Princess, Countess. Maria Fortunata d'Este, daughter of Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena, and his wife Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, was born at the Ducal Palace of Modena. Her mother Charlotte was the granddaughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Her parents' marriage was not a happy one and they separated. The princess married her cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Count of La Marche. The proxy ceremony took place in Milan on February 7, 1759. The couple married in person on the 27th of that month. The unhappy marriage produced no children. In 1776, her father-in-law died, and her husband succeeded him as the Prince of Conti. The princess separated from her husband officially in 1777. She acquired the Château de Triel in 1780. During the French Revolution, she escaped from France under the name of the Countess of Triel. She moved several times during that period to avoid the violence. Eventually, she retired to the Convent of the Visitation in Venice. Maria Fortunata died there in 1803 and was interred in the convent's chapel. She was the last Princess of Conti.
Princess, Countess. Maria Fortunata d'Este, daughter of Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena, and his wife Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, was born at the Ducal Palace of Modena. Her mother Charlotte was the granddaughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Madame de Montespan. Her parents' marriage was not a happy one and they separated. The princess married her cousin Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Count of La Marche. The proxy ceremony took place in Milan on February 7, 1759. The couple married in person on the 27th of that month. The unhappy marriage produced no children. In 1776, her father-in-law died, and her husband succeeded him as the Prince of Conti. The princess separated from her husband officially in 1777. She acquired the Château de Triel in 1780. During the French Revolution, she escaped from France under the name of the Countess of Triel. She moved several times during that period to avoid the violence. Eventually, she retired to the Convent of the Visitation in Venice. Maria Fortunata died there in 1803 and was interred in the convent's chapel. She was the last Princess of Conti.
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