Prince Of Cond Louis Henri

Notable

Family

French nobleman, the Prince of Condé from 1818 to his death, and the brother-in-law of Philippe Égalité and nephew of Victoire de Rohan. The line of Bourbon-Condé came to an end with Louis Henri II's death under suspicious circumstances in 1830, shortly after the July Revolution. He was the only son of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé and his wife, Charlotte de Rohan. 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. On 24 April 1770 in Versailles, he married Bathilde d'Orléans, only surviving daughter of Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and Louise Henriette de Bourbon. In 1772 their only son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, was born. 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 an 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 Queen Marie-Antoinette, amongst others. In 1804, his son, the 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 de Condé. In 1830, Louis Henri tried to get away from his mistress Sophie Harris who had taken over his life. That summer, he returned to his home at St. Leu. There, he heard of the July Revolution. Sophia immediately set about to get him to recognize the new Orléans monarchy. When on the morning of 27 August 1830 he was found dead with a rope around his neck but his feet on the ground, the baroness was suspected and an inquiry was held which formally declared the death to be a suicide. There were rumours that the new King of the French, Louis-Philippe, had collaborated with Sophie in the crime as they feared that she and Louis Phillippe's son Aumale - the testamentary heirs of Condé - might be desinherited by the Prince after a possible flight abroad. Later, rumours circulated amongst the nobility that Condé had died pleasuring himself, engaged in what would later be known as autoerotic asphyxiation. Link to Wikipedia biography