Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999)
| Prince Henri | |
|---|---|
| Count of Paris | |
 Henri d'Orléans, 1987. | |
| Orleanist pretender to the French throne | |
| Pretendence | 25 August 1940 – 19 June 1999 (58 years, 298 days) |
| Predecessor | Jean III |
| Successor | Henri VII |
| Spouse | Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza |
| Issue | Prince Isabelle Prince Henri, Count of Paris Princess Hélène Prince François Princess Anne, Duchess of Calabria Prince Diane, Duchess of Württemberg Prince Michel, Count of Evreux Prince Jacques, Duke of Orléans Princess Claude Princess Chantal Prince Thibaut, Count of La Marche |
| Father | Jean, Duke of Guise |
| Mother | Isabelle, Duchess of Guise |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris (Henri Robert Ferdinand Marie Louis Philippe d'Orléans; 5 July 1908 – 19 June 1999), also known with his commoner name as Henri d'Orléans, was the Orléanist claimant to the throne of France from 1940 until his death.
Early life
He was born at the castle of Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache in the Aisne department of France to Prince Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940) and his wife, Princess Isabelle of Orléans (1878-1961). He grew up in Morocco and attended the University of Louvain. In 1926, he became the Dauphin of France in pretence after his father became the Orléanist claimant to the throne.
Duties
In 1939, after being refused admission to both the French Armed Forces and the British Armed Forces, Henri was allowed to join the French Foreign Legion. In 1950, after the law of exile was rescinded, he returned to France.
Marriage and family life
On 8 April 1931, he married Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza. They were the parents of eleven children and separated in 1986.
During his tenure as pretender to the throne, Henri dissipated the majority of his family's great wealth, selling off family jewels, paintings, furniture and properties to support his political cause and large family, as well as establishments in Belgium, North Africa, Brazil, Portugal and France. The family château at Amboise now belongs to a trust he created. Conflict over the diversion of the family wealth (formerly worth over £40 million) led to court conflicts between him and five of his children, some of whom he unilaterally disinherited.
In 1984, Henri declared that his son, Prince Henri, had lost his rights of inheritance because he had divorced his first wife and married a second time, outside of the Roman Catholic Church, as non-Catholic marriages are not recognised by French royalists. Henri gave his son the lesser-valued title comte de Mortain in place of comte de Clermont, and removed him from the line of succession. After a couple of years, Henri reinstated his son with his previous titles, including reestablishing him as heir and gave his new wife, Micaela Cousiño Quinones de Leon, the title "princesse de Joinville".
Henri also disinherited his sons Michel and Thibaut from their rights to the throne, because one married a commoner and the other married non-royal nobility. This decision was later annulled by his son and successor, Henri. Henri's actions over inheritance were never recognised by a number of French royalists who considered it impossible for a head of the royal house to unilaterally disinherit any member of his family, thus in effect these decisions carried little weight.
He died of prostate cancer at Cherisy, near Dreux, France.
Children
Henri, Count of Paris and his wife Isabelle had eleven children:
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Princess Isabelle Marie Laure Victoire | 8 April 1932 | married Friedrich Karl, Count of Schönborn-Buchheim; has issue. | |
| Prince Henri Philippe Pierre Marie | 14 June 1933 | married Duchess Marie Thérèse of Württemberg; has issue. | |
| Princess Hélène Astrid Léopoldine Marie[1] | 17 September 1934[1] | married Count Evrard de Limburg Stirum; has issue. | |
| Prince François Gaston Michel Marie, Duc d'Orléans | 15 August 1935 | 11 October 1960 (aged 25) | |
| Princess Anne Maruerite Brigitte Marie | 4 December 1938[2] | married Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria; has issue. | |
| Princess Diane Françoise Marie | 24 March 1940 | married Carl, Duke of Württemberg. | |
| Prince Michel Joseph Benoît Marie | 25 June 1941 | married Béatrice Pasquier de Franclieu; has issue. | |
| Prince Jacques Jean Yaroslaw Marie, Duc d'Orléans | 25 June 1941 | married Gersende de Sabran-Pontevès; has issue. | |
| Princess Claude Marie Agnès Catherine | 11 December 1943 | married Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta; has issue. | |
| Princess Jeanne de Chantal Alice Clothilde Marie | 9 January 1946 | married Baron François Xavier de Sambucy de Sorgue; has issue. | |
| Prince Thibaut Louis Denis Humbert | 20 January 1948 | 23 March 1983 (aged 35) | married Marion Gordon-Orr; has issue. |
Ancestry
Multiple descent from Louis-Philippe
Henri's three great-grandfathers (Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans is a double great-grandfather) were sons of King Louis-Philippe, making Henri a quadruple great-great-grandson of the King, as well as being the grandson of four members of the House of Orléans. Henri's wife, Isabelle, was also a great-great-grandchild of Louis-Philippe (in the male line) and therefore their children are descended from Louis-Philippe five times as great-great-great-grandchildren.
References
Sources
- Franck Hériot, Laurent Chabrun, La fortune engloutie des Orléans, Plon, 2005. [ISBN 2-259-19843-0]
- http://www.royaltymonarchy.com/genealogy/orleans.html
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*Orléanist pretender from 1848-1873 as Louis Philippe II | ||
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^never styled Prince of Orléans | ||