having apologised to his wife for his actions. Louise Élisabeth was known at court as either as Madame la Princesse de Conti troisième or Madame la Princesse de Conti dernière douairière. This was done in order to distinguish Louise Élisabeth from the other two widowed Princesses of Conti still alive:
- Marie Anne de BourbonMarie Anne de BourbonMarie Anne de Bourbon, Légitimée de France was the eldest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and Louise de La Vallière. At the age of thirteen, she was married to Louis Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and as such was the Princess of Conti by marriage...
(1666–1739), the legitimised daughter of Louis XIVLouis XIV of FranceLouis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and Louise de La VallièreLouise de La VallièreLouise de La Vallière was a mistress of Louis XIV of France from 1661 to 1667. She later became the Duchess of La Vallière and Duchess of Vaujours in her own right...
and wife of Louis Armand I de Bourbon, Prince of ContiLouis Armand I, Prince of ContiLouis Armand I de Bourbon was Prince of Conti from 1666 to his death, succeeding his father, Armand de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince du Sang....
. She was known as Madame la Princesse de Conti première douairière as she was the first to be widowed in 1685. Her husband's Conti title fell upon his younger brother, François de Bourbon, Prince of ContiFrançois Louis, Prince of ContiFrançois Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin...
. - Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (1666–1732), the wife of François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti and Louise Élisabeth's mother-in-law. She was known as Madame la Princesse de Conti seconde douairière after losing her husband in 1709.
In her widowhood, Louise Élisabeth led a life typical of an aristocrat of the Ancien Régime, visiting the various château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
x of her cousin, King Louis XV, and attending the court at the Palace of Versailles.
In order to try and smooth over the family rift between the House of Condé and House of Orléans
House of Orleans
Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
, the Dowager Princess arranged the marriage of her son to her first cousin, Louise Diane d'Orléans
Louise Diane d'Orléans
Louise d'Orléans was the sixth daughter and last child of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and his wife, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan...
, and that of her daughter to Louise Diane's nephew, the heir to the House of Orléans
House of Orleans
Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...
.
This helped to somewhat smooth over the century-long feud between the House of Condé and the House of Orléans, feud fueled by the animosity between Louise Élisabeth's mother and aunt, the Princess of Condé and the Duchess of Orléans, both legitimised daughters of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.
After the death of her mother in June 1743, she acquired the château de Louveciennes
Château de Louveciennes
The Château de Louveciennes in Louveciennes, in the Yvelines department of France, is composed of the château itself, constructed at the end of the 17th century. It was then expanded and redecorated by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Madame du Barry in the 18th century, and the music pavilion was...
, which later reverted to the Crown. Louis XV in turn gave it to the successor of Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry
Madame du Barry
Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...
. The Dowager Princess of Conti later also acquired the château de Voisins.
She and her aunt the Dowager Duchess of Orléans joined forces in 1743 and organised the marriage of Louise Élisabeth's only daughter Louise Henriette to Madame d'Orléans' grand son Louis Philippe d'Orléans
Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of...
, the Duke of Chartres.
Later, in 1746, the Dowager Princess was asked by Louis XV to present his new mistress, the future Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
, at court. She attended the ball at Versailles in honour of the marriage of Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain to the Dauphin of France in 1745. According to Nancy Mitford's Madame de Pompadour book, the proud Dowager Princess was annoyed at no one recognising her. She obliged the king in the hope that he would help her escape her debts, a tactic which worked.
The princess died at her town house
Hôtel de Conti
The Hôtel de Conti, sometimes the Palais Conti refers to two Parisian townhouse's that were the property of the Princes of Conti, the relatives of the ruling Kings of France and Princes of the blood.-History:...
in Paris at the age of eighty-one, on 27 May 1775. She was buried at the Église Saint-Sulpice in Paris. She had just sold the Hôtel de Conti to her grandson Louis François de Bourbon
Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti
Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was a French nobleman, who was the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, following his father Louis Armand II. His mother was Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, a natural granddaughter of Louis XIV...
who moved in in the next year.
Issue
| Name | | Portrait | Lifespan | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis de Bourbon Count of La Marche |
 |
28 March 1715 - 1 August 1717 |
Born in Paris, he died in infancy; | |
| Louis François de Bourbon Louis François I de Bourbon, prince de Conti Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was a French nobleman, who was the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, following his father Louis Armand II. His mother was Louise Élisabeth de Bourbon, a natural granddaughter of Louis XIV... Prince of Conti |
 |
13 August 1717 - 2 August 1776 |
Born in Paris, he was the heir to the Conti titles and lands. Husband of Louise Diane d'Orléans Louise Diane d'Orléans Louise d'Orléans was the sixth daughter and last child of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and his wife, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan... ; had issue; |
|
| Louis Armand de Bourbon Duke of Mercœur |
|
19 August 1720- 13 May 1722 |
Born in Paris, he died in infancy; | |
| Charles de Bourbon Count of Alais |
|
5 February 1722- 7 August 1730 |
Born in Paris, he died in infancy; | |
| Louise Henriette de Bourbon Duchess of Orléans Duchess of Étampes |
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20 June 1726 – 9 February 1759 |
Born in Paris, she was Louise Élisabeth's only daughter; known as Mademoiselle de Conti in her youth, she married Louis Philippe d'Orléans Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of... , Duke of Chartres at Versailles in 1743; she had issue and was the mother of Philippe Égalité Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans Louis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of... and Bathilde d'Orléans Bathilde d'Orléans Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d'Orléans, Princess of Condé , was a French princess. She was sister of Philippe Égalité, the mother of the executed duc d'Enghien and aunt of Louis-Philippe King of the French... , the last princesse de Condé. |
Ancestry
Titles and styles
- 22 November 1693 – 9 July 1713 Her Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
[variously] Mademoiselle de Condé and Mademoiselle de Charolais - 9 July 1713 – 4 May 1727 Her Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
the Princess of Conti - 4 May 1727 – 27 May 1775 Her Serene HighnessSerene HighnessHis/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein and Monaco. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties as well as some non-ruling but princely German noble families until 1918...
the Dowager Princess of Conti (Madame la princesse de Conti Douairière or Madame la Princesse de Conti troisième/dernière douairière)
Titles
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