King Louis Philippe and his family

[grandduchessella]

I believe there was quite a bit of interaction between the British royal family and the exiled French royal family. There may have to have been some public distance due to political sensibilities but I think private feeilngs were very warm.

[grandduchessella]

There was also the fact that LP had a long history with England prior to his exile.

"On the release of his brothers from prison, he and they fled to the USA and then to Canada, where they met and made friends with the Duke of Kent [QV's father]. Crossing to England in 1800, the three Orleans princes made their peace with their Bourbon cousins, and settled in High Shot House in Crown Lane (now Crown Road) Twickenham. Here they lived fairly quietly for much of the next seven years, supported by Secret Service funds, and making friends locally with the Forbes family, the Innkeeper of the Crown, and with the Austrian Minister, then living in York House. The fatal illness of Louis Philippe’s brother Montpensier (he was buried in Westminster Abbey) and signs of illness in his youngest brother led Louis Philippe to leave for Malta in 1807 in search of a healthier climate. Young Beaujolais died in Malta in 1808, where he lies buried."

"With the fall of Napoleon in 1814, Orleans and his growing family returned to France, only to be bundled out again on the return of Napoleon to France in March 1815. Louis and his family retired to ”Old Twick”, which he fondly described at times as “dear quiet Twick”. This time, he leased Orleans House, staying there until 1817, and incidentally giving to the house the name by which it is known today. Returning to France, he settled down to restore the family fortunes and keep out of politics. But the reactionary rule of Charles X brought about a revolution in France in July 1830. Louis Philippe was persuaded to accept the Crown, to liberalise the Constitution, and to rule as King of the French under the tricolour flag. "

"He had visited in 1844 and spent a day with Queen Victoria at Orleans House, but this time a home was offered to him at Claremont, Esher. Here he lived until his death on 26 August 1850. Before that day, there was one more visit. Bad drains at Claremont had driven him to stay for some weeks at the hotel on Richmond Hill. Walking one day in Twickenham, he was met by the former innkeeper of the “Crown”, who greeted him with the reminder that he (the innkeeper) had “kept the Crown”. The old King’s response was “that is more than I did”. During the next 82 years, four generations of Louis Philippe’s descendants at various times and places lived in Twickenham, or its neighbourhood."

[grandduchessella]

Further on LP and England:

"The fact that his daughter Louise was the consort of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, had brought him into intimate and cordial relations with the English court, which did much to cement the entente cordiale with Great Britain. Broken in 1840 during the affair of Mehemet Ali the entente was patched up in 1841 by the Straits Convention and re-cemented by visits paid by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to the Chateau d'Eu in 1843 and 1845 and of Louis Philippe to Windsor in 1844, only to be irretrievably wrecked by the affair of the "Spanish marriages", a deliberate attempt to revive the traditional Bourbon policy of French predominance in Spain....Escaping with the queen from the Tuileries by a back entrance, he made his way with her in disguise to Honfleur, where the royal couple found refuge in a gardener's cottage. They were ultimately smuggled out of the country by the British consul at Havre as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, arriving at Newhaven "unprovided with anything but the clothes they wore." They settled at Claremont, placed at their disposal by Queen Victoria, under the incognito of count and countess of Neuilly. Here on the 26th of August 1850, Louis Philippe died.

The character of Louis Philippe is admirably traced by Queen Victoria in a memorandum of May 2, 1855, in which she compares him with Napoleon III. She speaks of his "vast knowledge upon all and every subject", and "his great activity of mind." He was, unlike Napoleon, "thoroughly French in character, possessing all the liveliness and talkativeness of that people." But she also speaks of the "tricks and over-reachings" practiced by him, "who in great as well as in small things took a pleasure in being cleverer and more cunning than others, often when there was no advantage to be gained by it, and which was, unfortunately, strikingly displayed in the transactions connected with the Spanish marriages, which led to the king's downfall, and ruined him in the eyes of all Europe" (Letters, III, 122)."

They had further ties due to the marriages of  Prince Louis, Duke of Nemours to QV's cousin Victoire and of  Princess Clémentine to the duke of Coburg-Kohary.

[grandduchessella]

QV and the family of Louis Philippe at the Chateau d'Eu in 1845. By Winterhalter.

[Duke_of_Lynnwood]

wow I didn't know QV liked him that much. That's interesting that there's a portrait too! Speaking of her Uncle Leopold and his wife Queen Louise, were QV and her this amiable and cordial?

[grandduchessella]

QV was apparently very fond of Louise. I think there's a bit on their relationship in the 'children of Louis Philippe' thread.

[Bernardino]

Why was she dressed in black? She wasn´t a widow...or was it because her father-in-law? Other reasons...

[Bernardino]

 She was problaby the prettiest daughter of Dom Pedro I-IV, after, of course Pss Dona Maria Amelia, but she had Beauharnais genes...

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes...I wonder where the black dress portrait came from...I never seen it before. Is it from Chateau de Eu ?

I think so too, I think she had other sisters right ?

[Bernardino]

Hello  

Yes she had other sisters, legitimate and illegitimate daughters of her father Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil, King Dom Pedro IV of Portugal...She was born a Pss of Brazil, but when her father inherited the Portuguese throne she became too a Portuguese Infanta, in fact if one wants to refer her, while single it should be: 'Sua Alteza Dona Francisca Carolina de Bragança, Princesa do Brasil, Infanta de Portugal' (in France she was known as Françoise only, and the Portuguese title wasn´t much used...)

Her full sisters were Queen Maria II of Portugal (m1. Duke August of Leuchtenberg, m2. Pr Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), Pss Januaria (m. Pr Luigi of the Two Sicilies, Cte d'Aquila) and Pss Paula Marianna (whom died in her teens). The only daughter of her father's second marriage was Pss Maria Amelia, who died unmarried in Madeira, but was seen a potencial wife of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, apparently in love with her, but she died too soon  :-/...

One of her father's illegitimate daughters (Bella) married a German Count (von Treuberg), the son of a Pss of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and has descendants...

[Eric_Lowe]

Did Fransioise and her sister been painted togather ?

[allanraymond]

Needless to say, I find your narrative on the family of Louis Philippe extemely interesting and gives me opportunity to cross check against details on my Web Pages. If I could offer some other details?

1.   Princess Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's father was Prince (rather than Duke) of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

2.   Sophie Charlotte Augustine Duchess in Bavaria was burnt to death in a tent at a charity bazaar in Paris in which 200 people lost their lives.

3.  Blanche (b. 1857)  died in 1932.

Allan Raymond

Louis Charles Philippe Raphael, duc de Nemours, was born on 25 October 1814 at the Palais Royal in Paris.

In 1840 he married Princess Viktoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, daughter of Duke Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

He died at Versailles in 1896, Duchess Viktoria having died in 1857. She had given him these children:

    * Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston, comte d'Eu (1842-1922)....
    * Ferdinand Philippe Marie, duc d'Alençon (July 12, 1844 - June 29, 1910), who married Sophie Charlotte Augustine Duchess in Bavaria (1847-1897),
    * Margaret (1846-1893)....
    * Blanche (b. 1857).

[allanraymond]

Let's have more of your interesting bio's.

I would add another child to the four already shown for Clementine and Augustus.

* Clotilde (1846-1927) , who married Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (Hungarian Line) (1833-1905)

Allan Raymond

Princess Clementine d'Orleans was born in Neuilly on March 6 1817, and became a Princess of France at the age of 13 with her father's accession in 1830.

Clementine was ambitious, and wanted to marry a king. She selected Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as one likely to be elected a king someday. The were married on 20 April 1843 in Saint Cloud.

Augustus never became a king, but they had four children:

    * Philip, who married his cousin, Louise, daughter of Leopold II of Belgium
    * Augustus, who married Leopoldine, daughter of Pedro II of Brazil
    * Amelie, who married Duke Maximillan, the brother of Empress Elizabeth of Austria
    * Ferdinand, who would become Tsar of Bulgaria.

'

[crazy_wing]

Yes...I wonder where the black dress portrait came from...I never seen it before. Is it from Chateau de Eu ?

I think so too, I think she had other sisters right ?

It was painted by Amy Scheffer in 1844 and is said to be in Musée de la Vie Romantique, Paris.  Louis Philippe died in 1850s so she was not dressed for the mourning of her father-in-law.  It seems like nobody from her or her husband's immediate family died in 1844 either.  

[YaBB_Jose]

Louis-Philippe and Marie-Amélie had two other children:
Françoise, Mlle de Montpensier (1816-18 ) and
Charles count of Penthièvre (1820-28 ).
Are there any pictures of them ?

And from the next generation:
Philip, count of Paris and bro. Robert dk of Chartres
Gaston, count of Eu, Ferdinand Alençon, Marguerite and Blanche de Nemours.
Louis Philippe pr. Condé and François, dk of Guise.