Philippe VII of France (The Holy Deliverance)

Philippe VII (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was King of the French from 1883 to 1894.

Born Count of Paris, he is the son of the Prince royal of France Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans and was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. Prince Philippe became the Prince Royal, heir apparent to the throne, when his father, Prince Ferdinand-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, died in a carriage accident in 1842. Although there was some effort during the days after the abdication of his grandfather in 1848 to put him on the throne under the name of Louis-Philippe II, with his mother (Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) as Regent, this came to nothing. They fled and the French Second Republic was proclaimed in its stead. An historian, journalist and outspoken democrat, Philippe volunteered to serve as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War along with his younger brother, Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres.

The Orleans family had been in exile in England since the Revolution of 1848 which toppled King Louis Philippe. During their early married life, the Count and Countess of Paris lived at York House, Twickenham, where the young Rosa Lewis was a member of their household.[1] However, in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War and the downfall of Napoleon III, they were allowed to return to France, and many of their properties were restored to them. In 1873, anticipating a restoration of the monarchy by the largely monarchist National Assembly that had been elected following the fall of Napoleon III, the Count of Paris withdrew his claims to the French throne in favour of the legitimist claimant, Henri V, best known as the Comte de Chambord. It was assumed by most that the Count of Paris was Chambord's heir, and would thus be able to succeed to the throne upon the childless Chambord's death, reuniting the two claims that had divided French monarchists since 1830.

In 1874, the monarchy was restored, Henri V was proclaimed King of the French, and Philippe of Orléans consequently became heir and took back the title of Prince royal of France which he had lost in 1848. All along his waiting in In view of becoming king, Prince Philippe surrounds himself with intellectuals from all political horizons, politicians and soldiers in order to best prepare for his accession to the throne of France. Supporter of the colonial conquest, he believes that it is a fertile ground for the enrichment of France as well as for the preparation for the Revanche against the German Empire.

In 1883 he climbed on the throne and took the name of Philippe VII to symbolize the reunion of the Capetian house of France. Wanting to mark a break with the "interventionist" policy of his predecessor in politics, Philippe VII will try to balance power between the executive and the legislative while trying to apply the "rationalization of parliamentarism", for him Parliament was a political tramplin for the republican and socialist forces. Wanting to replace the Constitution of 1874 by a National Pact, which Georges Clémenceau will describe it as: "A pact bringing together in its content the worst of Bonaparism and Royalism." But facing the royalist camp pressure, he abandoned this project which would be taken up by his son and King Henri VI. In 1894, the monarch died suddenly after 11 years of reign, his son, the Prince Royal of France Philippe, Duke of Orléans succeeds him.

Marriage and issue
On May 30, 1864 at St. Raphael's Church in Kingston upon Thames, England he married his paternal first cousin, Princess Marie Isabelle d'Orléans (1848–1919), Infanta of Spain. She was daughter of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain and Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (1824–1890), the youngest son of Louis-Philippe of France and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. They had eight children:
 * Princess Amélie d'Orléans (1865–1951); married Carlos I of Portugal in 1886.
 * Philippe VIII (1869–1926); married Archduchess Maria Dorothea of Austria, daughter of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria in 1896, no issue.
 * Princess Hélène of Orléans, Duchess of Aosta (1871–1951); married Emmanuel Philibert, 2nd Duke of Aosta in 1895.
 * Prince Charles d'Orléans (1875–1875).
 * Princess Isabelle d'Orléans, Duchess of Guise (1878–1961); married Prince Jean D'Orléans, Duke of Guise in 1899.
 * Prince Jacques d'Orléans, Duke of Aquitaine (1880–1881).
 * Princess Louise d'Orléans (1882–1958); married Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1907. Through her daughter, Maria Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, she was the grandmother of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
 * Prince Ferdinand d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier (1884–1924); Prince royal of France (1894-1924), married Marie Isabelle Gonzales de Olañeta y Ibaretta, Marchioness of Valdeterrazo in 1921.

Titles and styles

 * 24 August 1838 - 13 July 1842: His Royal Highness Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris;
 * 13 July 1842 - 24 February 1848 : His Royal Highness Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Prince royal of France, Count of Paris.
 * In Exile: 24 February 1848 - 5 August 1873: His Royal Highness Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris
 * 2 January 1874 - 24 August 1883: His Royal Highness Philippe d'Orléans, Prince royal of France, Count of Paris
 * 24 August 1883 - 8 September 1894: His Majesty The King of the French.

Honours
France:  Foreign:
 * Grand Master of the Legion of Honor (1883-1894)
 * Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Spirit (1883-1894)
 * Grand Master of the Order of Saint-Michel (1883-1894)
 * Grand Master of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis (1883-1894)
 * Denmark, Knight of the Order of the Elephant (1885-1894)
 * Russian Empire, Order of St. Andrew (1885-1894)
 * Belgium, Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (1884-1894)
 * Great Britain, Knight of the Order of the Garter (1884-1894)
 * Austria-Hungary, Knights of 1st class of the Order of the Iron Crown (1880-1894)
 * Austria-Hungary, Knight of the Imperial Order of Leopold (1880-1894)