Far from ending with the French Revolution, monarchical intrigue lives on in modern France, with descendants of the Royal House of Orléans bitterly disputing the succession to a non-existent throne.
More than two centuries after King Louis XVI was guillotined, the current pretender to the French throne, Henri d’Orléans, is struggling to settle a dynastic quarrel over which of his sons will inherit his claim to be King of France.
Henri, a descendent of King Louis-Philippe, the last king to ascend to the throne, holds the “courtesy titles” of Count of Paris and Duke of France, which have no legal status under the French Republic.
The 83-year-old count has named as heir his eldest son François, who has suffered from a severe mental disability from birth. The count has therefore appointed as regent another of his sons, Jean, Duke of Vendôme.
But Jean, 51, argues that instead of acting as regent for his brother, he should himself take over the title of Count of Paris and become the next pretender to the throne on his father’s death.
Source : www.telegraph.co.uk/
