Career
After having served in the Army, he was appointed in 1756 ambassador in Vienna, to emperor Francis I and to queen Maria Theresa of Hungary. In 1761, he was plenipotentiary to the Augsburg convention. He was Lieutenant general of the Armies.
In 1763, he was made duke of Praslin and peer of France.
He negotiated the peace that ended the Seven Years" War and was Louis XV"s plenipotentiary for the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris, which he signed, on 10 February 1763. During his term in office, he restorated the strength of the Navy, which had been severely damaged during the Seven Years" War.
He fell from grace in Louis XV"s court and withdrew from public affairs in 1770, at the height of the Falkland Crisis involving Britain and Spain. He was replaced at the Navy by abbé Terray.
His titles included marquis of Choiseul, count of Chevigny and of Louisiana Rivière, viscount of Melun and of Vaux, baron of Louisiana Flèche and of Giry, lord of Chassy.
He was made a knight of the order of the Holy Spirit on 1 January 1762. Praslin Island, one of the Seychelles, was named after him. The villages of Choiseul and Praslin in Saint Lucia are also named after him.