Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, known as le Gros, was a French royal of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of Philippe Égalité. He greatly augmented the already huge wealth of the House of Orléans.
The 4th House of Orléans, sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. The house was founded by Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV, the "Sun King".
Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, a legitimated prince of the blood royal, was the son of Louis XIV and of his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan. At the age of five, he became grand admiral of France.
Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon was the son of Louis Alexandre de Bourbon and his wife Marie Victoire de Noailles. He was therefore a grandson of Louis XIV of France and his mistress, Madame de Montespan. From birth he was known as the Duke of Penthièvre. He also possessed the following titles: Prince of Lamballe ; Prince of Carignano; Duke of Rambouillet; Duke of Aumale (1775); Duke of Gisors; Duke of Châteauvillain; Duke of Arc-en-Barrois; Duke of Amboise; Count of Eu; Count of Guingamp. He was the father in law of Philippe Égalité.
In the 11th and 12th centuries the Countship of Penthièvre in Brittany belonged to a branch of the sovereign House of Brittany. It initially belonged to the House of Rennes. Alan III, Duke of Brittany, gave it to his brother Eudes in 1035, and his descendants formed a cadet branch of the ducal house.
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans, was the daughter of Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre and Princess Maria Teresa d'Este. At the death of her brother, Louis Alexandre, Prince of Lamballe, she became the wealthiest heiress in France prior to the French Revolution. She married Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the "regicide" Philippe Égalité, and was the mother of France's last king, Louis Philippe I. She was sister-in-law to Marie Thérèse Louise, Princess of Lamballe, and was the last member of the Bourbon-Penthièvre family.
Louise Henriette de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Conti at birth, was a French princess, who, by marriage, became Duchess of Chartres (1743–1752), then Duchess of Orléans (1752–1759) upon the death of her father-in-law. On 4 February 1752, her husband became the head of the House of Orléans, and the First Prince of the Blood, the most important personage after the immediate members of the royal family.
Princess Anne of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Dowager Duchess of Calabria, born Princess Anne of Orléans, is the widow of Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria. She is the third daughter and fifth child of Henri, Count of Paris, Orléanist claimant to the defunct French throne, and his wife Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza.
The House of Bourbon-Penthièvre was an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, thus descending from the Capetian dynasty. It was founded by the duc de Penthièvre (1725–1793), the only child and heir of the comte de Toulouse, the youngest illegitimate son of Louis XIV of France and the marquise de Montespan, and his wife, Marie Victoire de Noailles, the daughter of Anne Jules de Noailles, duc de Noailles.
Marie Victoire Sophie de Noailles, Countess of Toulouse, was a French noble and courtier. Her second spouse was Louis Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse, the youngest legitimized son of King Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Montespan.
The House of Bourbon-Montpensier or Maison de Bourbon-Montpensier was a semi royal family. The name of Bourbon comes from a marriage between Marie de Valois, comtesse de Montpensier (1375–1434) who married Jean de Bourbon - the duc de Bourbon. The second name of Montpensier, comes from the title of the family.
Under the Ancien Régime, the goods of the House of Orléans comprised two distinct parts : the apanage and the "biens patrimoniaux".
Maria Teresa Felicitas d'Este was a Princess of Modena by birth and Duchess of Penthièvre by marriage. She was the mother-in-law of Philippe Égalité and thus grandmother to the future Louis-Philippe of France.
Maria Fortunata d'Este was a Modenese princess by birth and a princess du sang by marriage. By her marriage to Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, her first cousin, she became the Countess of La Marche and later the Princess of Conti; and was a member of the French court of King Louis XV and King Louis XVI. She was the last Princess of Conti, and died without issue.
The Royal Chapel of Dreux situated in Dreux, France, is the traditional burial place of members of the House of Orléans. It is an important early building in the French adoption of Gothic Revival architecture, despite being topped by a dome. Starting in 1828, Alexandre Brogniart, director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory, produced fired-enamel paintings on large panes of plate glass for King Louis-Philippe I, an important early French commission in Gothic Revival taste, preceded mainly by some Gothic features in a few jardins paysagers.
Charles d'Orléans, Duke of Penthièvre was the eighth child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, future Louis Philippe I and la Reine Marie Amélie. He was created Duke of Penthièvre, a title previously held by his great-grandfather.
Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Châteauvillain was a French Duke and nobleman. He died in Paris at the age of 6. He was the duc de Châteauvillain from birth.
