Charles-Philippe, Duke of Anjou

Prince Charles-Philippe Marie Louis d'Orléans, Petit-fils de France, Duke of Anjou, was born in Paris, France on March 3, 1973. He is the eldest of two sons of Prince Michel Joseph Benoît Marie d'Orléans, fils de France, comte d'Evreux, and his wife the former Béatrice Pasquier de Franclieu. His paternal grandfather was the late Henri, Count of Paris who was the Orléanist pretender to the French throne as Henry VI. As such, Charles-Philippe would have the status of petit-fils de France with the style of Royal Highness.

Title

On December 8, 2004, he received the title "duc d'Anjou" ("Duke of Anjou" in English) from his uncle Henri, Count of Paris and Duke of France, head of the House of Orléans and principal claimant to the French throne as Henry VII. There is some minor controversy in this title since it has traditionally been conferred upon heirs of the elder French line of the House of Bourbon (the Orléans line being a junior line of the House of Bourbon). The elder line became extinct upon the death of Henri, Comte de Chambord. Upon this event, many French legitimists transferred their loyalties from the elder line to the Orleans line as they were now the senior French branch.

However, a few legitimists refused to do so, arguing that the "traitorous behavior" of both Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (who voted for the execution of his cousin Louis XVI of France), and his son Louis-Philippe of France (who accepted the French throne after the deposing of his cousin Charles X of France), disqualified the House of Orleans from the succession. They transferred their support to the senior line heir of the Bourbons of Spain. Under this tradition, the current Duke of Anjou is HRH Prince Louis Alphonse de Bourbon he is legally known as Don Luiz Alfonso, a Prince of Spain. The Spanish Bourbons are descended from Philippe Duc d'Anjou, who became Philip V of Spain. a grandson of Louis XIV of France

Philippe V had succeeded Charles II of Spain, last monarch of Habsburg Spain. Philippe was a grandson of Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain. He had inherited rights to the Spanish throne through his grandmother. As part of the Treaty of Utrecht that ended the War of the Spanish Succession, the Habsburg claimants agreed to drop their claim on the Spanish throne in exchange for the Bourbon claimant renouncing all his claims to the French throne for himself and his descendants. Orleanists, and those Legitimists that transferred their allegiance to the House of Orleans argue therefore that the Spanish Bourbons are disqualified from claiming the French throne.

The anti-Orleans Legitimists however state that the renunciation was not valid. Prior to the conferral of this title upon Charles-Philippe, Juan Carlos I of Spain, was asked to express his agreement with this action on the part of his cousin, the Count of Paris. This, the King of Spain readily didFact|date=September 2007: However Legitimist supporters of the House of Bourbon reply that such assent is meaningless in that Juan Carlos has never recognized any "foreign" branch of royalty, other that of his own family, on Spanish soil.

The title of Duke of Anjou was conferred by King Louis XIV in 1710 on his great grandson Louis de France who later became King Louis XV, after his uncle Philippe who had held the title up until 1700 became King of Spain. It is beyond dispute, therefore, that as early as the future Louis XV's birth in 1710 both the Royal Families of France and Spain recognized that the title remained in the French branch of the House of Bourbon after Philipe de France, Duke of Anjou, became King of Spain in 1700. Furthermore, King Louis XVIII from birth also held the title of Duc d'Anjou in addition to that of Count of Provence.

Supporters of the present Spanish Boubon claimant seem to ignore the fact that Don Luiz de Bourbon is in fact a Spanish Prince, (grandson of the King of Spain's uncle and thus a member of his "own family" and not foreign) who would in fact be King of Spain had his grandfather not renounced his claims to the Spanish throne due to physical disability. The King of Spain has refused to acknowledge his cousin's claim to be the rightful King of Spain, and also his right to the title of Duc d'Anjou.

Order of St. Lazarus

In 2004, Prince Charles-Philippe was elected Grand Master of a branch of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, an Order of Chivalry that dates back to the 11th century Crusades. The Prince's leadership confers legitimacy as an Order under the protection of the House of Orléans in the tradition firmly established since the 13th century when The Order of St. Lazarus came under the protection of King Philippe le Bel. This Royal Protection continued over the ensuing centuries right up to the reign of the House of Orléans, the last of the French kings. The prince's controversial ascension as "Grand Master of the Order of Saint Lazarus" is disputed by those Knights who have remained loyal to his cousins Don Francisco de Borbon y Escasany, Duke of Sevilla (and present ly to Don Carlos Gereda de Borbon, Marquis de Almazàn) and Melchite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III, protector of the Order.

Charles-Philippe recently founded the St Lazare Foundation financed by the World Society, an international think tank whose mission, inspired by the Count of Paris, is to rationalise the problem of the planet's future needs for water.

Marriage

On June 21st, 2008, he married, in the Cathedral of Évora (a monument declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988), "Dona" Diana Álvares Pereira de Melo, 11th Duchess of Cadaval (Portuguese title) in her own right. Prince Charles Philippe is therefore also "de jure uxoris" Duke of Cadaval.

ee also

Members of the French Royal Families

External links

*http://www.ducdanjou.com Website of the duc d'Anjou
*Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France's official website: [http://www.maisonroyale.org Institut de la Maison Royale de France]
*http://www.saintlazarefoundation.org/
*http://www.saintlazare.org Website of the Ordre of Saint Lazarus
*http://www.st-lazarus.net/pariso/toronto2004/facts_events_frame.htm Account of the creation of the new Orleans Branch of the Order of St. Lazarus (2004)
*http://www.st-lazarus.net/international Website of the United Order of St. Lazarus
*http://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2007/09/10/french-royals-engage/