He was unable to break through Ferdinand of Brunswick's Anglo-German army and capture Hanover.

A possible bride was his first cousin, Mademoiselle du Maine, but a union never materialised.

From 1730, he was a lover of Duchess of Bouillon, wife of Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne, mother of the future Princess of Beauvau.

He raised his nephew Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé who was an orphan from 1741.

"He was a curious character: prince of the blood, abbé [of Saint-Germain-des-Prés], military officer, libertine, man of letters (or at least a member of the Academy), anti-Parlement, religious during his final years, he was one of the most striking examples (and one of the most amusing on certain days) and also one of the most shocking (although not at all odious), of the abuses and disparities pushed to scandal, under the Old Order, of pleasure and privilege."