Charles-Philippe d'Orléans was the last child and only son of Emmanuel d'Orléans (1872-1931), Duke of Vendôme, and his wife Princess Henriette of Belgium (1870-1948), Duchess of Saxony.[1] Through his mother, daughter of Prince Philippe of Belgium (1837-1905), Count of Flanders, he is affiliated to the Belgian dynasty of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Charles-Philippe is the great-grandson of King Leopold I and the nephew of Albert I of Belgium. On his father's side, the prince belongs to the youngest line of the House of Orléans, descended from the Duke of Nemours, considered by the Orleanists to be the branch of the princes of the blood, heir to the eldest branch in the event of extinction, according to French monarchical traditions.
On September 24, 1928, Prince Charles-Philippe d'Orléans married Marguerite Watson (1899-1993), an American whom he had met during a trip to the United States; from their union, which was not recognized by the Duc de Guise (then the Orleanist pretender to the throne of France and head of the family),[2] no children were born.[1]
Biography
Charles-Philippe d'Orléans was born on 4 April 1905 at the family home,[3] a private mansion on the rue Borghèse in Neuilly-sur-Seine; he was nicknamed "Chappy" in the family context.[4] Prince Charles-Philippe was educated as a child by a tutor who was at one time coveted by the Duchess of Guise for the Count of Paris.[5]
He was Grand Master of the Order of Saint Lazarus from 1967 to 1969, with Prince Michel d'Orléans (born in 1940) as coadjutor.
In 1967, Prince Charles-Philippe was the only member of the Orléans family to attend the wedding of Prince Michel d'Orléans with Béatrice Pasquier de Franclieu. The Count of Paris, Prince Michel's father, disapproved of this union and had forbidden members of his family to attend. To thank him for this support, Prince Michel asked the Duke of Nemours to be the godfather of his first child, Princess Clotilde (born on December 28, 1968, in Casablanca),[5] and named his first son Charles-Philippe.
The Duke of Nemours wanted his title to pass to Prince Michel after his death. However, on December 10, 1976, six years after the death of Prince Charles-Philippe, Prince Michel would be named Count of Évreux by his father, the Count of Paris.
Titles
The titles worn by the members of the House of Orleans born after the end of the July Monarchy have no legal existence in France and are considered as courtesy titles. They are attributed by the eldest of the Orleans, the Orleanist pretender to the throne of France:
4 April 1905 – 10 March 1970: His Royal Highness the Duke of Nemours
Son of the Duke of Vendôme, Charles-Philippe received at his birth from the head of the family, the Duke of Orleans, the titles of Prince of Orleans and Duke of Nemours,[1][6] as well as the predicate of royal highness as a member of the house of Orleans.
Charles-Philippe d'Orleans was also, since 1926, a prince of the royal blood of France since he belongs to the first cadet branch of the House of Orleans.[1] On the death of his father, the Duke of Vendôme, on 1 February 1931, the Prince became the eldest of the younger branch of the royal house of France and the first prince of the royal blood of France.[1]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Prince Charles Philippe, Duke of Nemours
