He was born in Versailles. A pious, charitable and cultured prince, he took very little part in the politics of the time, although he was conspicuous for his hostility to Cardinal Dubois in 1723.
In 1730 Cardinal Fleury secured his dismissal from the position of colonel-general of the infantry, a post which he had held for nine years; and retiring into private life, he spent his time mainly in translating the Psalms and the epistles of St Paul.
Having succeeded his father as duke of Orleans in 1723, he died in the abbey of St Genevieve in Paris.
His wife Augusta (d. 1726), daughter of Louis William, margrave of Baden, bore him an only son, Louis Philippe, who succeeded his father as duke of Orleans.