Background
Marie Louise was the only daughter of Jules de Rohan, Prince of Soubise and Anne Julie de Melun.
Marie Louise was the only daughter of Jules de Rohan, Prince of Soubise and Anne Julie de Melun.
She was the sister of Charles, Prince of Soubise. Marie Louise"s niece was Charlotte, princesse de Condé. On 4 June 1736, Marie Louise married the widow of Gaston Jean Baptiste de Lorraine, Count of Marsan and Walhaim, (1721–1743).
Afterwards, she led a pious and reserved life.
The couple had no surviving children. As a widow, she took Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier as a lover.
He was the physician to Louis XV. Her husband was the brother of Louise de Lorraine, Duchess of Bouillon. Royal governess Her great-grandmother, Madame de Ventadour, was the governess of the children of Louis de France, Duke of Burgundy, including Louis XV, and then the children of Louis XV himself.
When Madame de Tallard died in 1754, Marie Louise was appointed to her aunt"s position as royal governess and took over the care of Louis XV"s ten children.
Her favorite charge was the Count of Provence. He in turn called her ma chère petite chère amie. She remained in her position until 1776, when there was a mass exodus of older nobles from the court because of Queen Marie Antoinette"s disdain for formal court etiquette.
In 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution, Marie Louise fled France.
She left behind her superb hôtel on the rue Neuve Saint Augustine in Paris. She died in Regensburg in exile at the age of 83.
Titles and styles 7 January 1720 – 4 June 1736 Her Highness Mademoiselle de Soubise 4 June 1736 – 2 May 1743 Her Highness the Countess of Marsan 2 May 1743 – 4 March 1803 Her Highness the Dowager Countess of Marsan.
Since 1727, the position of royal governess had been held by some female member of Madame de Marsan"s family.