Louis François Joseph de Bourbon or Louis François II, Prince of Conti (French pronunciation: [lwi fʁɑ̃swa ʒozɛf də buʁbɔ̃]; 1 September 1734 – 13 March 1814), was the last Prince of Conti, scion of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, whose senior branches ruled France until 1848.
Louis was the only child of his parents and lived a secluded childhood at his father's chateau, after the death of his mother in 1736. He later married his first cousin, with the union producing no children. During the French Revolution he stayed in France until 1797 when he was exiled to Spain where he died in 1814, less than a month before his family were restored to the throne of France; with his death the house of Bourbon-Conti became extinct.
Biography
Born at the Hôtel de Conti (quai Conti) in Paris, on 1 September 1734, and baptised in the presence of the French king and queen, he succeeded his father, Louis François I de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, as head of the most junior branch of the House of Bourbon in 1776. His mother was Louise Diane d'Orléans, youngest daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France during the minority of King Louis XV.
From birth, he was known as the comte de La Marche. His mother died on 26 September 1736, giving birth to a later child who did not survive. After her death, his father retired from the Royal court to the Château de L'Isle-Adam, pursuing his love of hunting, although he would later emerge to have a distinguished military career.
On 17 May 1750, Louis François was made a knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit at Versailles. During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), he took part as a maréchal de camp in the Battle of Hastenbeck in July 1757, and in the Battle of Krefeld in June 1758.
He married his first cousin, Maria Fortunata d'Este, (1731–1803), fourth daughter of Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena and his wife, Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, who was his mother's older sister; as such, Louis François Joseph was the first cousin of Philippe Égalité, through his father.