Louis Henri, Prince of Condé
Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon (13 April 1756 – 30 August 1830) was the Prince of Condé from 1818 to his death. He was the brother-in-law of Philippe Égalité and nephew of Victoire de Rohan.
Not to be confused with his grandfather Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (1692–1740).
Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon-Condé
- Prince de Condé
- Duc de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien
- Seigneur de Chantilly
- Prince de Condé
- Duc de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien
- Seigneur de Chantilly
13 April 1756
Paris, Isle-de-France, Kingdom of France
27 August 1830 (aged 74)
Château de Saint-Leu, Val-d'Oise, Kingdom of France
- Armée des Émigrés (1792)
- Armée des Princes (1792–1795)
- French Royal Army (1814, 1815–1830?)
1792–1795
Life[edit]
Louis Henri was the only son of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé by his first wife, Charlotte de Rohan, daughter of Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a prince du sang and was entitled to the style of Serene Highness, prior to his accession to the Condé title, while he was known as the duke of Enghien and later as Duke of Bourbon. On succeeding his father he was entitled to the style of Royal Highness.
Marriage[edit]
On 24 April 1770, he married Bathilde d'Orléans, the only surviving daughter of Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. The couple were married in the chapel at the Palace of Versailles and were descended from Louis XIV to the same degree, their paternal great grandmothers were sisters, daughters of Madame de Montespan. In 1772 their only son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, was born.[1] The marriage was not a happy one, and in 1780 the couple separated. Louis never remarried.
Shortly afterwards, Louis Henri began a public affair with the Paris Opera singer Marguerite “Mimi” Michelot, which resulted in two illegitimate daughters, one of whom, Adèle, went on to marry the Comte de Reuilly. During the French Revolution, Louis Henri accompanied his father into exile in England and survived the purge of the House of Bourbon in France, which cost the life of King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette amongst others.
In 1804, his son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, was abducted in Germany by order of Napoleon and executed in the moat of the Château de Vincennes on trumped up charges of treason. The Duke of Enghien had been married to Charlotte Louise de Rohan for less than two months and had no issue.
Louis Henri returned with his father to France after the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, and both recovered their fortunes and public status. On his father's death in 1818, he assumed the title of Prince of Condé.