| Louise Diane d'Orléans | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Conti | |
 Portrait byPierre Gobert | |
| Born | (1716-06-27)27 June 1716 Palais-Royal,Paris,Kingdom of France |
| Died | 26 September 1736(1736-09-26) (aged 20) Château d'Issy, Kingdom of France |
| Burial | 30 September 1736 Saint-André-des-Arcs, Paris, Kingdom of France |
| Spouse | |
| Issue Detail | Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti |
| House | Orléans |
| Father | Philippe II, Duke of Orléans |
| Mother | Françoise Marie de Bourbon |
Louise Diane d'Orléans (27 June 1716 – 26 September 1736) wasPrincess of Conti from her marriage to PrinceLouis François in 1732, until her death in childbirth. She was the youngest child ofPhilippe II, Duke of Orléans andFrançoise Marie de Bourbon, the youngest legitimised daughter of KingLouis XIV of Frannce and his mistressMadame de Montespan. She was born while her father was theregent forLouis XV. Some sources referred to her asLouis Diane.
Louise Diane d'Orléans was born in the Palais-Royal, the Paris residence of theHouse of Orléans, on 27 June 1716 as the youngest child of thePhilippe II, Duke of Orléans andFrançoise Marie de Bourbon.[1]
Louise's birth and her gender was seen as a disappointment and caused her paternal grandmother to lament that "It is unfortunate that all of my son's bastards are boys and his legitimate children are girls."
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Louise's parents relationship was not a harmonious one, with her father nicknaming her mother "Madame Lucifer" because of her haughty manner. They lived mostly separate lives, with the duchess living at thePalais-Royal with their children, while the duke lived at thePetit Palais while pursuing a dissipated life and openly flaunting his mistresses in front of his wife. Despite their marital discord they would go on have eight children.
Louise received her early education from the same governess as her auntÉlisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans,[2] but due to their unruliness and their mother, the duchess's, laxness in supporting the governess and disciplining her children,[2] it seems Louise and her sisters' education was severely neglected. Eventually, the sisters would be sent to theConvent of the Visitandines to receive education from the nuns there.
Louise's personality was described by her contemporaries very sensitive, and she was considered to be of the most beautiful daughters of the regent.
Until her marriage, Louise was known asMademoiselle de Chartres.[3] The style ofMademoiselle de Chartres had been used by her elder sisterAdélaïde, who, by the time of Louise Diane's birth, was a nun at Chelles. Her auntÉlisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans also used the title.
Louise grew up in an era when her father, known asPhilippe d'Orléans, or simplyle Régent, was thede facto ruler of France, as he had been in charge of the affairs of the state since the death of Louise's maternal grandfather KingLouis XIV. The Palais-Royal was where the régent held his court and lived openly with his mistressMarie Thérèse de Parabère.[4] Her mother later acquired theChâteau de Bagnolet, where she lived quietly and without scandal.
As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, she was aprincesse du sang. As hermother, by then theDuchess of Orléans, was illegitimate by birth, Louise, like her siblings, was not apetite-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. 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 marriedMargravine Johanna of Baden-Baden.
In December 1731, it was decided that she should marry her cousinLouis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti.[3] Her marriage was arranged by her motherFrançoise Marie and her first cousin (and subsequent mother-in-law)Louise Élisabeth,Dowager Princess of Conti.
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After being baptised on 19 January 1732 by theCardinal of Rohan (then theGrand Almoner of France), she married the Prince of Conti three days later, on 22 January. The marriage ceremony took place at thePalace 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 asHer Serene Highness, the Princess of Conti. Her husband had succeeded to the Conti title in 1727 upon the death of his fatherLouis 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 atIssy, outside Paris. She was buried at the Saint-André-des-Arcs church. At her death, due to the QueenMarie Leszczyńska being otherwise engaged, the queen sent Louise's cousinMarie Anne de Bourbon (Mademoiselle de Clermont) to represent her at Issy. According to traditionthe heart of the young princess was removed and enterred in the church ofVal-de-Grace.[5][6]
Her only surviving son,Louis François Joseph, was the lastPrince of Conti.
The generations start from the children ofFrançois de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, from whom are descended all legitimateBourbons after the death in 1627 ofMarie de Bourbon, last of theMontpensier branch of the dynasty. | ||
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*princess of the Blood in her own right as well as wife of aprince of the Blood | ||
