Born to Charles III, Duke of Elbeuf, and his second wife, Élisabeth de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of the Duke of Bouillon, member of the illustrious House of La Tour d'Auvergne.
His younger half sister Suzanne Henriette (1686–1710) married Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat in 1704.
In his youth he was not expected to succeed to the Duchy-Peerage of Elbeuf as his father had a son (another Charles, 1650–1690) from a previous marriage as well as his oldest full brother Henri Frédéric.
The two were married at the Château de Saint Germain en Laye[3] on 28 January 1677.
The duchy of Elbeuf went to his younger brother Emmanuel Maurice de Lorraine.