Of the old House of de La Tour d'Auvergne it was the younger branch that survived into the Ancien Regime of Versailles.The head of the younger branch was Godefroy Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne who was made the first Duc de Bouillon in 1678. Besides this - and several other titles - the family of de La Tour d'Auvergne was recognised as Foreign Princes at court which ensured them a considerable status at court.
Godefroy Maurice had married into the Mazarin family when he married Marie Anne Mancini, a niece of Cardinal Mazarin while Godefroy's younger brother married a Dutch noblewoman and spent most of his time in the Netherlands where he was a successful general. The son of Godefroy Maurice and Marie Anne was Louis de La Tour d'Auvergne who married into the House of Ventadour and would have inherited the title of Duc de Bouillon if he had not died before his parents. The title then passed on to their second eldest son Emmanuel Théodose.
The family's status was further enhanced when the grandson of Godefroy Maurice, Charles Godefroy, married Maria Karolina Sobieska who had royal blood in her veins as the granddaughter of the King of Poland. It was their daughter, Marie Louise Henriette Jeanne, who was famously involved in the affair of the Diamond Necklace and ended her life at the scaffold in 1793. She had been married to a member of the Rohan-family while her brother had married into the Lorraine-family.
Titles held by the House of de La Tour d'Auvergne:
Duc de Bouillon
Comte d'Évreux
Governor of Auvergne
Grand Chamberlain of France
Foreign Prince
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