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Head of the House of Bourbon: the Legitimist and Orléanist question
France has had no king since 1848 [1]. Two princes now present themselves as head of the royal house of France:
- Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, for the Legitimists [1][2];
- Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris, for the Orléanists [1][3].
GOTHA takes no side. We set out each position as its supporters state it, with sources. Both princes' websites are parties to the dispute, and we label them as such.
Where the disagreement began
In 1830 the July Revolution overthrew Charles X, the last king of the senior line. Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, head of the cadet Orléans branch descended from Louis XIV's brother, was proclaimed King of the French on 7 August 1830 [1]. Some royalists, the Legitimists, refused to recognise the Orléanist monarchy [1]. The July Monarchy was overthrown by the Revolution of 1848 [1].
To the Legitimists, Charles X was followed by his son, proclaimed Louis XIX (a title that was never formally recognised), and then by his grandson Henri, Count of Chambord, proclaimed Henry V by some [1]. Chambord's line became extinct in 1883 [1]. The two camps divide over what followed his death without children.
The Legitimist position: Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou
Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, was born in Madrid on 25 April 1974 [2]. He descends from Louis XIV through Louis XIV's grandson Philip V of Spain [2]. He has been the Legitimist claimant since 30 January 1989, when his father died [2]. He married María Margarita Vargas Santaella on 5 November 2004 [2].
His house website calls him "Chef de la Maison de Bourbon" and the "aîné des Capétiens", the senior Capetian [4]. It states that the upheavals of 1789 and the nineteenth century interrupted the exercise of royal power "but not dynastic transmission", and that "since 1830 the devolution of the Crown continues according to the Fundamental Laws" [4]. The site also reproduces his statement of 25 April 1992, the day he came of age. In it he said he took on the mission of embodying the royal tradition "as the senior member and Head of the House of Bourbon" [4].
The Orléanist position: Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris
Jean d'Orléans was born on 19 May 1965 in Boulogne-Billancourt. His house website calls him "head of the Royal House of France", with the title Count of Paris [5]. He has been the Orléanist claimant since 21 January 2019, succeeding his father, Henri, Count of Paris [3]. According to the Orléans family's website, the house has been "the royal house of France since the death without issue in 1883 of Henri V, Count of Chambord" [6].
In 2009 he married Philomena de Tornos y Steinhart [5]. They have six children [5]: Gaston (2009), Antoinette (2012), Louise-Marguerite (2014), Joseph (2016), Jacinthe (2018) and Alphonse (2023). The order of succession the house publishes starts with Prince Gaston, styled "Dauphin of France", followed by Princes Joseph and Alphonse [7].
The arguments
The dispute turns on the descendants of Philip V. Philip V renounced the French throne under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The Orléanists argue that this renunciation, together with Louis Alphonse's birth as a Spanish citizen, makes him ineligible [2].
The usages set out by the House of Orléans require eligible princes to "descend from branches that remained French and have not reigned by inheritance over other countries" [7]. The same page says the crown passes "from eldest male to eldest male", and that the head of the house applies these usages "as they were in force until 1848" [7].
The Legitimists invoke the kingdom's Fundamental Laws and primogeniture: on their view the Duke of Anjou is the senior Capetian [4].
| Question | Legitimist position | Orléanist position | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claimant | Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou (since 1989) | Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris (since 2019) | [2][3] |
| Basis | Fundamental Laws; Capetian seniority | Branch that remained French; usages in force until 1848 | [4][7] |
| Utrecht renunciation (1713) | Not a bar (Legitimist view) | Excludes Philip V's descendants | [2][7] |
| Heir | Not stated in our sources | Prince Gaston, "Dauphin of France" | [7] |
What GOTHA does not say
GOTHA does not say which prince is the "rightful" head of the royal house of France. Both claimants' websites are parties to the dispute. We cite them as such and will update this page from their published statements. For the other branches (Spain, the Two Sicilies, Parma), see our page on the Bourbon branches.
Licence: contains material adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). This article is released under the same licence. Primary and institutional sources are summarised or briefly quoted.