Marie de Bourbon was born in the château de Gaillon, in Gaillon (Eure department of France), in the former province of Normandy. At the age of two, she had been engaged to the second son of Henry IV of France, Nicolas Henri de France, Duke of Orléans, but he died at the age of four in 1611.
Her parents were Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse, Princess of Joinville and Duchess of Joyeuse in her own right. At the death of her father, in 1608, Marie became the Duchess of Montpensier in her own right. The Duchy was one of the oldest in France having been elevated from a County in 1539.
Marie was a descendant of John II of France, of the House of Valois and of Saint Louis.
Because of the Montpensier"s fortune, of which Marie was the only heiress, and despite the aversion shown by Gaston toward this arranged marriage, Louis XIII and Richelieu were determined the marriage would take place. From this union, the new ducal couple had one child:
Anne Marie Louise d"Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (Louvre, 29 May 1627 – Palais du Luxembourg, 3 April 1693), the future Grande Mademoiselle.
She was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis, north of Paris.
According to her daughter"s biographer, Vita Sackville-West, quoting a member of her husband"s household, A sadder wedding was never seen.
