Louise Diane d'Orléans

Louise Diane d'Orléans (27 June 1716 – 26 September 1736) was the 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 illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. The Princess of Conti by marriage, she died in childbirth at the age of twenty. Some sources refer to her as Louis Diane. The princess used the name Louise.

Louise d'Orléans
Princess of Conti
Louise by Pierre Gobert
Born	(1716-06-27)27 June 1716 Palais-Royal, Paris
Died	26 September 1736(1736-09-26) (aged 20) Château d'Issy, France
Burial	30 September 1736 Saint-André-des-Arcs, Paris
Spouse	Louis François, Prince of Conti
Issue Detail	Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti
Full name Louise Diane d'Orléans
Father	Philippe d'Orléans
Mother	Françoise Marie de Bourbon

Biography

Louise Diane d'Orléans was born in the Palais-Royal, the Paris residence of the House of Orléans, on 27 June 1716 as the youngest child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans. Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate was her fathers mother and was not impressed at the thought of having another granddaughter

Her siblings were:

• Mademoiselle de Valois (17 December 1693 – 17 October 1694)
• Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry (20 August 1695 – 21 July 1719)
• Louise Adélaïde d'Orléans, 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 . known as Mademoiselle de Chartres. She grew up with her younger sister Élisabeth with a convent education. Her sister would later become the Queen of Spain.

Engraving of The Marriage of the Prince of Conti and Mademoiselle de Chartres at Versailles, 1732

Louise grew up in an era when her father, known as Philippe d'Orléans or simply le Régent was the ruler of France, him being in charge of the affairs of state since the death of Louis XIV. The Palais-Royal was where the Régent held his court and lived openly with his mistress.

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 not really greeted with the joy that had met her brother, Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans.

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.

She was baptised on 19 January 1732 by the Cardinal of Rohan and 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 cousin Élisabeth Alexandrine de Bourbon held 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 outside Paris. She was buried at the Saint-André-des-Arcs church. Her only surviving son, Louis François Joseph, was the last Prince of Conti.

Children

1. Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (1 September 1734 – 13 March 1814) married Princess Maria Fortunata of Modena; had no children.
2. Stillborn son (26 September 1736).

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Arms of Orléans as Princess of Conti.

• 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)