Rival Claimants to the French Throne 1: Ending 2020

[Denville]

Im sure that monarchists in France are a tiny minority. Its not going ot happen... unless there is some kind of coup.

 

[Katrianna]

It would have to truly be a miracle of all coups that the Monarchy would be restored in France. I know it won't be in my lifetime.

 

[Countessmeout]

Honestly almost nil chance. Restorations are very rare and usually restored from military coup (1st Greece, Spain, Cambodia). And the longer these defunct thrones go without restoration, less likely. In the Orleanist claim, since the 2nd republic we are on the 5th claimant. It has been 145 years, the chances of even a constitutional monarch are basically nil. The Romanians seem to be close, but the deposed king is alive. There is no gap, and even if restored under his child, will be like Spain, still a link. Greece and Bulgaria are the same, deposed still alive and a better chance than France but not likely.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Restorations are most unlikely. But even non-royal Houses can speak to imagination. See the media-frenzy around the new Duke of Westminster or the late Duchess of Alba. The time that nobles were in the Government, or were mighty warlords are far behind us. The interest remain. Often they still have a fabulous patrimonium. That is also the case with the Orléans family. Be it that the father of the current head was an extremely poor manager and almost lost everything this once dazzling wealthy family owned. What is left, is safely placed into the ownership of foundations. That does not make this family less fascinating.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

The claim of Don Luis Alfonso de Borbón y Martínez-Bordiú on the throne of France is opportunistic bullsh*t, with pardon for the ungentlemanlike word.

Had Luis-Alfonso's grandfather (the Infante Don Jaime) not renounced his rights to the throne of Spain for him and his descendants - the Infante was deaf and dumb - then Luis-Alfonso was King of Spain now.

Then Don Luis-Alfonso, Rey de España, of course had not contested the separation into the two Houses of Bourbon by the Treaty of Utrecht, to which he thanks the very own Spanish throne is his sitting on...

Only because Infante Don Jaime (uncle of King Juan Carlos) renounced his rights, the supporters suddenly conveniently forgot the separation of the two Houses and started to attack the Orléanist claim because their candidate was a direct descendant from Louis XIV while the Orléanist line is from Louis XIV's brother, the Duc d'Orléans.

It is only because of regret about the renunciation of the Infante Don Jaime and influenced by opportunists in the entourage, that suddenly the Spanish Infante, his Spanish son and his Spanish grandson developed aspirations in the direction of France.

Was Don Luis-Alfonso King of Spain now, then he would not have laid a claim on France. Like The Infante Don Juan (Conde de Barcelona), King Don Juan Carlos and King Don Felipe never ever did.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

How many royal houses are there in France with a claim to the defunct throne? If you can give me a post number with this info I would appreciate it.

 

[Somebody]

3 main claimants:
Legitimists/Bourbons with Luis Alfonso de Borbon, the duke of Anjou
Orleanists/Orleans with Henri d'Orleans, the count of Paris
Bonapartes with Jean-Christophe Napoleon, the prince Napoleon

This overview might help.

 

[Mbruno]

How many royal houses are there in France with a claim to the defunct throne? If you can give me a post number with this info I would appreciate it.

Based on agnatic primogeniture and religious tests only, the throne of France should be inherited by the most senior Roman Catholic and male descendant in paternal line of King Louis XIV. The first line among Louis XIV's descendants, which included Kings Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X became, however, extinct in male line in 1883 with the demise of the last direct agnatic descendant of Louis XV, Henri de Chambord. All remaining agnatic descendants of Louis XIV were/are then descendants of his grandson, Philippe d'Anjou, later King Philip V of Spain. Those lines include the Spanish Bourbons (who also currently occupy the throne of Spain), followed by the Houses of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Bourbon-Parma.


Under that order of succession, called Legitimist, the heir to the French throne is Louis Alphonse (Luis Alfonso) de Bourbon, self-styled Duke of Anjou, who is a descendant of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Although his line is more senior than that of the current King of Spain, D. Felipe VI, he is not King of Spain because his grandfather, Jaime, Duke of Segovia, second son of King Alfonso XIII, renounced his sucession rights (despite later retracting that renunciation), and his father, Alfonso, Duke of Cádiz, agreed to give up his claims in favor of the future King Juan Carlos I, Felipe's father (a rather complicated story, which is not relevant here).

Going back to France, the problem, however, with the Legitimist line is that, when Philippe d'Anjou became the first Bourbon King of Spain , there was a war, called the War of Spanish Succession, mostly between France/Spain on one side and Great Britain, the Holy Roman Empire (under Habsburg rule) and the Dutch Republic on the other side. That war was settled by a treaty called the Treaty of Utrecht, under which Philip V of Spain renounced all succession rights to the throne of France in his name and in the name of all his future descendants. The treaty was ratified, among others, by the Kings of France and Great Britain. If we assume the Treaty of Utrecht to be valid, then all currently living descendants of Louis XIV are legally excluded from the succession, which must then pass to the next collateral line, which would be the most senior remaining line of agnatic descendants of King Louis XIII who don't descend simultaneously from King Louis XIV. That would be the House of Orléans, who descends from the younger brother of Louis XIV (also an ancestor of the current Jacobite pretenders to the thrones of England and Scotland BTW).


Under that second line of succession, called Orléanist, the heir to throne would be the head of the House of Orléans, Henri, Count of Paris, who, in the "legitimist" line, would be otherwise only 80th in line. It must be noted, however, that, even if one doesn't accept the validity of the Treaty of Utrecht, there is an argument that, by accepting and retaining the throne of Spain and leaving France for 300 years , Philip V and his descendants incurred in a "flaw of foreignness" (vice de pérégrinité), which forefeited their dynastic claims to the French throne under the customary law of the Kingdom of France. Most sensible monarchists would agree then that the Orléans are the legitimate legal heirs to the French throne.



Finally, there is a third spurious group of pretenders to the French throne, called "Bonapartists", who claim to be the heirs to the dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, even though Napoleon doesn't actually have any direct living descendants today, and the current Bonapartist pretender, Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, actually descends from a younger brother of Napoleon, Jérôme Bonaparte. The Bonapartists don't actually claim the title of "King of France and Navarre" as the Legitimists, or "King of the French" as the Orléanists (a title briefly assumed by Louis Philippe of Orléans, later King Louis Philippe I, when he usurped the throne from the descendants of Louis XV under the French Revolution of 1830, being later deposed in 1848). Instead, they claim the title of "Emperor of the French", the designation of the head of the regime established by Napoleon Bonaparte after seizing control of the troubled French Republic in a coup d'État.



Since the entity known as the "French Empire" has no legitimacy under the laws of the Kingdom of France and the descendants of the Bonaparte family have no succession rights in that Kingdom, the Bonapartist line should be simply ignored by any bona fide monarchist.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Thank you mbruno and Somebody for the info. I've always found French royal history confusing and you helped a lot. I seem to recall that some in this thread were against d'Orléans branch because of the traitor Duke... Shouldn't the descendants get a pass because the traitor Duke got a visit from Queen Karma?

 

[JR76]

Since the entity known as the "French Empire" has no legitimacy under the laws of the Kingdom of France and the descendants of the Bonaparte family have no succession rights in that Kingdom, the Bonapartist line should be simply ignored by any bona fide monarchist.

There is no Kingdom of France. Technically it finally fell in 1830, was succeeded by the Kingdom of the French and by later republics and the Second Empire making it's laws regarding any legitimacy of the Bonaparte Empire obsolete by now. The Napoleons doesn't claim the throne of the Kingdom of France and does not to my knowledge make any pretence on reintroducing an Imperial system and are instead more devoted to maintain the Bonaparte legacy. As you stated somewhere in your post there's no living descendants of either of the two Napoleons although both left illegitimate descendants if I remember correctly. Quite ironically the current Prince Napoleon has multiple lines of descent from the Bourbons of France but none from the two emperors who's legacy he continues.

 

[maria-olivia]

President de Gaulle gave some hope to the Count of Paris. The Count of Paris organised at Dreux a glittering Wedding of his eldest Son Henri , le Dauphin, with Duchess Marie-Thérèse of Wurtenberg.
And general de Gaulle change his mind definitely.

 

[Mbruno]

There is no Kingdom of France. Technically it finally fell in 1830, was succeeded by the Kingdom of the French and by later republics and the Second Empire making it's laws regarding any legitimacy of the Bonaparte Empire obsolete by now. The Napoleons doesn't claim the throne of the Kingdom of France and does not to my knowledge make any pretence on reintroducing an Imperial system and are instead more devoted to maintain the Bonaparte legacy. As you stated somewhere in your post there's no living descendants of either of the two Napoleons although both left illegitimate descendants if I remember correctly. Quite ironically the current Prince Napoleon has multiple lines of descent from the Bourbons of France but none from the two emperors who's legacy he continues.

What I am saying is that , if the monarchy were to be restored, then it would be logical to choose as King someone who had some plausible claim to the throne based on historic continuity with the previous regime. The Spanish constitution for example calls Juan Carlos the “heir to the historic dynasty”, which, considering the renunciations of his (now deceased) father and his uncle, is actually true.

The “ Prince Napoléon” is not, I think, a member of the historic dynasty or in the legitimist line of succession. There is no point then in considering him a plausible candidate to assume the throne if the monarchy were restored. People who support the Napoleonic claim are not monarchists. They are Bonapartists, who do not advocate the restoration of the Kingdom of France as monarchists do, but rather the restoration of the French Empire, which is a different regime that actually arose from the French Republic rather than from historic continuity with the French monarchy.

Should the Kingdom of France be restored, of course it would have to be so under a modern constitution, patterned for example after the present Spanish constitution. But installing any king other than the legitimate heir to the historic dynasty would be completely pointless.

 

[Furienna]

What I am saying is that , if the monarchy were to be restored, then it would be logical to choose as King someone who had some plausible claim to the throne based on historic continuity with the previous regime. The Spanish constitution for example calls Juan Carlos the “heir to the historic dynasty”, which, considering the renunciations of his (now deceased) father, and his uncle is actually true.

The “ Prince Napoléon” is not, I think, a member of the historic dynasty or in the legitimist line of succession. There is no point then in considering him a plausible candidate to assume the throne if the monarchy were restored. People who support the Napoleônica claim are not monarchists. They are bonapartists, who do not advocate the restoration of the Kingdom of France as monarchists do, but rather the restoration of the French Empire, which is a different regime that actually arise from the French Republic rather than from historic continuity with the French monarchy.

Should the Kingdom of France be restored, of course it would have to be so under a modern constitution, patterned for example after the present Spanish constitution. But installing any king other than the legitimate heir to the historic dynasty would be completely pointless.

Well, we do have the possibility that the French public would want a Bonapartist empire rather than a kingdom. But I would guess that most of them are content with having a republic anyway.

 

[QueenElizabeth2Fan]

Here's a quick question: What are the chances of the French Legitimists becoming monarchs of France, IF the French monarchy is restored?

 

[eya]

French News Agency, La Lettre Patriote opens a poll for the public to vote: who would be the most suitable to be on the French Throne if the monarchy restored. Among the French pretenders: Prince Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou , Prince Jean, Count of Paris and Prince Jean-Christoph, The Prince Napoléon.

https://lalettrepatriote.com/quel-p...france/?results=true&form_id=1090&render_id=0


With a big difference first is Prince Louis Alphonse!

 

[wyevale]

Whilst Paris burns one more [see Gilet Jaunes #xviii, yesterday], i'm not surprised SO many are disillusioned with the Republic, and am pleased the legitimate candidate is 'streets ahead'.

 

[Denville]

Here's a quick question: What are the chances of the French Legitimists becoming monarchs of France, IF the French monarchy is restored?

I'd say that the chance of the monarchy being restored are pretty much nil....

 

[Nico]

Here's a quick question: What are the chances of the French Legitimists becoming monarchs of France, IF the French monarchy is restored?

None. French people barely tolerate an elected Head of sate, so an unelected one is definitively out of the question ...

 

[Stefan]

None. French people barely tolerate an elected Head of sate, so an unelected one is definitively out of the question ...

But if the Head of State would be a representative Head of State with only limted powers like in Germany or Sweden. Would that not make a difference to the present and recent Presidents.

 

[Denville]

None. French people barely tolerate an elected Head of sate, so an unelected one is definitively out of the question ...

hmm reminds me of something in one of Nancy Mitfords novels.. It is about a French Upper class family In the 1950s. One of the old ladies from a noble family claims to want the King back.. but her nephew's English wife says that "like all upper class families they have a photo of the King but they wouldn't lift a finger to get him back.. " and that "my husband says the French hate all forms of authority equally..."

 

[Marengo]

Rival Claimants to the French Throne 1: Ending 2021

It's time to close this thread. You can find the new one here.