Lauffeld in July. Although this was a decisive French victory that effectively ended the War of the Austrian Succession, his troops' disciplined fire helped the Pragmatic Army make an orderly retreat. After the war ended with the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, he was sent to Paris as Ambassador, where he was a great success, entertaining on a lavish scale and sharing a mistress with Giacomo Casanova. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1750, then a Privy Counsellor the following year. Albemarle died aged 52 in Paris on 22 December 1754, returning home from a pre-Christmas supper; he was buried on 21 February 1755 in Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street in London. When his long-term colleague and friend John Huske died in 1761, he instructed his coffin be placed next to that of Albemarle. Notoriously extravagant, he died leaving nothing but debts, although his sons had successful careers; in 1740, Augustus Keppel participated in Anson's capture of the Manila galleon, which made the officers wealthy men in their own right. In her biography of Madame de Pompadour, the writer Nancy Mitford remarks that given his love of all things French, it was a blessing Albemarle died before the Seven Years' War broke out. She records that the French admired his love of life and wit; when a rapacious mistress admired the beauty of the stars, he replied that unfortunately, he was unable to buy them for her. Notes References Sources Mitford, Nancy; Madame de Pompadour Hamish Hamilton, 1954 External links |- 1702 births 1754 deaths Colonial governors of Virginia Willem Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Knights of the Garter Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People from Westminster Willem van Keppel, 3rd British Army lieutenant generals British Life Guards officers Coldstream Guards officers 29th Regiment of Foot officers Worcestershire Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 Diplomatic peers British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Ambassadors of Great Britain to France Grooms of the Stool Court of George II of Great Britain Military personnel from London