August 4, 1703: Birth of Louis, Duke of Orléans. Part II.

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House of Orléans, Johanna of Baden-Baden, Louis, Louis Armand II of Conti, Louis d'Orléans, Louis of Orleans, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Louise-Henriette de Bourbon

Part II

Marriage

The fifth child and only son out of eight children, Orléans was still not married at the death of his father. In 1721, the ambassador of France to Russia suggested a marriage between Orléans and one of the two unmarried daughters of Peter I of Russia: the Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (known for her fluency in French) or her younger sister, Grand Duchess Yelizaveta Petrovna.

But the idea of a marriage with a Russian Grand Duchess had to be abandoned as there soon arose difficulties relative to religion and order of precedence. Orléans was “only” a great-grandson of the King of France and as such was only entitled to the style of Serene Highness. A Russian grand duchess, however, as a daughter of the tsar, was entitled to the style of Imperial Highness. Anna Petrovna later married the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp.

Louis, Duke of Orléans

Another possible bride who was considered for him was his first cousin Élisabeth-Alexandrine de Bourbon. She was the youngest daughter of his mother’s older sister, Louise-Françoise de Bourbon. Élisabeth-Alexandrine was also, however, the younger sister of his main rival, the Duke of Bourbon.

In 1723, a German princess was suggested. She was Johanna of Baden-Baden (1704–1726), the daughter of Ludwig-Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Baden and his wife Sibylle-Auguste of Saxe-Lauenburg. The marriage was agreed upon by his mother, and the bride’s small dowry set at 80,000 livres. The marriage by proxy took place on June 18, 1724 at Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, then on July 13, in the town of Sarry (Marne), in France. It was at Sarry that the couple first met. They fell in love at first sight. At the French court, the new Duchess of Orléans was known as Jeanne de Bade.

Johanna of Baden-Baden

The ducal couple had two children, but only one survived infancy.
Later life

On September 5, 1725, the court celebrated the marriage of Louis XV to the Polish princess, Marie Leszczyńska at Fontainebleau. Earlier, Orléans had represented Louis XV at the proxy marriage ceremony, which had taken place the previous August 15, at Strasbourg. The young queen would later have a lot of sympathy for the quiet and pious Duke.

The following year, on August 8, 1726, the duke’s young wife died three days after the birth of her second child, Louise-Marie, at the Palais-Royal in Paris. After the early death of his wife, and until his own death in 1752, Louis lived by strict rules.

His son, Louis-Philippe would liked to have married Madame Henriette, the second daughter of Louis XV, but Louis XV refused. The king did not want the House of Orléans to be as powerful as it had been during the regency of Orléans’ father. In 1737 he, along with his aunt the Dowager Duchess of Bourbon, were asked to be godparents of the king’s son, Louis de France, Dauphin of France (1729–1765).

On December 17, 1743, Orléans’ son married Louise-Henriette de Bourbon, the daughter of Louis-Armand II, Prince of Conti and his wife, Louise-Élisabeth de Bourbon. The Condé and Orléans families had been at odds since the Orléans had assumed the rank of First Prince of the Blood in 1709, and it was hoped that the marriage would settle their mésentente. Although passionate at first, the marriage soon proved unhappy because of the young bride’s débaucherie.

Louise-Henriette de Bourbon

Louis-Philippe d’Orléans would see the birth of his grandchildren Louis-Philippe (1747–1793) and Bathilde (1750–1822) who, during the French Revolution of 1789, would be known respectively as Philippe-Égalité and Citoyenne Vérité. Because of the scandalous behaviour of their mother, he refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of his grandchildren.

In 1749, his mother died.

He died in 1752, at the age of forty-eight, at the Abbaye de Sainte Geneviève, having lost most of his sanity. On his deathbed, on suspicion of Jansenist views, he was refused communion by the Abbé Bouettin of the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church, but was given the last rites by his own chaplain. Louis d’Orléans had outlived all his siblings apart from Charlotte-Aglaé, the Duchess of Modena and Reggio.

He was buried at the Val-de-Grâce in Paris.

The Name Louis and the British Monarchy: IV

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Frederick Louis Prince of Wales, Frederick William I of Prussia, Hanover, House of Hanover, King George II of Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Louis, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Prince of Wales, Queen Caroline

The next prince on my list in this examination of the name of Louis and its association with the British Royal Family is HRH Frederick-Louis, Prince of Wales, KG (February 1, 1707 – March 31, 1751). He was heir apparent to the British throne from 1727 until his death from a lung injury at the age of 44 in 1751. He was the eldest son King George II and Caroline of Ansbach, and the father of King George III.

HRH Prince Frederick-Louis, Prince of Wales and Duke of Edinburgh


Under the Act of Settlement passed by the English Parliament in 1701, Frederick-Louis was born fourth in the line of succession to the British throne, after his great-grandmother (Electress Sophia of Hanover), paternal grandfather (King George I) and father (George II). All of these relatives were alive at the time of his birth. Prince Frederick-Louis was born in Hanover, Holy Roman Empire (Germany), as Duke Friedrich-Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg, His paternal great-grandmother, Sophia of Hanover, a granddaughter of James I-VI, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, was cousin and heir presumptive to Queen Anne of Great Britain. When Sophia died before Anne at age 83 in June 1714, this elevated elevated Elector George-Louis to heir-presumptive.

Queen Anne died on August 1, of that same year, and Sophia’s son became King George I. This made Frederick-Louis’s father the new Prince of Wales and first-in-line to the British throne and Frederick-Louis himself became second-in-line.


In 1726 Frederick-Louis’ grandfather, George I, created him Duke of Edinburgh, Marquess of the Isle of Ely, Earl of Eltham in the county of Kent, Viscount of Launceston in the county of Cornwall, and Baron of Snaudon in the county of Carnarvon. The latter two titles have been interpreted differently since – the ofs are omitted and Snaudon rendered as Snowdon.

Frederick-Louis spent much of his early life in Hanover even after his grandfather and father moved to England. Frederick-Louis arrived in England in 1728 as a grown man, the year after his father had become King George II. By then, George II and Caroline had had several younger children, and Frederick-Louis, created Prince of Wales January 8th 1729, was a high-spirited youth fond of drinking, gambling and women. The long separation damaged the parent-child relationship, and they would never be close.

With Frederick-Louis now in England it was time for him to settle down and start to raise a family. Negotiations between George II and his brother-in-law Friedrich-Wilhelm I of Prussia on a proposed marriage between the Prince of Wales and Friedrich-Wilhelm I’s daughter, Wilhelmine, were welcomed by Frederick-Louis even though the couple had never met. George II was not keen on the proposal but continued talks for diplomatic reasons. Frustrated by the delay, Frederick-Louis sent an envoy of his own to the Prussian court. When King George II discovered the plan, he immediately arranged for Frederick-Louis to leave Hanover for England. The marriage negotiations ultimately collapsed when Friedrich-Wilhelm I demanded that Frederick-Louis be made Regent in Hanover which meant he’d have the power and authority as Elector of Hanover, just not the tittle. George II would have none of that!

Frederick-Louis also almost married Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill. Lady Diana was the favourite grandchild of the powerful Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. The duchess sought a royal alliance by marrying Lady Diana to the Prince of Wales with a massive dowry of £100,000. The prince, who was in great debt, agreed to the proposal, but the plan was vetoed by Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the day, and by King George II himself. Lady Diana instead married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg HRH The Princess of Wales

After a marriage with Lady Diana Spencer did not come to fruition, king George II was visiting Hanover when Queen Caroline suggested that Frederick-Louis visit Saxe-Gotha to view the princesses there. The princess that caught his eye was Princess Augusta. Princess Augusta was born in Gotha to Friedrich II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1676–1732) and Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (1676–1740). Her paternal grandfather was Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, eldest surviving son of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

When Frederick-Louis informed his mother that he considered Augusta suitable, the marriage was swiftly decided upon. Frederick-Louis simply stated that he accepted any bride his father would decide for him. His motive in seeking an early marriage was not because he’d fallen in love with Princess Augusta, his motive was to obtain an additional allowance from Parliament in order to be financially independent of his father, whom he detested.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and family

Princess Augusta did not speak French or English, and the British Court suggested that she be given language lessons before the wedding. Since British royal family was originally from Germany and since Frederick-Louis also spoke German, Princess Augusta‘s mother did not consider it necessary for her daughter to learn English. Therefore she arrived in Britain speaking virtually no English, for a wedding ceremony which took place almost immediately, on 8 May 1736, at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, London.

The union was presided over by Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London and Dean of the Chapel Royal. Handel provided the new anthem ‘Sing unto God’ for the service and the wedding was also marked in London by two rival operas, Handel’s Atalanta and Porpora’s La festa d’Imeneo.

The royal couple had 9 children (5 sons and 4 daughters) with Prince George being the eldest, born 1738. Frederick-Louis died at Leicester House at the age of 44 in 1751. In the past this has been attributed to a burst lung abscess caused by a blow from a cricket or a real tennis ball, but it is now thought to have been from a pulmonary embolism. He was buried at Westminster Abbey on April 13, 1751.

Prince George inherited his father’s title of Duke of Edinburgh. George II showed more interested in his grandson and three weeks after the death of the Prince of Wales the King created George Prince of Wales, a title that is not automatically inherited.

Britain would not have a King Frederick-Louis and this was the closest they would come to a King with the name Louis.

The name Louis and the British Monarchy: III

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Frederick the Great of Prussia, Frederick William I of Prussia, King George I of Great Britain, Kingdom of Prussia, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Louis, Prince Louis of Cambridge, Sophia Dorothea of Great Britain

As we continue to examine the name Louis and its association with the British monarchy this next entry does stray a bit from a rigid definition of the British Royal Family. For these next examples they were not members of the British Royal Family technically speaking; they were members of the king’s family. This is a distinction that does have a difference. Though these examples were members of the German House of Hanover that ruled over Prussia, they were also the grandchildren of King George I of Great Britain.

Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover

King George I had one daughter, Sophia Dorothea. On November 28, 1706, she married her paternal cousin, Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia, heir apparent to the Prussian throne. The Crown Prince’s mother, was Princess Sophia of Hanover, brother of King George I of Great Britain, and wife of King Frederick I in Prussia. Sophia -Dorothea and Frederick-William had met as children when Frederick-William had spent some time in Hanover under the care of their grandmother. Sophia-Dorothea disliked him, however, Frederick-William had reportedly felt an attraction to her early on.

Sophia-Dorothea was described as tall, with a beautiful slender figure, graceful and dignified with big blue eyes. She was seen as quite attractive at the time of her marriage and was described as charming in her manners, and made a good impression in Berlin.

Sophia-Dorothea and Frederick-William were different from one another and were ill suited for one another and the marriage suffered as a result. Sophia-Dorothea was a cultured princess with a strong interested in art, science, literature and fashion, while Frederick-William was described as an unpolished, uneducated and spartan military man with rough manners. Sophia Dorothea loved entertainment, something he regarded to be frivolous and this was a major source of friction between them.

Frederick-William I, King in Prussia

Though Frederick-William was never unfaithful to her, a rare trait in a Royal prince of those days, he was unable to win her affection. At one point Frederick-William contemplated divorcing her the same year they married and, judging by her letters, accused her of not wanting to be married to him. It seems that was a correct assumption. Despite great animosity between the couple they seemed to be compatible in the bedroom. Between 1707 and 1730 the couple had 14 children, 10 survived to adulthood.

The name Louis was found among three of their sons, and the feminine form Louise was found among the names of two of their daughters. The first child, a son, was born in 1707 and christened Frederick-Louis, and his birth was celebrated greatly in Prussia. Sadly the next year, 1708 Frederick-Louis died. Sophia-Dorothea’s physicians declared was not likely to conceive again.

This declaration of her possible future barrenness prompted her father-in-law, Frederick I, King in Prussia, to marry Sophia-Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, to insure the succession to the Prussian throne. However, Sophia-Louise had no children by him. It is interesting to note that shortly before wedding the king had been informed that his daughter-in-law (Sophia-Dorothea) was pregnant, and answered that had he been aware of this, he would not have married again. Despite the declaration by her physicians Sophia-Dorothea did give birth to several children, as previously mentioned, including Frederick II The Great, King of Prussia (1740-1786).

The next child of Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover and Frederick-William I, King in Prussia which had with the name of Louis among them was HRH Prince Frederick-Henry-Louis of Prussia, January 18, 1726 and died August 3, 1802, was commonly known as Henry. He also served as a general and statesman, leading Prussian armies in the Silesian Wars and the Seven Years’ War, having never lost a battle in the latter. In 1786, he was suggested as a candidate for a monarch for the United States, prior to the decision to become a Republic.


The last child of Sophia-Dorothea of Great Britain and Hanover and Frederick-William I, King in Prussia which had with the name of Louis among them was HRH Prince Louis-Charles-Wilhelm, born in 1717 and died sadly in 1719 at the age of two.

This concludes a look at the grandchildren of King George I of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and its association with the name Louis.

Part IV coming soon!

The name Louis and the British Monarchy: II

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1745, Battle of Culloden, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Charles Stuart, Duke of Brunswick, George I of Great Britain, Holy Roman Empire, House of Hanover, House of Stuart, James I of England, John III Sobieski of Poland, King James II-VII of England and Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Louis, Maria Clementine of Poland, Queen Anne of Great Britain

As we have seen, England almost had a King Louis. It is interesting to speculate how things would have turned out had King John not died when he did. Forces were working against him as Louis was gaining ground and victory seemed assured until the sudden death of King John and the reversal of the Barons revolt. If Louis had succeeded English history would have unfolded much differently.

From 1217 until the 18th Century there was no prince with the name Louis even as a secondary name. From my research and the records I have read it seems that multiple names didn’t even begin until 17th century and even then there is only one case I know of: Prince Charles James, Duke of Cornwall, son of Charles I and elder brother of Charles II and James II-VII.

One early example of Louis as a secondary name within the British Royal Family is questionable. I interrupt my strict chronological narrative of this series to include this royal prince for I feel he should be counted and considered.

Prince Charles Edward Stuart

The person in question is Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, and known to history as “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” the elder son of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales and the grandson of James II-VII and after 1766 the Stuart claimant to the throne of Great Britain.* I question if this is an example of the name “Louis” in the British Royal Family because during his lifetime he technically was not a member of the Royal Family since the House of Hanover was on the throne at this time. However, for the sake of this discussion, I will overlook this technicality and include him as a prince of Britain to carry the name Louis. Also, I am not aware of any legal restrictions of the title of prince placed on the exiled Stuart line and most historians do view the exiled Stuarts as being British princes.

In full his name was Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart (December 31, 1720 – January 31, 1788). Besides being known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, during his lifetime he was also known as “The Young Pretender” or “The Young Chevalier” and to his supporters he was King Charles III of England, Scotland and Ireland. He is best remembered for his role in the 1745 uprising and defeat at the Battle of Culloden in April 16, 1746 to unseat the House of Hanover and place himself on the throne. The loss at Culloden effectively ended the Stuart cause against the House of Hanover and the subsequent attempts at a planned French invasion in 1759 failed to materialize. Prince Charles’ dramatic escape from Scotland after the failed uprising led him to be portrayed as a romantic figure of heroic failure in later representations of stories and songs.

* During Prince Charles life time the kingdom he tried to rule over was the Kingdom of Great Britain which came into being with the Act of Union of 1707 which united the crowns of England and Scotland into one nation. However, many Jacobites (the supporters of the the exiled Stuart line) did not recognize this union and still considered the three kingdoms as being separate.

Prince Charles string of names does highlight his heritage. The name Casimir denotes the Polish heritage of his mother, Maria Clementina Sobieska, the granddaughter of John III Sobieski of Poland. The name Louis stems from their cousin Louis XIV and Louis XV of France. Louis XIV was the first cousin to Prince Charles’ grandfather, James II-VII, who first gave the Stuarts support in exile and Louis XV also gave financial support to the exiled Stuarts.

In this blog I try my best to use the names of these individuals in their native tongue. For example, I never call the last German Emperor by the English translation of his name, William II, I call him by the German translation, Wilhelm II. However, for this series, I will render all German names in their English translation.

King George I of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.

The first member of the British Royal Family with the secondary name of Louis was King George I of Great Britain (May 28, 1660 – June 11, 1727). His name in English was George-Louis. In German it was Georg-Ludwig. He was the eldest son of Ernest-Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate. Sophia was the granddaughter of King James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland through her mother, Elizabeth of Bohemia. George-Louis’ father died on January 23, 1698, leaving all of his territories and titles to George-Louis with the exception of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, an office he had held since 1661. George-Louis thus became Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Hanover, after its capital) as well as Archbannerbearer and a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In his German lands this new Elector of Hanover was known by his double names, Georg-Ludwig.

George-Louis’ mother, the Electress Sophia of Hanover, was the designated hier to the British throne according to the Act of Settlement of 1701. She was selected as heiress to the British throne in order to exclude the Catholic line of the House of Stuart from the succession. She was the nearest descendent of James I-VI that was Protestant. However, she never became Queen of Great Britain, She died on May 28, 1714 at the age of 83….it was her son, George-Louis’ 54th birthday. The Electress Sophia had collapsed in the gardens at Herrenhausen after rushing to shelter from a shower of rain. George-Louis was now Queen Anne’s heir presumptive.

Queen Anne herself shortly thereafter suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, and she died on August 1, 1714. Elector George-Louis of Hanover was proclaimed King of Great Britain and Ireland. Instead of being King George-Louis of Great Britain the name Louis was dropped from his official name and title in Great Britain.

Stay Tuned next week for part III.