December 23, 1910: Birth of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona

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Countess of Barcelona, Francisco Franco, House of Bourbon, House of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies, Infante Juan of Spain, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona (December 23, 1910 – January 2, 2000) was a Spanish noblewoman who married Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, the claimant to the Spanish throne.

María was born in Madrid, daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife, Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne.

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Countess of Barcelona

She was granted, at birth, the rank and precedence of an infanta of Spain, although not the actual use of the title itself, her own being Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Her family moved to Seville, when her father was made Captain General of that province. When the Second Spanish Republic forced them into exile, they lived in Cannes and later in Paris, where she studied art at the Louvre.

On January 14, 1935, at a party, in Rome, hosted by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy for the wedding next day of Infanta Beatriz of Spain, daughter of King Alfonso XIII, to Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi, she met the brother of the bride, her second cousin and future husband, the Infante Juan of Spain, fourth son and designated heir of Alfonso XIII and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Infante Juan became heir apparent to the defunct Spanish throne after the renunciations of his two older brothers, Infante Alfonso and infante Jaime, in 1933. To assert his claim to the throne, following his father’s death he used the title of Count of Barcelona, a sovereign title associated with the Spanish crown.

Marriage of Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona

They married in Rome on October 12, 1935. When her husband took up the title Count of Barcelona as a title of pretence on March 8, 1941, María became the Countess of Barcelona. They had four children.

Issue

1. Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (July 30, 1936 – January 8, 2020)

2. King Juan Carlos I of Spain (born January 5, 1938)

3. Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (born March 6, 1939)

4. Infante Alfonso of Spain (October 3, 1941 – March 29, 1956)

They lived in Cannes and Rome, and, with the outbreak of World War II, they moved to Lausanne to live with Infante Juan’s mother Queen Victoria Eugenie. Afterwards, they resided at Estoril, on the Portuguese Riviera.

Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona

When General Francisco Franco declared Spain a monarchy in 1947, he characterized it as a “restoration”. However, Franco was afraid that Juan would roll back the Spanish State because he favoured a constitutional monarchy, which would restore parliamentary democracy. As a result, in 1969, Franco passed over Juan in favour of Juan’s son, Juan Carlos, who Franco believed would be more likely to continue his dictatorship after his death.

In 1953, the Countess represented the Spanish Royal Family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

In 1976, one year after the monarchy was restored in Spain in the person of her son, Juan Carlos, they returned to Spain. She mediated between her son and her husband, estranged since Juan Carlos had been designated heir by Franco.

In 1977 Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, formally renounced his rights to the Spanish throne eight years after being displaced as recognised heir to the throne by Franco. In return, his son officially granted him the title of Count of Barcelona, which he had claimed for so long.

After his death in 1993, he was buried with honours due a king, under the name Juan III (his title if he had become king) in the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid.

The Countess of Barcelona broke her hip in 1982 and the left femur in 1985, which forced her to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She became a widow in 1993 with the death of her husband the Count of Barcelona.

The Countess of Barcelona was a fervid fan of bull fighting and of the Andalusian culture. In 1995, her granddaughter Infanta Elena married in Seville in part because the Countess’ love for the city.

The Countess of Barcelona died of a heart attack in the Royal Residence of La Mareta, in Lanzarote, where the royal family had gathered to celebrate the New Year. She was buried with the honors of a queen at the Royal Crypt of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, near Madrid.

October 17, 1779: Birth of Prince Louis Charles of Orléans, Count of Beaujolais

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Count of Beaujolais, Duke of Orleans, French Revolution, House of Bourbon, House of Orléans, King Louis Philippe of the French, Louis Charles of Orléans, Philippe Égalité, prince du sang (Prince of the Blood)

Louis Charles of Orléans, Count of Beaujolais (October 17, 1779 – May 30, 1808) Louis Charles was born at the Palais-Royal in Paris. He was the third and youngest son of Louis Philippe II of Orléans, Duke of Chartres, later Duke of Orléans as Philippe Égalité, and of his wife, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon.

Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon was the daughter of Louis Jean de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and Princess Maria Teresa d’Este. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre, Prince of Lamballe, Louise Marie Adélaïde became the wealthiest heiress in France prior to the French Revolution.

Louis Jean de Bourbon (1725 – 1793) was the son of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon and his wife Marie Victoire de Noailles. Louis Jean de Bourbon was therefore a grandson of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. From birth he was known as the Duke of Penthièvre.

As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, Louis Charles of Orléans, Count of Beaujolais was a prince du sang (Prince of the Blood). Louis Charles of Orléans, Count of Beaujolais was also the younger brother of King Louis Philippe I of the French.

In 1781 the Countess of Genlis was appointed to be the governess to Louis Charles and to his two older brothers Louis Philippe and Antoine. Two years later the abbé Mariottini, nephew of the apostolic nuncio to France was made his tutor, but he resigned in 1786 after a conflict with Madame de Genlis. Louis Charles was then tutored by the first chamberlain Barrois, before being assigned to the under-governor Lebrun in 1789.

In April 1793 Louis Charles was arrested with his father and imprisoned at Fort-Saint-Jean in Marseille. During his imprisonment he contracted tuberculosis, a condition which eventually caused his death. His father was executed in November 1793 but Louis Charles remained imprisoned until August 1796 when the Directory decided to exile him and his brother Antoine to Philadelphia. The French chargé d’affaires in Philadelphia settled upon Louis-Charles an annual pension of 15,000 francs.

In February 1797 Louis Charles and Antoine were joined in Philadelphia by their older brother Louis Philippe. Together they travelled to New York City and Boston, and as far north as Maine and as far south as Nashville.

In September 1797 Louis Charles and his brothers learnt that their mother had gone into exile in Spain, and so they decided to return to Europe. They went to New Orleans, planning to sail to Cuba and from there to Spain. The ship they took from New Orleans, however, was captured by a British warship in the Gulf of Mexico.

The British seized the three brothers, but took them to Havana anyway. Unable to find passage to Europe, the three brothers spent a year in Cuba, until they were unexpectedly expelled by the Spanish authorities. They sailed via the Bahamas to Nova Scotia. Eventually, the brothers sailed back to New York, and in January 1800, they arrived in England, where they settled at Twickenham outside London.

In September 1804 Louis Charles entered the Royal Navy, but his health did not allow him to continue a military career. In October he and his brothers went on a brief expedition to the French coast. They were fired upon by the French batteries at Boulogne but escaped without harm.

In 1808, in an attempt to improve Louis Charles’ health, his older brother Louis Philippe accompanied him on a voyage to Gibraltar, Sicily and Malta. The brothers were received at Casa Miari, a palace in the Maltese capital city Valletta.

Louis Charles, however, continued to deteriorate; he died of tuberculosis a fortnight after his arrival on the island. His funeral took place on June 3. Ten years later his body was buried on April 10, 1818 in St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. James Pradier designed and sculpted his tomb, a replica of which is at Dreux.

Louis Charles’ portrait was painted posthumously in 1818 by Albert Gregorius (now in the Palais Royal) and by Charles-Francois Phelippes (now in the Palais-Royal). Another portrait was painted in 1835 by Amédée Fauré (now at the Château d’Eu). There are copies of all three portraits in the Palace of Versailles.

September 16, 1824: Death of Louis XVIII, King of France and Navarre

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Emperor of the French, French Revolution, House of Bourbon, King Felipe V of Spain, King Louis XVIII of France and Navarre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Princess Marie Joséphine of Savoy, Queen of France and Navarre, The One Hundred Days

Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 – September 16, 1824) was King of France and Navarre from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in exile: during the French Revolution and the First French Empire (1804–1814), and during the Hundred Days.

Youth

Prince Louis Stanislas Xavier de Bourbon of France, styled Count of Provence from birth, was born on November 17, 1755 in the Palace of Versailles, a younger son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and his wife Maria Josepha of Saxony, daughter of Augustus III, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I and Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg).

Louis, Count of Provence was the grandson of the reigning King Louis XV. As a son of the Dauphin, he was a Fils de France. He was christened Louis Stanislas Xavier six months after his birth, in accordance with Bourbon family tradition, being nameless before his baptism.

By this act, he also became a Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit. The name of Louis was bestowed because it was typical of a Prince of France; Stanislas was chosen to honour his great-grandfather King Stanislaus I of Poland who was still alive at the time; and Xavier was chosen for Saint Francis Xavier, whom his mother’s family held as one of their patron saints.

King Louis XVIII of France and Navarre

At the time of his birth, Louis Stanislas was fourth in line to the throne of France, behind his father and his two elder brothers: Louis Joseph, Duke of Burgundy, and Louis Augusté, Duke of Berry. The former died in 1761, leaving Louis Augusté as heir to their father until the Dauphin’s own premature death in 1765.

The two deaths elevated Louis Stanislas to second in the line of succession, while his brother Louis Augusté acquired the title of Dauphin.

On April 16, 1771, Louis Stanislas was married by proxy to Princess Maria Giuseppina of Savoy. The in-person ceremony was conducted on May 14 at the Palace of Versailles. Marie Joséphine (as she was known in France) was a daughter of Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy (later King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia), and his wife Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain who was the youngest daughter of Felipe V of Spain and of his second wife Elisabeth Farnese.

A luxurious ball followed the wedding on May 20. Louis Stanislas found his wife repulsive; she was considered ugly, tedious, and ignorant of the customs of the court of Versailles. The marriage remained unconsummated for years. Biographers disagree about the reason.

The most common theories propose Louis Stanislas’ alleged impotence (according to biographer Antonia Fraser) or his unwillingness to sleep with his wife due to her poor personal hygiene. She never brushed her teeth, plucked her eyebrows, or used any perfumes. At the time of his marriage, Louis Stanislas was obese and waddled instead of walked. He never exercised and continued to eat enormous amounts of food.

Despite the fact that Louis Stanislas was not infatuated with his wife, he boasted that the two enjoyed vigorous conjugal relations – but such declarations were held in low esteem by courtiers at Versailles.

He also proclaimed his wife to be pregnant merely to spite Louis Augusté and his wife Marie Antoinette, who had not yet consummated their marriage. The Dauphin and Louis Stanislas did not enjoy a harmonious relationship and often quarrelled, as did their wives.

Louis Stanislas did impregnate his wife in 1774, having conquered his aversion. However, the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. A second pregnancy in 1781 also miscarried, and the marriage remained childless.

On September 21, 1792, the National Convention abolished the monarchy and deposed Louis XVI, who was later executed by guillotine. When his young nephew, nominally Louis XVII died in prison in June 1795, the Count of Provence proclaimed himself (titular) king under the name Louis XVIII.

Following the French Revolution and during the Napoleonic era, Louis XVIII lived in exile in Prussia, England, and Russia. When the Sixth Coalition finally defeated Napoleon in 1814, Louis XVIII was placed in what he, and the French royalists, considered his rightful position.

However, Napoleon escaped from his exile in Elba and restored his French Empire. Louis XVIII fled, and a Seventh Coalition declared war on the French Empire, defeated Napoleon again, and again restored Louis XVIII to the French throne.

Princess Marie Joséphine of Savoy, Queen of France and Navarre

Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade. The government of the Bourbon Restoration was a constitutional monarchy, unlike the Ancien Régime, which was absolutist. As a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIII’s royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814, France’s new constitution.

His return in 1815 led to a second wave of White Terror headed by the Ultra-royalist faction. The following year, Louis dissolved the unpopular parliament, referred to as the Chambre introuvable, giving rise to the liberal Doctrinaires. His reign was further marked by the formation of the Quintuple Alliance and a military intervention in Spain.

Death

Louis XVIII’s health began to fail in the spring of 1824. He was experiencing obesity, gout and gangrene, both dry and wet, in his legs and spine. Louis died on 16 September 16 1824 surrounded by the extended royal family and some government officials. Since didn’t have a son or heir hewas succeeded by his youngest brother, Prince Charles Philippe, the Count of Artois, as King Charles X of France and Navarre.

Louis XVIII had no children and was the last French monarch to die while still reigning, as Charles X (1824–1830) abdicated and both Louis Philippe I (1830–1848) and Napoleon III (1852–1870) were deposed.

Pretenders to the French Throne. Part III: Legitimists

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Comte de Chambord, Henri de Bourbon, House of Bourbon, House of Orléans, Legitimists, Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Philippe of Orleans, Pretenders to the French Throne, Spanish Bourbon

In the 1870s the rival Legitimist and Orléanist claimants agreed for the sake of restoration of the monarchy in France to end their rivalry. Philippe d’Orléans, Count of Paris and grandson of Louis Philippe I, accepted the prior claim to the throne of France by Prince Henri, Compte de Chambord.

The Comte de Chambord remained childless and therefore in turn acknowledged that Philippe d’Orléans would claim the right to succeed him as heir, and after his death many Legitimists accepted the descendants of Philippe d’Orléans as the rightful pretenders to the French throne and those that supported this plan became known as Unionists.

Proclamation of Felipe V as King of Spain in the Palace of Versailles on November 16, 1700

Those Legitimists who did not accept the Orléanist line as the successors of the Compte de Chambord argued that the renunciation of the French throne by Felipe V of Spain, second grandson of Louis XIV, was invalid and that in 1883 (when Chambord died childless) the throne passed by right to Felipe V’s heirs in the male-line.

In 1883, the senior male of the Spanish branch of Bourbons was Infante Juan, Count of Montizón. His father, Infante Carlos de Borbón, Count of Molina (second son of Carlos IV: grandson of Felipe V), had lost Spain’s throne in favor of his niece, the non-Salic heiress of his elder brother, Queen Isabella II of Spain, and his lineage became known as the Carlist pretenders in Spain.

Henri, Comte de Chambord

When the Carlist branch died out in 1936, the French claim was reunited with that of the Isabelline Spanish line through her grandson Alfonso XIII of Spain, who was also (officially) the grandson of her consort Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz (grandson Carlos IV via his third son, Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain) and was thus the most senior male-line descendant of Felipe V (although by that time Alfonso had been dethroned by the Second Spanish Republic).

The French and Spanish claims separated once again at Alfonso’s death as his eldest surviving son Infante Jaime, Prince of Asturias, renounced his claim to the Spanish throne due to physical disability and some years later asserted his claim to the French succession based on Legitimist principles.

The present French Legitimist claimant, Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, descends from Jaime while the present King Felipe VI of Spain is the grandson of Jamie’s younger brother, Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona.

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou

With the claimant to the French throne (Louis Alphonse) and the present King of Spain (Felipe VI) being two separate individuals this will be a significant point when discussing who has the better claim to the French throne between the Legitimists and Orléanist factions.

There are however some legitimists who have questioned the claims of all pretenders from Alfonso XIII onward, as it is commonly believed that his father, King Alfonso XII of Spain, was not the biological son of the Duke of Cadiz.

Francisco de Borbón y Escasany, 5th Duke of Seville

If true, this would mean that Francisco de Borbón y Escasany, 5th Duke of Seville (great-great grandson of Cádiz’s younger brother) is currently the true legitimist heir to the French throne. He would be considered King François III of France.

Pretenders to the French Throne. Part II: The End of a Dynasty

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French pretenders, House of Bourbon, July Revolution, King Charles X of France and Navarre, King Louis Philippe I of the French, King Louis XV of France and Navarre, Lieutenant général du royaume, Regent, Usurper

King Louis XV had ten legitimate children, but there were only two sons, only one of whom survived to adulthood, Louis, Dauphin of France. This did not help dispel the concerns about the future of the dynasty; should his male line fail, the succession would be disputed by a possible war of succession between the descendants of Felipe V of Spain and the House of Orléans descended from Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother of King Louis XIV.

The Dauphin Louis predeceased his father but left behind three sons, Louis Augusté, Duke of Berry, Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence and Charles Philippe, Count of Artois. The Duke of Berry succeeded his grandfather as King Louis XVI.

King Charles X of France and Navarre

Louis XVI would be the only French king to be executed, during the French Revolution. For the first time, the Capetian monarchy had been overthrown. The monarchy would be restored under his younger brother, Louis Stanislaus, Count of Provence, who took the name Louis XVIII in consideration of the dynastic seniority of his nephew, Louis, from 1793 to 1795 (the child never actually reigned but is counted as King Louis XVII).

Louis XVIII died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, as King Charles X. Louis XVIII is the last King of France to die while still being King.

Compelled by what he felt to be a growing, manipulative radicalism in the elected government, Charles felt that his primary duty was the guarantee of order and happiness in France and its people; not in political bipartisanship and the self-interpreted rights of implacable political enemies. He issued the Four Ordinances of Saint-Cloud, which were intended to quell the people of France.

However, the ordinances had the opposite effect of angering the French citizens. In Paris, a committee of the liberal opposition had drawn up and signed a petition in which, they asked for the ordonnances to be withdrawn; more surprising was their criticism “not of the King, but his ministers” – thereby disproving Charles X’s conviction that his liberal opponents were enemies of his dynasty.

Charles X considered the ordonnances vital to the safety and dignity of the French throne. Thus, he did not withdraw the ordonnances. This precipitated the July Revolution.

Louis Philippe I, King of the French

The July Revolution resulted in King Charles X of France and Navarre (1824-1830) being deposed. He unsuccessfully tried to abdicate the throne in favor of his eldest son, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême whom the Legitimist faction call King Louis XIX of France and Navarre. His tenure on the French throne was brief and never officially recognized. 30 minutes later Louis XIX abdicated his claim to the throne to his nephew Henri of Artois, Comte de Chambord.

The Comte de Chambord claimed the throne of France as Henri V until the Chamber of Deputies proclaimed his distant cousin, Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans as King of the French on August 9, 1830. The Legitimist faction view Louis Philippe as a usurper to the French throne and rightly so.

The National Assembly had at first named Louis Philippe, Lieutenant général du royaume, and he was to act as regent for the young King Henri V in the same role as his ancestor, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans played as regent to the young King Louis XV.

The National Assembly also gave him the responsibility to proclaim to the Chamber of Deputies his desire to have his cousin, Henri V, Count of Chambord, mount the French throne.

Louis Philippe failed to do this in an attempt to seize the throne for himself. This hesitation gave the Chamber of Deputies time to consider Louis Philippe in the role of king due to his liberal policies and his popularity with the general public.

Despite Louis Philippe being regent for the young Henri V, the Chamber of Deputies proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon. This coup which displaced the senior Bourbons was in direct violation of the Fundamental Laws of Succession to the French Crown.

Schedule for the Pretenders to the French throne series

Tags

House of Bourbon, Kings of france, Succession to the French Throne

From the Emperor’s Desk: Here is the schedule for the rest of the articles in this series on the Pretenders to the French throne.

Later today I will examine the end of the Bourbon Dynasty in France and the usurping of the throne by Louis Philippe Duke of Orléans.

Wednesday I will examine how Louis Alphonse de Bourbon claims the throne via the Spanish Bourbon line.

Thursday I will examine how Jean of Orléans, Comte de Paris claims the French throne via descent from Louis Philippe I King of the French.

On Friday I will conclude (hopefully) this series by examining the Laws that govern the succession to the French throne and will explore which of the two candidates has a better claim to the throne.

French Pretenders Part I: 2022

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Duke of Anjou, French pretenders, French Revolution, House of Bourbon, House of Bourbon -Orléans, Jean d'Orléans, Legitimists, Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Philip V of Spain, Treaty of Utrecht, War of the Spanish Succession

From the Emperor’s Desk: When I began this blog back in 2012 I initially wrote a series of articles on the various pretenders to vacant thrones of Europe. Many of these articles need an update so today I start with the pretenders to the vacant throne of France.

One of the most interesting battles for the claims to a vacant or non existent throne is that of France. The argument on who is the rightful heir to the French throne rests on the legality of the renunciation of rights to the French throne by King Felipe V of Spain (1700-1746) and his descendents at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714.

Felipe V of Spain (Philippe Duc d’Anjou) was born a French Prince of the Blood (Prince Du Sang) the second son of Louis the Grand Dauphin and a grandson of King Louis XIV of France and Navarre (1643-1715). Felipe V of Spain was also a maternal great-grandson of King Felipe III of Spain and Portugal (1598-1621) from whose descent he was appointed successor to the childless King Carlos II of Spain (1665-1700).

King Felipe V of Spain

King Louis XIV and his son and heir, The Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne held by his maternal uncle, King Carlos II. The great European powers would never accept a united France and Spain under the leadership of King Louis XIV of France.

However, since neither the Grand Dauphin nor his eldest son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from the succession to the French throne, King Carlos II of Spain named Prince Philippe de Bourbon, the Duke of Anjou as his heir-presumptive in his will. He ascended the Spanish throne in 1700 upon the death of Carlos II as King Felipe V of Spain.

What followed was the the 13-year War of the Spanish Succession, which continued until the Treaty of Utrecht forbade any future possibility of unifying the French and Spanish crowns while confirming the Duke of Anjou’s accession to the throne of Spain.

The treaty required King Felipe V of Spain to renounce his claim to the French throne, both for himself and his descendants, with reciprocal renunciations by French Bourbon Prince and Princesses to the Spanish throne, including Louis XIV’s nephew Philippe, Duke of Orléans. These renunciations became increasingly important after a series of deaths between 1712 and 1714 that left the five year old, Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, (the future King Louis XV ) as his great-grandfather’s heir.

Although the House of Bourbon still reigns in Spain, the French monarchy was abolished in 1848 with the abdication of Louis Philippe I, King of the French of the House of Bourbon-Orléans.

Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (King Louis XX of France)

After the death of Henri, Comte de Chambord in 1884, who died without an heir, the claim to the vacant throne of France has been contested between the descendants of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon and the descendants of Louis Philippe I, King of the French of the House of Bourbon-Orléans.

As previously mentioned, the arguments of which of these pretenders is the rightful heir to the French throne rests on the legality of the renunciations to the French and Spanish thrones by Spanish and French members of the House of Bourbon as outlined in the Treaty of Utrecht.

Today there are two claimants from the different lines of the House of Bourbon. The first is Prince Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou who is the senior male heir of Hugh Capét, King of the Franks (987-996). Louis Alphonse is also the senior descendant of King Louis XIV of France through the aforementioned King Felipe V of Spain.

Those that support the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon to the French throne are called Legitimist. According to the Legitimists, Louis Alphonse of Bourbon, Duke of Anjou is recognized as the rightful claimant to the French throne and is considered King Louis XX of France by his supporters.

Prince Jean of Orléans, Comte de Paris (King Jean IV of France)

The other claimant to the French throne is Prince Jean of Orléans, Comte de Paris and Duc de France. Prince Jean is a descendant of King Louis Philippe I (1830-1848), the last King of the French. Known as King Jean IV of France by his supporters and he is the current head of the Orléans line of the Bourbon dynasty.

August 26, 1850: Death of Louis Philippe I, King of the French

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Charles X of France, Comte de Neuilly, Duke of Orleans, French Revolution, General Assembly, Henri de Chambord, House of Bourbon, House of Bourbon -Orléans, July Monarchy, Louis Philippe I of the French, Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Regent, Revolution of 1848

Louis Philippe I (October 6, 1773 – August 26, 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France.

Early life

Louis Philippe was born in the Palais Royal, the residence of the Orléans family in Paris, to Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, who was the daughter of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and Princess Maria Teresa d’Este of Modena.

At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre, Prince of Lamballe, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon became the wealthiest heiress in France prior to the French Revolution. She was descended from Louis XIV of France through a legitimized line.

Louis Philippe I, King of the French

As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, Louis Philippe was a Prince of the Blood (Prince du sang), which entitled him the use of the style “Serene Highness“.

Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution to the Bourbon Restoration.

The elder branch of the House of Bourbon, to which the Kings of France belonged, deeply distrusted the intentions of the cadet Orléans branch, which would succeed to the throne of France should the senior branch die out. Louis Philippe’s father was exiled from the royal court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature and sciences emerging from the Enlightenment.

As Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wars, but broke with the Republic over its decision to execute King Louis XVI. He fled to Switzerland in 1793 after being connected with a plot to restore France’s monarchy. His father Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Égalité) fell under suspicion and was executed, and Louis Philippe remained in exile for 21 years until the Bourbon Restoration.

In 1808, Louis Philippe proposed to Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom. His Catholicism and the opposition of her mother Queen Charlotte (born a Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz) meant the Princess reluctantly declined the offer.

HRH The Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom and Hanover

In 1809, Louis Philippe married Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, daughter of King Ferdinand IV-III of Naples and Sicily and Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor Franz I

The ceremony was celebrated in Palermo November 25, 1809. The marriage was controversial because Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily’s mother, Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria, was a younger sister to Queen Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI.

HRH Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of the French

Louis Philippe’s father was considered to have a role in Marie Antoinette’s execution. Maria Carolina as the Queen of Naples was opposed to the match for this reason. She had been very close to her sister and devastated by her execution, but she had given her consent after Louis Philippe had convinced her that he was determined to compensate for the mistakes of his father, and after having agreed to answer all her questions regarding his father.

Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830)

After the abdication of Napoleon, Louis Philippe III, Duke of Orléans, returned to France during the reign of his fifth cousin Louis XVIII, at the time of the Bourbon Restoration. Louis Philippe had reconciled the Orléans family with Louis XVIII in exile, and was once more to be found in the elaborate royal court.

However, his resentment at the treatment of the Orléans family, the cadet branch of the House of Bourbon under the Ancien Régime, caused friction between him and Louis XVIII, and he openly sided with the liberal opposition.

Louis Philippe was on far friendlier terms with Louis XVIII’s brother and successor, Charles X, who acceded to the throne in 1824, and with whom he socialized. However, his opposition to the policies of Villèle and later of Jules de Polignac caused him to be viewed as a constant threat to the stability of Charles X’s government. This soon proved to be to his advantage.

King of the French (1830–1848)

1830, the July Revolution overthrew Charles X, who abdicated in favour of his son Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, who shortly abdicated in favour of his 10-year-old nephew, Henri, Duke of Bordeaux.

King Louis Philippe I of the French

Charles X named Louis Philippe Lieutenant général du royaume, and charged him to announce his desire to have his grandson succeed him to the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies. Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession.

As a consequence, because the chamber was aware of Louis Philippe’s liberal policies and of his popularity with the masses, they proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon. For the prior eleven days Louis Philippe had been acting as the regent for the young King Henri V his fifth cousin twice removed.

Maria Amalia, then Duchess of Orléans, with her son Ferdinand Philippe

Charles X and his family, including his grandson, went into exile in Britain. The young ex-king, the Duke of Bordeaux, who, in exile, took the title of Comte de Chambord, later became the pretender to the throne of France and was supported by the Legitimists.

Louis-Philippe was sworn in as King Louis Philippe I on August 9, 1830. Upon his accession to the throne, Louis Philippe assumed the title of King of the French – a title already adopted by Louis XVI in the short-lived Constitution of 1791. Linking the monarchy to a people instead of a territory (as the previous designation King of France and of Navarre) was aimed at undercutting the legitimist claims of Charles X and his family.

By an ordinance he signed on August 13, 1830, the new king defined the manner in which his children, as well as his “beloved” sister, would continue to bear the territorial designation of “Orléans” and the arms of Orléans, declared that his eldest son, as Prince Royal (not Dauphin), would bear the title Duke of Orléans, that the younger sons would continue to have their previous titles, and that his sister and daughters would only be styled Princesses of Orléans, not of France.

His ascent to the title of King of the French was seen as a betrayal by Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, and it ended their friendship.

In 1832, his daughter, Princess Louise-Marie, married the first ruler of Belgium, Leopold I, King of the Belgians. Their descendants include all subsequent Kings of the Belgians, as well as Empress Carlota of Mexico.

King Louis Philippe I of the French. The only French monarch to be photographed

On February 24, 1848, during the February 1848 Revolution, King Louis Philippe abdicated in favour of his nine-year-old grandson, Philippe, comte de Paris. If he had reigned he would have been King Philippe VII of France, although some sources list him as King Louis Philippe II of France.

Fearful of what had happened to the deposed Louis XVI, Louis Philippe quickly left Paris under disguise. Unlike Louis XVI, who attempted to escape France in extravagant transportation, he instead rode in an ordinary cab under the name of “Mr. Smith.” He fled to England and spent his final years incognito as the ‘Comte de Neuilly’.

The National Assembly of France initially planned to accept young Philippe as king, but the strong current of public opinion rejected that. On February 26 the Second Republic was proclaimed. Louis Napoléon Bonaparte was elected president on December 10, 1848; on December 2, 1851, he declared himself president for life and then Emperor Napoleon III in 1852.

Louis Philippe and his family remained in exile in Great Britain in Claremont, Surrey, though a plaque on Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, claims that he spent some time there, possibly due to a friendship with the Marquess of Bristol, who lived nearby at Ickworth House.

The royal couple spent some time by the sea at St. Leonards and later at the Marquess’s home in Brighton. Louis Philippe died at Claremont on August 26, 1850. He was first buried at St. Charles Borromeo Chapel in Weybridge, Surrey. In 1876, his remains and those of his wife were taken to France and buried at the Chapelle royale de Dreux, the Orléans family necropolis his mother had built in 1816, and which he had enlarged and embellished after her death.

August 19, 1777: Birth of Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies

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Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, Bourbon-Parma, Ferdinand IV-III, Ferdinand VII of Spain, House of Bourbon, Infanta María Isabella of Spain, King Francis I of the Two Sicilies, King of Naples and Sicily, Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VIII

Francis I of the Two Sicilies (August 19, 1777 – November 18, 1830) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830 and regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1806 to 1814.

Francis was born in Naples the son of Ferdinand IV-III, King of Naples and Sicily (future King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies) and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria, the thirteenth child of Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of Bohemia Hungry and Croatia Holy Roman Emperor Franz I. He was also the nephew of Archduchess Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic.

At the death of his older brother Charles, Duke of Calabria, Francis became the heir-apparent to the throne and Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the Neapolitan throne.

Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies

Later life

In 1796 Francis married his double first cousin Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, the tenth child and third daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain (Carlos III, King of Spain, King of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Amalia of Saxony). As double first cousins as they shared all their grandparents in common.

When she died from tuberculosis in 1801, he married his first cousin Infanta María Isabella of Spain, youngest daughter of King Carlos IV of Spain and his wife Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma.

After the Bourbon family fled from Naples to Sicily in 1806, Lord William Bentinck, the British resident, had drafted a new constitution along British and French lines. Ferdinand IV-III agreed to abdicate his thrones, with Francis being appointed regent in 1812.

On the abdication of Napoleon I, his father returned to Naples and suppressed the Sicilian constitution, incorporating his two kingdoms into that of the Two Sicilies (1816); Francis then assumed the revived title of duke of Calabria. While still heir apparent he professed liberal ideas, and on the outbreak of the revolution of 1820 he accepted the regency, apparently in a friendly spirit towards the new constitution.

On succeeding to the throne in 1825, however, he pursued a conservative course. He took little part in the government, which he left in the hands of favourites and police officials, and lived with his mistresses, surrounded by soldiers, ever in dread of assassination. During his reign the only revolutionary movement was the outbreak on the Cilento (1828), repressed by the Marquis Delcarretto, an ex-Liberal. He was, however, successful in having the Austrian occupation force withdrawn (1827), thereby relieving a large financial burden on the treasury.

Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria

During his reign, the Royal Order of Francis I was founded to reward civil merit.

In 1816, French ambassador Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas arranged with the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily for Marie-Caroline (daughter of King Francis I and his first wife) to marry Louis XVIII of France’s nephew, Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry. The marriage was held on 24 April 1816 in Naples. Caroline thus became Duchess de Berry; known as Madame de Berry in France.

Even though it was arranged, the marriage was happy, with Marie-Caroline and her husband living at the Élysée Palace in Paris which was given to them.

On 12 June 1819 in Madrid, Francis and María Isabella’s eldest daughter, 14-year-old Luisa Carlotta married her maternal uncle Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain. He was ten years older than Luisa Carlotta.

Queen María Isabella’s constant companion was her second daughter Maria Christina, who was as flirtatious as her mother. Maria Christina was already in her early twenties and her parents were eager to find a royal husband for her.

The opportunity came when María Isabella’s brother, Fernando VII of Spain, suddenly became a widower in May 1829. Queen María Isabella’s eldest daughter, now Infanta Luisa Carlota, quickly arranged the marriage between her sister and their uncle.

King Fernando VII of Spain invited his sister, Queen María Isabella and brother-in-law, King Francis I of the Two-Sicilies, to accompany their daughter to the wedding in Madrid.

Francis I’s was afflicted with gout and on declining health, but María Isabella was anxious to visit her native country after 27 years of absence. She convinced her husband to make the long trip to Spain. Their eldest son, Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria was left as regent during their absence.

Infanta María Isabella of Spain

Traveling by land, the royal party left for Spain on September 28, 1829. On their way, they visited Pope Pius VIII in Rome. In Grenoble, they met the Duchess of Berry, happy to see her parents after thirteen years. Once in Spain, the marriage was celebrated on January 25,1830.

On the way back, they were reunited once again with Marie-Caroline, the Duchess of Berry, who presented to them to her infant son, their grandson, Prince Henri, Duke of Bordeaux, at Chambord. María Isabella and her husband went to Paris, where they were entertained by King Charles X of France and Navarre. Henri of Bordeaux was later known as Henri, Comte de Chambord, Legitimists heir to the French throne.

In June, the King and Queen left for Genoa reaching Naples on July 30. After their return, the king’s health deteriorated rapidly. King Francis I died on November 8, 1830.

August 16, 1682: Birth of Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy & Dauphin of France

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Dauphin of France, Duke of Burgundy, House of Bourbon, Louis de Bourbon, Louis the Grand Dauphin, Louis XIV of France and Navarre, Louis XV of France and Navarre, Philippe II Duke of Orleans

Louis, Duke of Burgundy (August 16, 1682 – February 18, 1712), was the eldest son of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and Dauphine Maria Anna and grandson of the reigning King Louis XIV of France. He was known as the “Petit Dauphin” to distinguish him from his father, who died in April 1711, when the former became the official Dauphin of France. He never reigned, as he died in 1712 while his grandfather was still on the throne. Upon the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the Duke of Burgundy’s son became Louis XV.

Louis was born in the Palace of Versailles in 1682, the eldest son of the French Dauphin, Louis, who would later be called le Grand Dauphin, and his wife, Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, the eldest daughter of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy.

Her maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy and Christine Marie de Bourbon of France, the second daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, thus her husband the dauphin was her second cousin.

His father was the eldest son of the reigning king, Louis XIV and his wife Queen Maria Theresa of Spain born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of Felipe IV-III of Spain and Portugal and his wife Elisabeth de Bourbon of France daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici.

Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy & Dauphin of France

At birth, Prince Louis received the title of Duke of Burgundy (duc de Bourgogne). In addition, as the son of the Dauphin and grandson to the king, he was a fils de France and also second in the line of succession to his grandfather, Louis XIV, after his father.

Louis grew up with his younger brothers: Philippe, Duke of Anjou, who became King Felipe V of Spain; and Charles, Duke of Berry, under the supervision of the royal governess Louise de Prie. He lost his mother when he was eight. His father, viewed as lazy and dull, never played a major role in politics.

Marriage

At the age of 15, he was married to his second cousin, Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy and Anne Marie d’Orléans. She was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, and Henrietta of England, the youngest daughter of Charles I of England, who was the daughter of Henri IV of France and his wife Maria de Medici.

This match had been decided as part of the Treaty of Turin, which ended Franco-Savoyard conflicts during the Nine Years’ War. The wedding took place on December 7, 1697 at the Palace of Versailles.

Military career and politics

In 1702, at the age of 20, Louis was admitted by his grandfather King Louis XIV to the Conseil d’en haut (High Council), which was in charge of state secrets regarding religion, diplomacy and war. His father had been admitted only at the age of 30.

In 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Louis was given command of the army in Flanders, with the experienced soldier Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, serving under him. The uncertainty as to which of the two should truly command the army led to delays and the need to refer decisions to Louis XIV.

Continued indecision led to French inactivity as messages travelled between the front and Versailles; the Allies were then able to take the initiative. The culmination of this was the Battle of Oudenarde, where Louis’s mistaken choices and reluctance to support Vendôme led to a decisive defeat for the French.

In the aftermath of the defeat, his hesitation to relieve the Siege of Lille led to the loss of the city and thereby allowed the Allies to make their first incursions onto French soil.

Louis was influenced by the dévots and was surrounded by a circle of people known as the faction de Bourgogne, notably including his old tutor François Fénelon, his old governor Paul de Beauvilliers, Duke of Saint-Aignan and his brother-in-law Charles Honoré d’Albert, Duke of Chevreuse, as well as the renowned memorialist, Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon.

These high-ranking aristocrats sought a return to a monarchy less absolute and less centralised, with more powers granted to the individual provinces. Their view was that government should work through councils and intermediary organs between the king and the people.

These intermediary councils were to be made up not by commoners from the bourgeoisie (like the ministers appointed by Louis XIV) but by aristocrats who perceived themselves as the representatives of the people and would assist the king in governance and the exercise of power. Had Louis succeeded to the throne, he might have applied this concept of monarchy.

Death and legacy

Louis became Dauphin of France upon the death of his father in 1711. In February 1712, his wife contracted measles and died on February 12. Louis himself, who dearly loved his wife and who had stayed by her side throughout the fatal illness, caught the disease and died six days after her at the Château de Marly on February 18 aged 29. Both of his sons also became infected.

The elder son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Louis, Duke of Brittany, the latest in a series of Dauphins, succumbed on March 8, leaving his brother, the two-year-old Duke of Anjou, who was later to succeed to the throne as Louis XV.

As it was thought that the chances of survival of this frail child, now heir apparent to his seventy-three-year-old great grandfather, were minimal, a potential succession crisis loomed.

Moreover, overnight the broad hopes and squabbling of the aristocrats caused this system to fail, and it was soon abandoned in 1718 in favour of a return to absolute monarchy.