Louise Diane d'Orléans (27 June 1716 – 26 September 1736) was
Princess of Conti
The title of Princess of Conti was a French Nobility, noble title, held by the wife of the Prince of Conti between 1582 and 1803 with an intermission between 1614 and 1654.
Princesses of Conti First Creation
Second Creation
Notes
...
from her marriage to Prince
Louis François in 1732, until her death in childbirth. She was the youngest child of
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in French as ''le Régent''. ...
and
Françoise Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon (''Légitimée de France''; 4 May 1677 1 February 1749) was the youngest illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his ''maîtresse-en-titre'', Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montes ...
, the youngest legitimised daughter of King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
and his mistress
Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
. She was born while her father was the
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
for
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
. Some sources referred to her as ''Louis Diane''.
Biography
Louise Diane d'Orléans was born in the Palais-Royal, the Paris residence of the
House of Orléans
The 4th House of Orléans (french: Maison d'Orléans), sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans (french: link=no, Maison de Bourbon-Orléans) to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Ro ...
, on 27 June 1716 as the youngest child of the
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in French as ''le Régent''. ...
and
Françoise Marie de Bourbon
Françoise Marie de Bourbon (''Légitimée de France''; 4 May 1677 1 February 1749) was the youngest illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his ''maîtresse-en-titre'', Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montes ...
.
Until her marriage, Louise was known as ''Mademoiselle de Chartres''. The style of
''Mademoiselle de Chartres'' had been used by her elder sister
Adélaïde, who, by the time of Louise Diane's birth, was a nun at Chelles. Her aunt
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans
Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans (13 September 1676 – 23 December 1744) was a ''petite-fille de France'', and Duchess of Lorraine and Bar by marriage to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. She was regent of Lorraine and Bar during the minority (1729– ...
also used the title.
Louise, who grew up with her younger sister
Élisabeth, received a religious education. Her sister would later become the queen of Spain as the wife of
Louis I of Spain
, predecessor = Philip V
, successor = Philip V
, reg-type1 =
, regent1 =
, spouse =
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy
, birth_dat ...
.
Louise grew up in an era when her father, known as ''Philippe d'Orléans'', or simply ''le Régent'', was the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' ruler of France, as he had been in charge of the affairs of the state since the death of Louise's maternal grandfather King
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
. The Palais-Royal was where the régent held his court and lived openly with his mistress
Marie Thérèse de Parabère
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in T ...
. Her mother later acquired the
Château de Bagnolet, where she lived quietly and without scandal.
As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was a ''
princesse du sang''. As her
mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
, by then the
Duchess of Orléans
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
, was illegitimate by birth, Louise, like her siblings, was not a ''
petite-fille de France
''Fils de France'' (, ''Son of 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 (, ''Daughter of France'').
The children of the dauphin (a title reserved for the ki ...
''.
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. As she was another girl (1 of 7 overall), her birth was not necessarily greeted with the joy that had met that of her brother,
Louis, 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
, spouse = Louis, Duke of Orléans
, issue =
, house = House of Zähringen
, father = Louis William of Baden-Baden
, mother = Sibylle of Saxe-Lauenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Schloss Johannisburg, Ba ...
.
In December 1731, it was decided that she should marry her cousin
Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti. Her marriage was arranged by her mother
Françoise Marie 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 {{other uses, Almoner
The Grand Almoner of France (french: Grand aumônier de France) was an officer of the French monarchy and a member of the ''Maison du Roi'' ("King's Household") during the ''Ancien Régime''. He directed the religious branch of ...
), she married the Prince of Conti three days later, on 22 January. The marriage ceremony took place at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
. 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
His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...
, 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 de Bourbon (10 November 1695 – 4 May 1727) was Prince of Conti, from 1709 to his death, succeeding his father, François Louis de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a '' Prince du Sang''. His mother wa ...
. 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 () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...
, outside Paris. She was buried at the Saint-André-des-Arcs church. At her death, due to the Queen
Marie Leszczyńska
Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...
being otherwise engaged, the queen sent Louise's cousin
Marie Anne de Bourbon
Marie Anne de Bourbon, ''Légitimée de France','' born Marie Anne de La Blaume Le Blanc, by her marriage Princess of Conti then Princess Dowager of Conti, ''suo jure'' Duchess of La Vallière and of Vaujours (2 October 1666 – 3 May 1739) ...
(''Mademoiselle de Clermont'') to represent her at Issy.
Her only surviving son,
Louis François Joseph, was the last
Prince of Conti
The title of Prince of Conti (French: ''prince de Conti'') was a French noble title, assumed by a cadet branch of the princely house of Bourbon-Condé.
History
The title derives its name from Conty, a small town in northern France, c. 35 km ...
.
Issue
*
Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (1 September 1734 – 13 March 1814); married his first cousin,
Princess Maria Fortunata of Modena, and had no legitimate issue.
* Stillborn son* (26 September 1736).
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louise Diane Dorleans
House of Bourbon-Conti
Princesses of Conti
1716 births
Princesses of the Blood
1736 deaths
House of Orléans
Deaths in childbirth
House of Bourbon
18th-century French people
People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans
People of the Ancien Régime
Nobility from Paris
Princesses of France (Bourbon)