Son of Louis, duke of Orléans; born at Versailles on the 12th of May 1725, and known as the duke of Chartres until his father’s death in 1752. Serving with the French armies he distinguished himself in the campaigns of 1742, 1743 and 1744, and at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, retiring to Bagnolet in 1757, and occupying his time with theatrical performances and the society of men of letters. He died at St. Assise on the 18th of November 1785. The duke married Louise Henriette de Bourbon-Conti, who bore him a son Philip (Égalité), duke of Orléans, and a daughter, who married the last duke of Bourbon. His second wife, Madame de Montesson, whom he married secretly in 1773, was a clever woman and an authoress of some repute. He had two natural sons, known as the abbot of St. Far and the abbot of St. Albin.
See L’Automne d’un prince, a collection of letters from the duke to his second wife, edited by J. Hermand (1910).
