page_title: Maria Fortunata d'Este
section_title: Princess of Conti
hierarchical_section_title: Maria Fortunata d'Este / Princess of Conti
caption_attribution_description: English: Fortunée d'Este (1734-1803) as the Countess of La Marche
context_page_description: Maria Fortunata d'Este was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess du sang by marriage. By her marriage to Louis François Joseph, Prince of Conti, her first cousin, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti; and was a member of the French court of King Louis XV and King Louis XVI. She was the last Princess of Conti, and died without issue.
context_section_description: In 1776, Marie Fortunée's father-in-law died making her husband the head of the House of Conti. Pious, discreet and very cultured, Marie Fortunée was not destined to be part of the new Queen's inner circle at Versailles. She maintained very good relations with her brother-in-law, the Duke of Penthièvre, who had lost his wife in 1754. She also got on well with her two nieces, the Princess of Lamballe and the future Duchess of Orléans.
  While at the French court, in 1784 she met Gustav III of Sweden, styled incognito as the Count of Haga who was a guest at the Hôtel de Toulouse and later on she met Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of Frederick the Great. She also met her niece Maria Beatrice d'Este and her husband Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1786. The latter pair were styled as the Count and Countess of Nettembourg. Ferdinand was a son of Empress Maria Theresa.
caption: Este in 1768 by Carmontelle
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