Philippe de France, Duke of Orléans was the brother of Louis XIV of France and the younger son of Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria.
A member of the House of Bourbon, he is the founder of the current House of Orléans. His heirs formed a junior collateral branch of the royal dynasty. They include the second duke, who governed France during the minority of Louis XV in the Regency era; one French monarch, Louis Philippe I; and the Orléanist pretenders to the French throne still flourishing in the 21st century. The accumulation of the vast wealth which the House of Orléans would possess and use to influence both politics and court life (until it was confiscated during the French Revolution) began with Philippe, a lifelong beneficiary of his brother's largesse.
He was originally known by the title "Duke of Anjou". In 1660, his paternal uncle, Gaston, Duke of Orléans, died. The dukedom of Orléans was an appanage traditionally conferred upon the younger brother of the French king whenever available. Philippe exchanged Anjou for Orléans. As a son of a French king, Philippe ranked as a fils de France, and as the king's younger brother, he was invariably referred to at court simply as Monsieur.
On 31 March 1661, he married his first cousin, Princess Henrietta of England, daughter of King Charles I of England, in the chapel of the Palais-Royal in Paris. Both were grandchildren of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. She was known at court as Madame, Henriette d'Angleterre (Henrietta of England) or affectionately as Minette and was a famed beauty. Philippe was said to have doted on Henriette for the first year of their marriage, but their relationship soon turned sour when she allegedly began an affair with the Count of Guiche[1] and went on to seek comfort from others. Philippe openly paraded his mignons in front of his wife and the whole court. Among them were Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche, known for his arrogance and good looks, the marquis de Châtillon, and his first lover Philip Julian Mancini. Meanwhile, Henriette proved to be very popular at court as a pretty, good-natured princess, much to Philippe's annoyance.
She soon attracted the attention of the King. In order to hide this attraction from the King's mother and wife, Henriette and Louis invented the story that he was constantly in Henriette's company in order to be close to one of her ladies-in-waiting, Louise de La Vallière. In time, Louis indeed fell in love with Louise and made her his mistress.
Reluctantly, and somewhat bitterly, Henriette stepped aside. She is said to have eventually taken one of her husband's earlier conquests, Armand de Gramont as a lover. This caused all sorts of arguments at the Palais Royal, where the Orléans lived. Despite this marital dissension, several children were born of their union. However, Henriette, known for her fragile and delicate health, had four miscarriages in the space of five years.[2] By the time of the birth of Anne Marie, the couple was notorious for the frequency of their quarrels at court and at home in the Palais-Royal.[1] After joining his brother Louis, the Queen, Mademoiselle, Madame de Montespan and Louise de La Vallière at a military campaign in northern France, the ducal couple returned to Saint-Cloud. It was there that the Duchess died at the age of twenty-six.
The death of the duchess on 30 June 1670 was popularly attributed to poison. The main suspects of this alleged crime were the Duke himself and the Chevalier de Lorraine. Although the duke may not have been involved, the enmity between Minette and the Chevalier de Lorraine was not a hidden truth. After an autopsy was performed, it was reported that Henrietta-Anne had died of peritonitis caused by an ulcer. During his marriage to Henriette-Anne, Philippe was heard to have said that he had loved her for fifteen days.
| Name of Descendant | Portrait | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriages | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 26, 1662 | February 12, 1689 | Daughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | Married to Charles II of Spain | No Issue | |||
| 2 | August 27, 1669 | August 26, 1728 | Daughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | Married to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia | 3 children, 2 daughters, 1 son |
| Name of Descendant | Portrait | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriage | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 6, 1685 | February 12, 1712 | Daughter of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Granddaughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | Married to Louis, Dauphin of France | 1 child, 1 son | |||
| 2 | August 17, 1688 | February 14, 1714 | Daughter of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Granddaughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | Married to Philip V of Spain | 2 Children, 2 sons | |||
| 3 | April 27, 1701 | February 20, 1773 | Son of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Grandson of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | 4 children, 2 sons, 2 daughters |
| Name of Descendant | Portrait /Coat of Arms | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriages | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | August 25, 1707 | August 31, 1724 | Son of Maria Louisa of Savoy and Philip V of Spain Grandson of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Grandson of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | No Issue | ||||
| 3 | September 23, 1713 | August 10, 1759 | Son of Maria Louisa of Savoy and Philip V of Spain Grandson of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Grandson of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | No Issue | ||||
| 4 | June 26, 1726 | October 16, 1796 | Son of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg Grandson of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Grandson of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | 9 children, 5 sons, 4 daughters | ||||
| 5 | 1728 | 1781 | Daughter of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg Granddaughter of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Granddaughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | unmarried | No issue | |||
| 6 | 1729 | 1767 | Daughter of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg Granddaughter of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Granddaughter of 'Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | unmarried, a nun | No issue | |||
| 7 | 1730 | 1801 | Daughter of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Polyxena Christina of Hesse-Rotenburg Granddaughter of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Granddaughter of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | unmarried | No issue | |||
| 8 | Benedetto Maria Maurizio of Savoy (Duke of Chablais and Marchese of Ivrea) | 1741 | 1808 | Son of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and Elisabeth Teresa of Lorraine Grandson of Anne Marie d'Orléans and Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia Great-Grandson of Philippe de France and Henrietta of England | No issue |
| Name of Descendant | Portrait | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriages | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 14, 1727 | December 6, 1759 | Daughter of Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska | 3 children, 2 daughters, 1 son | ||||
| 2 | 31 December 1741 | November 27, 1763 | Daughter of Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Parma and Philip, Duke of Parma | 1 child, 1 daughter | ||||
| 3 | March 20, 1762 | January 23, 1770 | Daughter of Isabella of Parma and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor | Unmarried | No Issue | |||
| 4 | January 20, 1751 | October 9, 1802 | Son of Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Parma and Philip, Duke of Parma | 4 children, 1 son, 3 daughters | ||||
| 5 | November 22, 1770 | March 1, 1804 | Daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria | 7 children, 3 sons, 4 daughters | ||||
| 6 | 5 July 1773 | 27 May 1803 | Son of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria | 2 children, 1 son, 1 daughter | ||||
| 7 | 28 November 1774 | 20 February 1841 | Daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Archduchess Marie Amalie of Austria. | Unmarried, a nun | No Issue | |||
| 8 | Charlotte of Parma | September 7, 1777 | 1812 | Daughter of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria | Unmarried, a nun | No Issue | ||
| 9 | December 9, 1751 | January 2, 1819 | Daughter of Louise Élisabeth, Duchess of Parma and Philip, Duke of Parma | 7 children, 3 sons, 4 daughters | ||||
| 10 | 25 April 1775 | 7 January 1830 | Daughter of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 8 children, 2 sons, 6 daughters | ||||
| 11 | January 9, 1779 | July 22, 1798 | Daughter of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | Stillborn son | ||||
| 12 | July 6, 1782 | March 13, 1824 | Daughter of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 2 children, 1 son, 1 daughter | ||||
| 13 | October 14, 1784 | September 29, 1833 | Son of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 2 children, 2 daughters | ||||
| 14 | March 29, 1788 | March 10, 1855 | Son of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 2 children, 2 sons | ||||
| 15 | June 6, 1789 | September 13, 1848 | Daughter of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 12 children, 6 sons, 6 daughters | ||||
| 16 | Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain | 10 March 1794 | 13 August 1865 | Son of Maria Luisa of Parma and Charles IV of Spain | 8 children, 4 sons, 4 daughters |
Philippe's confidante, Anna Gonzaga, Princess Palatine, arranged his second marriage to her husband's niece, Elisabeth Charlotte, the nineteen-year-old daughter of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine. Upon her arrival in France, "Liselotte" converted to Roman Catholicism, before the marriage ceremony.
The couple was married by proxy, in the cathedral Saint-Étienne at Metz, on 16 November 1671. The maréchal du Plessis-Praslin represented the Duke of Orléans. Philippe and Liselotte first met on the road between the towns of Châlons and Bellay.[3]
Whereas Philippe's first wife had been known for beauty, charm and wit, Liselotte lacked those graces. Some said that this lack explained why she fared better with her husband (who personally took charge of her toilette for public occasions) than did his first wife. They had his only surviving son.
Liselotte also became known for her brusque candor, upright character, lack of vanity, and prolific foreign correspondence about the daily routine and frequent scandals of Versailles. Her letters record how willingly she gave up sharing Philippe's bed at his request after their children's births, and how unwillingly she endured the presence of his minions in their household, which caused the couple to quarrel.
But she frequently acknowledged that Philippe's treatment of her was less offensive than the impertinences his entourage indulged in at her expense, and the lack of protection he afforded her and their children against the hostile intrigues she believed were directed at her by spiteful courtiers, especially Madame-de- Maintenon.
| Name of Descendant | Portrait | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriages | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 2, 1674 | December 2, 1723 | Son of Philippe d'Orléans and Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria | Married to Françoise-Marie de Bourbon | 7 children: 1 son, 6 daughters | |||
| 2 | September 13, 1676 | December 23, 1744 | Daughter of Philippe d'Orléans and Elizabeth Charlotte of Bavaria | Married to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine | 5 children: 3 sons, 2 daughters |
| Name of Descendant | Portrait | Birth | Death | Relations | Marriages | Issue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 20, 1695 | July 21, 1719 | Daughter of Philippe d'Orléans and Françoise-Marie de Bourbon | Married to Charles de France, duc de Berry | No issue | |||
| 2 | August 13, 1698 | February 10, 1743 | Daughter of Philippe d'Orléans and Françoise-Marie de Bourbon | Unmarried, a nun | No Issue |