Biography

Excerpt: "Louis Philippe was born in 1773, eldest son of Louis Philippe de Bourbon-Orléans and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon. The dukes of Orléans were descended from Louis XIII of France and ranked as “princes of the blood”, second only in precedence to the immediate royal family.

Louis Philippe was well educated in the spirit of the Enlightenment by his tutor, the Countess of Genlis. Like his father, he was also very sympathetic to the spirit of the French Revolution, and in 1790 became a member of the Jacobin club. He served with the French army from 1791 until 1793 under Dumouriez, but both officers became increasingly concerned by the political direction taken in Paris and in 1793 decided to go over to the Austrians. This move precipitated the arrest of those members of the House of Orléans who had remained in France and led to the execution of his father in November 1793.

Louis Philippe spent a short time teaching in Switzerland and then some years travelling in Europe and the United States. In 1800, he returned to Europe and came to England, where the remaining members of the French royal family were living. In 1809 he married Marie-Amélie, daughter of the King of Naples. When the French monarchy was restored in 1814 under Louis XVIII, they were able to return to France.

During the Restoration, Louis Philippe consistently allied himself with the liberal opposition. In 1830, a revolution overthrew King Charles X and proclaimed Louis Philippe as king. In order to signify his own liberal values as well as a break with the traditional authoritarian style of the French monarchy, Louis Philippe adopted the title “King of the French” (rather than “King of France”). Over time, however, his popularity and support declined. An economic crisis in 1846/47 created national unrest and in 1848, his reign was ended by another revolution which established the short-lived 2nd Republic.

Louis Philippe withdrew to England, where he died in 1850 at Claremont in Surrey."