Louise Diane d'Orléans
Encyclopedia
Louise d'Orléans was the sixth daughter and last child of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans
(Regent of the Kingdom
from 1715 to 1723) and his wife, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King Louis XIV of France
and his mistress, Madame de Montespan
. She was born during the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
, the Regent of Louis XV of France
. The Princess of Conti
by marriage, she died in childbirth at the age of twenty. Some sources refer to her as Louis Diane.
, on 27 June 1716 as the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans. On the subject of her granddaughter's birth, Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate
(known at court simply as Madame) said:
Her siblings were:
Until her marriage, she was known as Mademoiselle de Chartres . The style of Mademoiselle de Chartres
had been used by her older sister, Adélaïde
(1698–1743) who, by the time of Louise Diane's birth, was a nun at Chelles. It was also used by her aunt Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (1676–1744). She grew up with her younger sister Élisabeth, Mademoiselle de Montpensier with a convent education. Her sister would later become the Queen of Spain as the wife of Louis I of Spain.
Louise grew up in an era when her father, known as Philippe d'Orléans or simply le Régent was the de facto
ruler of France, him being in charge of the affairs of state since the death of Louise's maternal grand father Louis XIV. The Palais-Royal was where the Régent held his court and lived openly with his mistress Marie Thérèse de Parabère. Her mother would later acquire the Château de Bagnolet
where she would live quietly without scandal.
As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon
, she was a princesse du sang
. As her mother, by then the Duchess of Orléans, was illegitimate by birth, Louise, like her siblings, was not a petite-fille de France
.
In her youth, she was said to have been a very sensitive child and would grow up to be one of the more beautiful of the Regent's daughters. Despite her being another girl, (1 of 7 overall), her birth was no really greeted with the joy that had met her brother, Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans. Upon the death of her father in 1723, at Versailles, at the age of forty-nine, her only brother inherited the title of Duke of Orléans and, in 1724, he married Margravine Johanna of Baden-Baden (1704–1726).
In December 1731, it was decided that she should marry her distant cousin Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti. Her marriage was arranged by her mother Françoise Marie, Dowager Duchess of Orléans and her first cousin (and subsequent mother in law) Louise Élisabeth, Dowager Princess of Conti.
After being baptised on 19 January 1732 by the Cardinal of Rohan
(then the Grand Almoner of France
), she married the Prince of Conti three days later, on 22 January. The marriage ceremony took place at the Palace of Versailles
. Louise was then fifteen years old. At her wedding, her Condé cousin Élisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon had the honour of holding her train.
After the marriage, she became known at court as Her Serene Highness
, the Princess of Conti. Her husband had succeeded to the Conti title in 1727 upon the death of his father, Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti
. In 1734, Louise gave birth to a son, heir to the Conti name, and, in 1736, to a second child who died at birth.
Louise died in childbirth on 26 September 1736 at Issy
, outside Paris. She was buried at the Saint-André-des-Arcs church. At her death, due to the Queen Marie Leszczyńska being otherwise engaged, the queen sent Louise's cousin Marie Anne de Bourbon (Mademoiselle de Clermont) to represent her at Issy.
Her only surviving son, Louis François Joseph, was the last Prince of Conti.
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...
(Regent of the Kingdom
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....
from 1715 to 1723) and his wife, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of King 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 his mistress, Madame de Montespan
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, marquise of Montespan , better known as Madame de Montespan, was the most celebrated maîtresse en titre of King Louis XIV of France, by whom she had seven children....
. She was born during the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
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....
, the Regent of 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...
. The Princess of Conti
Princess of Conti
-First Creation:-Second Creation:...
by marriage, she died in childbirth at the age of twenty. Some sources refer to her as Louis Diane.
Biography
Louise Diane d'Orléans was born in the Palais-Royal, the Paris residence of the House of OrléansHouse 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...
, on 27 June 1716 as the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans. On the subject of her granddaughter's birth, 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...
(known at court simply as Madame) said:
At the moment when I concluded my letter to the Princess of WalesCaroline of AnsbachCaroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
, they came to announce to me that Madame d'Orléans was in labour. It was just eleven o'clock when my carriage was ready [at the Château de Saint-CloudChâteau de Saint-CloudThe Château de Saint-Cloud was a Palace in France, built on a magnificent site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 10 kilometres west of Paris. Today it is a large park on the outskirts of the capital and is owned by the state, but the area as a whole has had a large...
], and at a quarter to one I entered the ante-chamber, and was told in a low voice : 'Her Royal HighnessRoyal HighnessRoyal Highness is a style ; plural Royal Highnesses...
was safely brought to bed an hour ago.' But this was said in so sad a tone that I did not doubt that Madame d'Orléans had brought into the world a seventh daughter, and that unfortunately is what has happened.
Her siblings were:
- Mademoiselle de Valois (17 December 1693 – 17 October 1694)
- Marie Louise Élisabeth d'OrléansMarie Louise Elisabeth d'OrléansMarie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry , was a member of the House of Orléans who married Charles, Duke of Berry.-Biography:...
, Duchess of Berry (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719) - Louise Adélaïde d'OrléansLouise Adélaïde d'OrléansLouise Adélaïde d'Orléans was the third daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. She was Abbess of Chelles.-Biography:Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles on...
, Abbess of Chelles (13 August 1698 – 10 February 1743) - Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, Duchess of Modena and Reggio (20 October 1700 – 19 January 1761)
- Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres, later Duke of Orléans (4 August 1703 – 4 February 1752)
- Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Queen of Spain (11 December 1709 – 16 June 1742)
- Philippine Élisabeth d'Orléans, Mademoiselle de Beaujolais (18 December 1714 – 21 May 1734)
Until her marriage, she was known as Mademoiselle de Chartres . The style of Mademoiselle de Chartres
Mademoiselle de Chartres
Mademoiselle de Chartres may refer to one of the following:*Marie Anne d'Orléans daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans and Marguerite de Lorraine...
had been used by her older sister, Adélaïde
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans
Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was the third daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, a legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. She was Abbess of Chelles.-Biography:Marie Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans was born at the Palace of Versailles on...
(1698–1743) who, by the time of Louise Diane's birth, was a nun at Chelles. It was also used by her aunt Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (1676–1744). She grew up with her younger sister Élisabeth, Mademoiselle de Montpensier with a convent education. Her sister would later become the Queen of Spain as the wife of Louis I of Spain.
Louise grew up in an era when her father, known as Philippe d'Orléans or simply le Régent was the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
ruler of France, him being in charge of the affairs of state since the death of Louise's maternal grand father Louis XIV. The Palais-Royal was where the Régent held his court and lived openly with his mistress Marie Thérèse de Parabère. Her mother would later acquire the Château de Bagnolet
Château de Bagnolet, Paris
The Château de Bagnolet was a small château situated in the Paris suburb of Bagnolet, France, 5.2 km from the center of the city. The property was part of the biens de la maison d'Orléans, private property of the House of Orléans from 1719 till 1769....
where she would live quietly without scandal.
As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
, 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...
. As her mother, by then the Duchess of Orléans, was illegitimate by birth, Louise, like her siblings, was not a petite-fille de France
Fils 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...
.
In her youth, she was said to have been a very sensitive child and would grow up to be one of the more beautiful of the Regent's daughters. Despite her being another girl, (1 of 7 overall), her birth was no really greeted with the joy that had met her brother, Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans. Upon the death of her father in 1723, at Versailles, at the age of forty-nine, her only brother inherited the title of Duke of Orléans and, in 1724, he married Margravine Johanna of Baden-Baden (1704–1726).
In December 1731, it was decided that she should marry her distant cousin Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti. Her marriage was arranged by her mother Françoise Marie, Dowager Duchess of Orléans and her first cousin (and subsequent mother in law) Louise Élisabeth, Dowager Princess of Conti.
After being baptised on 19 January 1732 by the Cardinal of Rohan
Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan
Armand de Rohan was a French churchman and politician. He became bishop of Strasbourg in 1704, Cardinal in 1712 then grand almoner of France in 1713 and member of the regency council in 1722....
(then the Grand Almoner of France
Grand Almoner of France
The Grand Almoner of France was an officer of the French monarchy and a member of the Maison du Roi during the Ancien Régime...
), she married the Prince of Conti three days later, on 22 January. The marriage ceremony took place at the Palace of Versailles
Palace 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....
. Louise was then fifteen years old. At her wedding, her Condé cousin Élisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon had the honour of holding her train.
After the marriage, she became known at court as Her Serene Highness
Serene Highness
His/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. Her husband had succeeded to the Conti title in 1727 upon the death of his father, Louis Armand II, 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...
. In 1734, Louise gave birth to a son, heir to the Conti name, and, in 1736, to a second child who died at birth.
Louise died in childbirth on 26 September 1736 at Issy
Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
, outside Paris. She was buried at the Saint-André-des-Arcs church. At her death, due to the Queen Marie Leszczyńska being otherwise engaged, the queen sent Louise's cousin Marie Anne de Bourbon (Mademoiselle de Clermont) to represent her at Issy.
Her only surviving son, Louis François Joseph, was the last Prince of Conti.
Issue
- Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of ContiPrince of ContiThe title of Prince of Conti was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the house of Bourbon-Condé. It was taken from Conty, a small town of northern France, c. 35 km southwest of Amiens, which came into the Condé family by the marriage of Louis of Bourbon, first prince of Condé,...
(1 September 1734 – 13 March 1814) married his first cousin Princess Maria Fortunata of ModenaMaria Fortunata d'EsteMaria Fortunata d'Este was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess of the blood of France by marriage. By her marriage to a second cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti and was a member of the French court...
; had no legitimate issue; - X be Bourbon (26 September 1736) stillborn son.
Ancestors
Titles and styles
- 27 June 1716 – 21 January 1732 Her Serene Highness Mademoiselle de Chartres
- 21 January 1732 – 26 September 1736 Her Serene Highness the Princess of Conti (Madame la princesse de Conti)