[Perillos]

Are you referring to the Treaty of Utrecht? Louis' grandsons were closer relatives (grandnephews) to the deceased Carlos II of Spain than the Habsburg Archduke Karl, who was a very distant cousin. The Spanish succession laws did not disqualify female inheritance, so the descendants of Marie-Therese, daughter of Felipe IV and consort of Louis XIV were eligible to succeed as closest heirs. The Dauphin and his eldest son the Duc de Bourgogne were the heir-apparent and heir-presumptive of France, so the claim was passed to the third in line in terms of hereditary primogeniture - Philippe, Duc d'Anjou. The French just had to fight a long and costly war in order to secure his rightful succession against the Habsburg usurper.

The terms of the Treaty of Utrecht stated only that one king could not wear both crowns - those of France and Spain - simultaneously. In fact, when it looked as though the infant Louis XV might not survive a life-threatening illness, Felipe V did abdicate the throne of Spain in favor of his son Luis in anticipation of assuming the throne of France. Louis XV recovered, and shortly thereafter Luis of Spain died, whereupon his father reclaimed the Spanish throne. The Treaty of Utrecht, contrary to what the Orléans princes have claimed since 1883, did not compel Felipe V of Spain or his descendants to renounce their claims to France, and they were never written out of the Almanachs du Cour before 1830 (when Louis-Philippe of Orléans usurped the throne) or superceded in the line of succession by the cadet line of Orléans.

And I'm not sure who you are referring to as the Duc de Berry, who was assassinated in 1820 and was the father of the future Henri V. I suspect you are referring here to Henri V by his childhood title, Duc de Bordeaux, which he shed upon becoming Head of the Royal House of France and was subsequently styled "Comte de Chambord" in exile. If this is the case, then the answer is no - Henri V specifically and pointedly did not recognize the Orléans princes as successors. In his will, Henri left his personal effects to his nephew, Robert, Duke of Parma, while he left the symbols of royal authority in his possession, the Collars of the Ordres du Roi, to the new "Ainé des Capetiens" - Carlos, the Duke of Madrid. The Orléans princes have never been able to produce a single shred of evidence to support their contention that Henri V regarded them as next in the order of succession; had he done so, he would have left the Collars to the Comte de Paris instead. At Henri's funeral, the Orléans princes were not given the place of honor in the chapel, but were instead placed behind all the other branches of the House of Bourbon (Spain, Two Sicilies, and Parma). Had Henri recognized the Comte de Paris as his successor, he would have been given the place of honor. As it was, the Comte de Paris presumptuously announced Henri's death to the European courts, assuming a function that was not his to carry out.

The only advantage the Orléans princes has to advance their claims is the support of a majority of French monarchists who prefer them because they have lived in France since 1950. In terms of legal rights, they have none. Time and time again they have tried to assert their rights while denying the rights of the elder line in French courts, and each time they have failed.

"L'Ainé des Capetiens c'est le roi de France..."