The Life of Prince Henri d’Orléans, Count of Paris, Pretender to the Throne of France

Henri d'Orleans, Comte de Paris. Image from Wikimedia Commons

France has long abolished monarchy, but the claimants to the throne has since held on to their title—and their hopes—that one day monarchy would be restored that one of them would be recognized as the rightful heir to the throne. The House of Orleans, had for almost two decades until his death, Prince Henri, Comte de Paris, as the Orleanist pretender to the throne.

Born on June 14, 1933 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Belgium, he was the first son of Henri, Comte de Paris, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza. An 1886 law exiled the heirs of the former ruling houses of France, the reason why Prince Henri was born in Belgium. In 1950, however, the said law was abolished and Henri and his family were able to return to France and reclaim their properties.  That same year, his father conferred him the title Comte de Clermont.

Marriage and Personal Life 

Prince Henri studied at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, a prestigious and influential school in the social sciences in France. He married Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg on July 5, 1957. The union produced five children: Princess Marie Isabelle of France (born 1959), who married Prince Gundakar of Liechtenstein; Prince François, Count of Clermont (1961-2017); Princess Blanche Elisabeth (born 1963), and Prince Jean Charles, Duke de Vendome (born 1965;  Prince Eudes Thibaut, Duke d’Angoulême (born 1968).

Prince Henri and Marie-Thérèse divorced in 1984. On October 31 of the same year, he married Micaëla Anna María Cousiño y Quiñones de León in a civil marriage, which caused him to be temporarily disinherited by his father for remarrying without consent. They eventually reconciled and the Count of Paris eventually restored his titles which was previously stripped from him. After the annulment of his marriage to Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg was finalized in 2009, Henri remarried Micaëla Cousiño in the Catholic Church in the same year.

Prince Henri and his father Monseigneur the Count of Paris boycotted the wedding of the former’s daughter, Marie, after their names were left out in the invitation sent by Henri’s former wife, now the Duchess of Montpensier.


Career

Prince Henri embarked on a career in the military, serving as member of the French Foreign Legion at the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security from October 1959 to April 1962. He was later transferred to Germany and also served as a military instructor at Bonifacio in Corsica, where he was joined by his wife and children.

After his return to civilian life in 1967, he spent his time painting and writing numerous books. He also launched his own perfume brand.

Claimant to the Throne of France 

Henri succeeded as royal claimant and became the head of the House of Orléans following the death of Monseigneur the Count of Paris on June 19, 1999. He was the great-great-great-grandson of Louis-Philippe, dubbed as the Citizen King, who reigned from 1830 until he was deposed in 1848.
Henri took the traditional title Comte de Paris and the ancient title Duke of France after his father’s death. He also reinstated the succession rights of his siblings Michel, Count of Évreux, and Thibaut, Count of La Marche after their father revoked their rights to the throne after Thibaut married a commoner and Michel married a noblewoman sans permission.

Henri also conferred his disabled eldest son, François, the title Count of Clermont, and recognized and declared him as heir who would exercise his prerogatives as head of the dynasty under a regency of his middle son, Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme. When François passed away on December 30, 2017, Prince Jean became the Dauphin of France.


Inheritance Issues

A report from The Telegraph that Henri’s father “died in almost ostentatious poverty, at home in the poky suburban house he shared with his mistress, a former nurse." When the old count came into his own father’s fortune, he was considered the largest landowner of France, inheriting the family chateau in Amboise, as well as precious jewels, paintings and furniture. He squandered wealth (formerly worth over £40 million) , leaving Henri and his siblings very little money.  In 1993,  seven of the late count’s surviving children had taken him to court to prevent him from selling the family's silver.  They also sought a court order to stop him from selling furniture and jewels, worth more than $3.6 million, at a Sotheby's auction.

With little left of what was once a vast legacy from the time of King Louis-Philippe, Henri had no choice but to swallow his pride and use his name and heritage for commercial purposes, including the sale of several lines of perfume.

Henri, Count of Paris, Duke of France, died on January 21, 2019 in Dreux, France. He was 85 years old.