Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans

Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon (13 March 1753 - 23 June 1821), was the daughter of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthievre and of Maria Teresa d'Este. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, prince de Lamballe, she became the wealthiest heiress in France. She married the future Philippe Egalite, and was the mother of France's last king, Louis Philippe I. She was a princess of the blood by her marriage.
Background
Marie-Adelaide was born on 13 March 1753 at the Hotel de Toulouse in Paris. Styled Mademoiselle d'Ivoy initially and, as a young girl, until her marriage, Mademoiselle de Penthievre (derived from the duchy inherited by her father). The style of Mademoiselle de Penthievre had been previoulsy borne by her sister Marie Louise de Bourbon (1751-1753) who died six months after Marie Adelaide's birth. She was raised in a convent, the Abbaye de Montmartre, overlooking Paris.
Marriage
At the death, on 8 May 1768, of her brother and only sibling, the Prince of Lamballe, Marie Adelaide became heiress to what was to become the largest fortune of France. Her marriage to Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orleans, Duke of Chartres, son of the Duke of Orleans, had been envisaged earlier and, while the Duke of Penthievre saw in it the opportunity for his daughter to marry into the family of the First Prince of the Blood, the Orleans did not want a union with an illegitimate branch of the royal family. However, the Orleans' mind changed when the Prince of Lamballe's death left his sister sole heiress to the family fortune. Although Marie Adelaide was much in love with her Orleans cousin, Louis XV warned Penthievre against such a marriage because of the reputation of the young Duke of Chartres as a womaniser.
Her marriage to the Duke of Chartres took place at the Palace of Versailles on 5 April 1769.
During the first few months of their marriage, the couple appeared devoted to each other, but the duke went back to the life of libertinage he had led before his marriage. It is during the summer of 1772, a few months after his wife had given birth to a stillborn daughter, that began Philippe's secret liaison with one of her ladies-in-waiting, Madame de Genlis, the niece of Madame de Montesson, the morganatic wife of Philippe's father. Passionate at first, the liaison cooled within a few months and, by the spring of 1773, was reported to be "dead". After the romantic affair was over, Felicite remained in the service of Marie Adelaide at the Palais-Royal, a trusted friend to both Marie Adelaide and Philippe. They both appreciated her intelligence and, in July 1779, she became the governess of the couple's twin daughters born in 1777.
Revolution
On 5 April 1791, Marie Adelaide left her unfaithful husband and went to live with her father at the chateau de Bizy in Normandy. In September 1792, having sided with the Revolution, the Duke of Orleans was elected to the National Convention under the name of Philippe Egalite. Siding with the radical group called The Mountain (La Montagne), he was from the very beginning suspect in the eyes of the Girondists (Girondins), who wanted all the Bourbons to be banished from France. The fate of the Orleans family was sealed when Marie-Adelaide's eldest son, the duc de Chartres, "General Egalite" in the Army of the North commanded by Charles Francois Dumouriez, sought political asylum from the Austrians in March 1793. On 6 April, all the members of the Orleans family still remaining in France were arrested.
After their arrest in Paris, Philippe Egalite and his son, the comte de Beaujolais, were imprisoned in the Abbey prison (prison de l'Abbaye) in Paris. Later, the two were transferred to the prison of Fort Saint-Jean in Marseille, where they were soon joined by the duc de Montpensier who had been arrested while serving as an officer in the Army of the Alps. The day before his father and brothers were arrested in France, the duc de Chartres rushed to Tournai, near the French border, where his sister Adelaide and Mme de Genlis had been living since Philippe Egalite had made them emigrate in November 1792.
Upon the execution of her husband, Marie-Adelaide, now known as "Veuve Egalite" (Widow Egalite), was incarcerated at the Luxembourg Palace, which had been transformed into a prison during the Revolution. There she met the man who was to become the "love of her life", a former member of the National Convention named Jacques-Marie Rouzet. The two always remained together and lived in Paris until 1797, when a decree banished the remaining members of the House of Bourbon from France.
Marie Adelaide was exiled to Spain, as was her sister-in-law Bathilde d'Orleans. Rouzet accompanied them to the Spanish border and managed to secretly join them in Barcelona where he became her chancellor.
Marie Adelaide, Rouzet and the Orleans exiled in Spain returned to France in 1814 at the time of the first Bourbon Restoration. After legal battles which lasted until her death, the bulk of her inheritance was eventually recovered. She died in her castle at Ivry-sur-Seine having suffered from breast cancer. She also was buried at the "Chapelle royale de Dreux".
Name
Sometimes the princess is incorrectly named Louise Marie Adelaide de Bourbon-Penthievre which is incorrect, and misleading (see her own signature above).
Issue
A daughter (10 October 1771) died at birth.
Louis Philippe I, (1773-1850) had issue.
Antoine Philippe, Duke of Montpensier, (1775-1807) died unmarried.
Francoise d'Orleans (1777-1782) died in infancy.
Adelaide d'Orleans (1777-1847) died unmarried.
Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais (1779-1808) died unmarried.
Titles and styles
13 March 1753 - 25 September 1753 Her Serene Highness Mademoiselle d'Ivoy.
25 September 1753 - 5 April 1769 Her Serene Highness Mademoiselle de Penthievre.
5 April 1769 - 18 November 1785 Her Most Serene Highness The Duchess of Chartres.
18 November 1785 - 6 November 1793 Her Most Serene Highness The Duchess of Orleans.
6 November 1793 - 27 June 1821 Her Most Serene Highness The Dowager Duchess of Orleans.
Other websites
1753 births
1822 deaths
Cancer deaths in France
Deaths from breast cancer
Dukes and Duchesses of Chartres
Dukes and Duchesses of Montpensier
Dukes and Duchesses of Orleans
Dukes and Duchesses of Valois
House of Bourbon
House of Orleans
People from Paris