Bio

The princesse (b. 1574) is the sister of the duc de Guise. As a young woman she was pursued as a mistress by the roguish King Henri IV. In 1605 she became the second wife of François de Bourbon, prince de Conti, a prince of the blood and twenty years her senior. In 1610 she gave birth to a daughter, but the child died mere weeks after she was born and in 1614, she was followed by her father, the prince, leaving Louise-Marguerite a widow.

The princesse is a lady-in-waiting to Marie de’ Medici and the two women are close friends and confidants. The princesse is also close to the Marshal BassompierreFrançois de Bassompierre, marquis d’Haroué, and the two would marry but the king will not countenance it due to the difference in rank between the princesse of the blood and the marquis.