- Philippe, duc d'Orléans
Philippe, Duke of Orléans (
August 24 ,1869 -March 28 ,1926 ) was theOrléanist claimant to the throne ofFrance from 1894 to 1926.Early life
Philippe was born at
York House, Twickenham , the son of Philippe, Count of Paris, and of his wife,Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans . His family had lived inEngland since his great-grandfather Louis Philippe, King of the French abdicated and was exiled from France in 1848. Philippe was baptised with the names "Louis-Philippe-Robert".In 1871 Philippe returned with his parents to France. He was educated at home at the Château d'Eu and at the
Collège Stanislas de Paris . In 1880 he received the title "duc d'Orléans" from his father. OnJune 16 ,1881 , he received the sacrament ofconfirmation at Eu. ["The Times" (June 17 ,1881 ): 5.]Military career
Philippe began his military education at the
École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr . In June 1886 he was on the point of becoming an officer in theFrench Army when his family was once again exiled by the Republican government.Philippe finished his military education at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . He was attached for service to theKing's Royal Rifle Corps which was then serving inIndia . He never had an actual commission in theBritish Army , since it was necessary to avoid the French law forbidding a Frenchman to hold a commission in a foreign army without the permission of the head of state. He took rank as a lieutenant and served in India from January 1888 to March 1889. He was a staff-officer to Lord Roberts, then Commander-in-Chief in India.In October 1889 Philippe went to
Switzerland to complete a course in military theory. In February 1890 he visitedParis in violation of the law of exile of 1886. He offered to do his military service as required by law. Instead he was arrested and confined in theConciergerie . He was sentenced to two years in prison at Clairvaux, but was released after a few months and expelled back to Switzerland.Prior to his imprisonment in France, Philippe had been unofficially engaged to his first-cousin Princess Marguerite of Orléans. ["The Times" (May 28, 1889): 5, (May 31, 1889): 5.] The engagement was cancelled when Philippe's involvement with the Australian opera singer
Nellie Melba was revealed. Although they had lived apart for some years, Melba was married to Charles Nesbitt Armstrong. Armstrong filed for divorce from Melba on the grounds of adultery, naming Philippe as co-respondent; the case was eventually dropped. ["The Times" (November 5, 1891): 5, (November 6, 1891): 9, (February 20, 1892): 5, (February 17, 1892): 13, (March 12, 1892): 16, (March 14, 1892): 3, (March 24, 1892): 3.]In September 1890 Philippe accompanied his father on a two month trip to the
United States andCanada . They visited the battlefields of the Civil War in which his father had fought, as well asPhiladelphia ,Washington, D.C. ,Richmond, Virginia ,New York , andQuebec .In December 1890 Philippe tried unsuccessfully to serve in the Russian Army. ["The Times" (January 2, 1891): 7, (January 10, 1891): 5.] In March 1893 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society . ["The Times" (March 29, 1893): 9.]In March 1894 Philippe went to
Egypt andPalestine with his sister Hélène, Duchess of Aosta. Then he went lion shooting inEthiopia . In May 1894 he was attached to the Royal Bucks Hussars, ayeomanry regiment. ["The Times" (June 1, 1894): 10.]Claimant to the throne
Upon the death of his father
September 8 ,1894 , Philippe became the Orléanist claimant to the French throne. He was known to monarchists as Philippe VIII. He was an active claimant, regularly issuing manifestos and awarding orders of chivalry.In October 1895 Philippe was named as co-respondent in the divorce case of Woolston v Woolston. ["The Times" (October 29, 1895): 4, (November 5, 1895): 14.]
On
5 November 1896 inVienna, Austria , Philippe married Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria (14 June 1867 -6 April 1932 ), daughter ofArchduke Joseph Karl of Austria , Palatine of Hungary, and granddaughter ofDuchess Maria Dorothea of Württemberg . There were no children from this marriage. The couple were poorly matched; after several years they lived apart.Philippe continued to reside in England until 1900, when he moved his primary residence to
Belgium . He was an active yachtsman and explored parts of the western coast ofGreenland in 1905. In 1907 he sailed in theKara Sea north ofSiberia , and in 1909 went even further north into theArctic Ocean .In 1914 Philippe and his wife Maria Dorothea were legally separated. She subsequently lived in
Hungary .At the outbreak of
World War I Philippe tried again unsuccessfully to join the French Army. He was also refused permission to serve in theBelgian Army and instead returned to England. A plan to join theItalian Army was prevented by a serious accident in which he was knocked down by a bus.In 1926 Philippe died of
pneumonia at the Palais d'Orléans inPalermo ,Sicily . He was succeeded by his cousin and brother-in-law Jean, Duke of Guise.Publications
Philippe wrote a number of works based on his various travels:
* "Une expédition de chasse au Népaul". Paris: C. Lévy, 1892.
* "Une croisière au Spitzberg, yacht Maroussia, 1904". Paris: Imprimerie de Chaix, 1904.
* "Croisière océanographique: accomplie à bord de la Belgica dans la Mer du Grönland, 1905". Bruxelles: C. Bulens, 1907.
* "La revanche de la banquise: un été de dérive dans la mer de Kara, juin-septembre 1907". Paris: Plon-Nourrit, 1909.
* "Campagne Arctique de 1907". Bruxelles: C. Bulens, 1910-1912.
*"Hunters and Hunting in the Arctic". London: David Nutt, 1911. (published in French as "Chasses et chasseurs arctiques". Paris: Librairie Plon, 1929).
He also published a collection of the papers of his father and of the
Henri, comte de Chambord :* "La monarchie française: lettres et documents politiques (1844-1907)". Paris: Librairie nationale, 1907.
Ancestors
ahnentafel-compact5
style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
border=1
boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
1= 1. Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans
2= 2. Prince Philippe, Count of Paris
3= 3.Princess Marie Isabelle of Orléans
4= 4. Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans
5= 5. Duchess Helena of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
6= 6. Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier
7= 7. Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain
8= 8.Louis-Philippe of France
9= 9.Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies
10= 10. Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
11= 11. Princess Caroline of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
12= 12.Louis-Philippe of France (= 8)
13= 13.Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies (= 9)
14= 14.Ferdinand VII of Spain
15= 15.Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies
16= 16.Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
17= 17. Louise Marie Adélaïde of Bourbon-Penthièvre
18= 18.Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
19= 19.Marie Caroline of Austria
20= 20.Frederick Francis I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
21= 21. Princess Luise of Saxe-Gotha
22= 22.Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
23= 23. Princess Luise Auguste of Hesse-Darmstadt
24= 24.Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (= 16)
25= 25. Louise Marie Adélaïde of Bourbon-Penthièvre (= 17)
26= 26.Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies (= 18)
27= 27.Marie Caroline of Austria (= 19)
28= 28.Charles IV of Spain
29= 29.Maria Luisa of Parma
30= 30.Francis I of the Two Sicilies
31= 31.Maria Isabella of Spain Notes
Bibliography
* "Obituary: The Duke of Orleans". "The Times" (March 29, 1926): 9.
* "Death of the Duke of Orleans". "The Times" (March 29, 1926): 14.
* "French Pretender Ill With Pneumonia". "The New York Times" (March 28, 1926): 18.
* "French Pretender is Dead in Sicily". "The New York Times". (March 29, 1926): 1.
* "France Uncertain on New Pretender". "The New York Times". (March 30, 1926): 15.
* Philipps, R. Le Clerc. "French Pretender Had Little or No Support". "The New York Times". (April 4, 1926): XX6.
-
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.