| Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon-Condé | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prince of Condé | |
| Tenure | 13 May 1818 – 30 August 1830 |
| Predecessor | Louis Joseph |
| Successor | Title Extinct |
| Duke of Bourbon | |
| Tenure | 2 August 1772 – 30 August 1830 |
| Predecessor | Louis Joseph |
| Successor | Disputed |
| Lord of Chantilly | |
| Tenure | 13 May 1818 – 30 August 1830 |
| Predecessor | Louis Joseph |
| Successor | Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale |
| Born | (1756-04-13)13 April 1756 Paris,Isle-de-France,Kingdom of France |
| Died | 30 August 1830(1830-08-30) (aged 74) Château de Saint-Leu,Val-d'Oise,Kingdom of France |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien and other illegitimate children |
| House | Bourbon-Condé |
| Father | Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé |
| Mother | Charlotte de Rohan |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1792–1795 |
| Battles/wars | |
Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon (13 April 1756 – 30 August 1830) was the lastPrince of Condé from 1818 to his death. He was the brother-in-law ofPhilippe Égalité and nephew ofVictoire de Rohan.
Louis Henri was the only son ofLouis Joseph, Prince of Condé by his first wife,Charlotte de Rohan, daughter ofCharles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise. As a member of the reigningHouse of Bourbon, he was aprince du sang and was entitled to the style ofSerene Highness, prior to his accession to the Condé title, while he was known as the duke of Enghien and later asDuke of Bourbon. On succeeding his father he was entitled to the style ofRoyal Highness.
On 24 April 1770, he marriedBathilde d'Orléans, the only surviving daughter ofLouis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans andLouise Henriette de Bourbon. The couple were married in the chapel at thePalace of Versailles and were descended fromLouis XIV to the same degree, their paternal great-grandmothers were sisters, daughters ofMadame de Montespan. In 1772 their only son,Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, was born.[1] In March 1778, KingLouis XVI's youngest brother, theCount of Artois (the future KingCharles X), assaulted his wife at a masked ball, leading Louis Henri to challenge him to aduel; "they met early one morning in theBois de Boulogne, the fight being stopped after the Duke wounded Charles in the hand."[2] This affair became known as:An Incident at the Opera Ball on Mardi Gras in 1778. Although the two men were reconciled in 1779, the marriage did not turn out to be a happy one, and in 1780 the couple separated. Louis never remarried.
Shortly afterwards, Louis Henri began a public affair with theParis Opera singer Marguerite “Mimi” Michelot, which resulted in two illegitimate daughters, one of whom, Adèle, went on to marry the Comte de Reuilly. During theFrench Revolution, Louis Henri accompanied his father into exile in England and survived thepurge of theHouse of Bourbon in France, which cost the lives of KingLouis XVI and his wife QueenMarie Antoinette, amongst others.
In 1804, his son,Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, was abducted in Germany by order ofNapoleon and executed in the moat of theChâteau de Vincennes on trumped-up charges of treason. The Duke of Enghien had been married toCharlotte Louise de Rohan for less than two months and had no issue.
Louis Henri returned with his father to France after the defeat ofNapoleon in 1814, and both recovered their fortunes and public status. On his father's death in 1818, he assumed the title ofPrince of Condé.
During the 1814 restoration, the Prince, as Duke of Bourbon, became the namesake for the 8th Bourbon Light Horse Regiment (8ème Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval de Bourbon). However, followingNapoleon's return in March 1815, the regiment joined Napoleon and he emigrated to Belgium.[3][4] Within the Infantry Corps, the Prince was madeColonel General of the Light Infantry and consequently became the namesake for the Bourbon Line Infantry Regiment which was formed by the merger of the 9th Line Infantry Regiment (9ème Régiment d'Infanterie de Ligne) and the 2nd & 7th Battalions of the 37th Light Infantry Regiment (37ème Régiment d'Infanterie Légère). This regiment also joined Napoleon after his return from Elba in March 1815.[5][6]
While in exile in 1811, the duc de Bourbon had made the acquaintance at a bordello inPiccadilly ofSophia Dawes or Daw, a maid in a brothel from theIsle of Wight. He set the woman and her mother up in London in a house on Gloucester Street. There, she went through an extensive educational program.
After theBourbon Restoration in 1815, Louis Henri brought her to Paris and arranged a marriage for her to Baron Adrien Victor de Feucheres, an officer in the royal guard. This was done to allow Sophia's entry into French society. However, in the course of setting up her marriage license, Sophia lied on several particulars. Feucheres, who became an aide to the duke, believed for several years that Sophia was a natural daughter of Louis Henri II. When he discovered the truth, he separated from his wife, and informed KingLouis XVIII of the real relationship between Louis Henri and Sophia. The king banned Sophia from court.
In revenge, Sophia approached the head of theHouse of Orléans, theDuke of Orleans, and through him made a new entry into society. In return, she agreed to use her influence on the aging Louis Henri II to have him set up a will making the son of Louis Philippe,Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale, the old prince's main heir. Sophia was given two million francs for her services in the matter. The new Bourbon king, Charles X, eventually accepted her back at court. She was again considered acceptable by polite French society. She was even able to arrange the marriage of a niece to a nephew ofTalleyrand.
By now, Louis Henri was trying to get away from the mistress who had taken over his life. In the summer of 1830, he returned to his home atSt. Leu. There, he heard of theJuly Revolution. Sophia immediately set about to get him to recognize the new Orléans monarchy.
On 30 August 1830, Louis Henri was found dead with a rope around his neck but his feet on the ground; while there were initially suspicions of foul play, with the baroness being implicated, an inquiry was held which formally declared his death to be asuicide. There were rumours that the new King of the French,Louis-Philippe, had collaborated with Sophia in the crime, as they feared that she and Louis Phillippe's son Aumale – the testamentary heirs of Condé – might be disinherited by the Prince after a possible flight abroad. Later, rumours circulated amongst the nobility that Condé had died pleasuring himself, engaged in what would later be known asautoerotic asphyxiation. Since there was insufficient evidence to prove that he had been murdered, the baroness was not prosecuted, although she was involved in litigation regarding the inheritance for years to come.[7]
There are some aspects of the relationship between Sophia and the Prince which may have inspiredWilliam Thackeray's novelVanity Fair, specifically concerning the characterBecky Sharp and her possible involvement in the death of Joseph Sedley. With Louis Henri's death the line of Bourbon-Condé came to an end; his lands and wealth passed to his godson, the Duke of Aumale. His father, Louis Philippe, was the feudal-law heir to Conti and Condé, being the grandson ofLouise Henriette de Bourbon, a daughter ofLouise Élisabeth de Bourbon, who was sister of Louis Henri II's grandfather.
He also had illegitimate issue;
| Ancestors of Louis Henri, Prince of Condé[8] |
|---|
Note: The above Anne Julie de Melun was the younger sister of Louis de Melun, Duke of Joyeuse; he was the secret husband of Louise Adélaïde's great-auntMarie Anne de Bourbon (1697–1741); Louis de Melun's wife wasArmande de La Tour d'Auvergne — the eldest granddaughter ofMarie Anne Mancini. |
Media related toLouis Henri, Prince of Condé at Wikimedia Commons
Louis Henri, Prince of Condé Cadet branch of theHouse of Bourbon Born: 13 April 1756? Died: 30 August 1830 | ||
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| Preceded by | Prince of Condé 13 May 1818 – 30 August 1830 | Title extinguished end of dynasty |
Generations are numbered by descent fromCharles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme | ||
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*died without issue | ||
