10 Things to Know about King Louis-Philippe, the Last King of the French

The Citizen King, King of the French, the last King of France, titles given to Louis Philippe who ruled the continental kingdom during a tumultuous century in European history. Here are 10 things to know about him.

1. Louis-Philippe was a part of a branch of Bourbon Dynasty

Born on October 6, 1773, Louis-Philippe was the son of Louis-Philippe Joseph de Bourbon-Orléans, the Duke de Chartres and Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre. They belonged to the Orléans branch of the ruling Bourbon Dynasty tracing their ancestry from Philippe, Duke of Orléans, brother of the Sun King Louis XIV. The Louis-Philippe Senior was the cousin of King Louis XVI. Louis-Philippe, the future King of the French, stood far away from inheriting the throne.

2. Oddity in the Royale Family

Amidst a ruling family filled by entitlements, splendor, and autocratic power, the House of Orleans stood differently by embracing Enlightenment ideas. Louis-Philippe Sr. led the nobility factions pushing for liberal reforms. Ultimately, during the Revolution, the Sr. shunned his Bourbon name in favor of becoming Philippe Egalite. He joined the National Convention and later voted to execute his own cousin, Louis XVI.

Like father, like son, Louis-Philippe Junior shared his father's devotion to the Enlightenment. In 1790, he even joined the Jacobin Club. When the War of the First Coalition pitting Monarchist Europe against Revolutionary France erupted in 1792, the Jr. joined the French Army.

Philippe Egalite

3. War Veteran

Louis-Philippe Jr. enlisted in the army and joined the frontlines witnessing several battles in the process. In September 1792, attached to Gen. Francois-Christophe Kellermann, he fought in the Battle of Valmy, then followed a few months later on November 6, 1792 by the Battle of Jemappes. He also saw action in Battle of Neerwinden in March 1793. By then, he served under General Charles François Dumouriez who influenced Louis-Philippe’s life.

4. Under Dumouriez, Louis-Philippe lost his father

Dumouriez turned out to be an ambitious general that led Louis-Philippe to a tragedy. Capitalizing on the chaos especially after news of massacres in Paris among others, General Dumoriez planned to stage a coup against the French Revolutionary government. Louis did not participate actively, but only sat quietly. Eventually the coup failed to materialize as Paris got hold of the conspiracy. To save themselves, they fled to Austria, among them, Louis Philippe.

Like any other revolutionary government that foiled a coup, a purge followed. Unfortunately for Louis-Philippe Sr. and Jr. the botched coup and defection to Austria by the Younger placed the Senior in serious danger. Being a royal and having a son as a defector placed the father under arrest and eventually followed his cousin Louis XVI in the guillotine. Philippe Egalite’s other 2 sons also found themselves arrested. All while, Louis-Philippe sought refuge in Central Europe. 

5. Became a Refugee and a Traveler

Louis-Philippe the future King of the French hid in Central Europe for a while before galivanting in Scandinavia and the New World. In Switzerland, at the age of 20, he worked as a teacher incognito in a school in Reichenau under the alias Chabaud de la Tour. While teaching, he found out the fate of his father that devastated him and worried him for his brothers’ fate. 

His mother then wanted him to seek refuge in the United States, but due to lack of funds, he went to various Scandinavian countries instead. By invitation of the Danes first, he visited Denmark, then Sweden. He wanted to visit Russia, but fears for Catherine the Great’s reaction to the sight of a son of a regicidal prince turned him away. Finally he received funds and words about his brothers that all of them should go to the United States and stay there.

Eventually, Louis-Philippe reunited with his brothers in Philadelphia and began a tour of the young United States. They met George Washington and even attended the inauguration of John Adams. By 1799 they returned to Europe but stayed away from France. Upon their return, they reconciled with the main Bourbon branch who hated them for being Revolutionaries. 

6. Louis-Philippe married a Habsburg

While Napoleon Bonaparte made a joke out of the armies of autocratic Europe in the the 1800s, Louis-Philippe made his way to the Kingdom of Naples ruled by Ferdinand IV and his wife Maria Carolina, sister of Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI. Surprisingly, the couple consented to a marriage between their daughter Marie-Amelie and Louis-Philippe in 1809. Thus, Louis-Philippe renewed the bond between the Bourbons and the Habsburgs of Austria.

Queen Marie-Amelie

7. Louis-Philippe became a moderate Liberal

Fast forward after 1815, the armies of monarchist Europe snuffed out Napoleon and the Revolution. The Bourbons returned to power with King Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI. Louis-Philippe stayed in the sidelines of the Court.

Apparently, the King did not trust him completely. They denied him the title Royal Highness. As a consolation for the slight, he received back part of the lands of the Orleans estate. For the next decade, he worked to develop the land and rebuild the fortunes of his family. 

Alongside the resurgence of his ancestral wealth, he  remained a believer in liberal ideas. He hosted liberal deputies and journalists at his home. He supported liberal newspaper Le Constitutionnel, with on of the contributors being Adolphe Thiers, a future member of Louis-Philippe’s government and President of the Third Republic.

8. The Bourgeoisie backed his Kingship

By 1830, Charles X, another brother of King Louis XVI, ruled France and hated any limits in his powers. He issued the 4 Ordinances that attempted to eliminate civil liberties. This resulted in Paris rising up in arms. Eventually, the Bourgeoisie, men like Adolphe Thiers, Casimir Perier, and Jacques Lafitte, hijacked the 1830 Revolution. 

By July they gave their support to Louis-Philippe.The hug to Louis-Philippe by the American and French Revolutionary her X went into exile and Louis-Philippe became the King of the French.

Charles X

9. Louis-Philippe wanted to be a King of the People

Louis-Philippe wanted to bring a common touch to his reign. Before, instead of the leggings traditionally worn by the nobility, he walked in his trousers in the streets greeting the common people he knew or acquainted with. He wanted this simple royal image to his kingship.

He gave a lot of symbolism to make it clear. He ditched the title of King of France that implied him as an absolute landlord who own every inch of the Kingdom. He took instead the title King of the French, being a king of and devoted to the people. He became known as the Citizens’ King, but for Europe they called him King of Barricades for his means of ascension. 

Louis claimed to be a King of the people, but he proved himself not to be completely for the people. He rewarded the Bourgeoisie that helped him instead of the common people that raised the barricades. France held elections but the voters came from the Bourgeoisie class. Yes, industrialization occurred and economic growth silenced discontent. 

The late 1840s dented economic growth and so rise in discontent. The 40s became known as the Hungry Forties due to a drop in harvest across Europe. In France, the workers and common people wanted greater say in governance and demanded extension of the vote to them. Louis-Philippe’s chief minister Francois Guizot counseled to disagree. Hence, a clamp down on civil liberties began. 

10. A crack down on banquets led to Louis-Philippe’s fall

Smart opposition to Guizot and the King then began talks of politics and criticism of the government over banquets. A clever substitute for protest and other assemblies. A party with politics as topics. By February 1848, Guizot had enough of the shenanigans and banned the last major banquet being held. This resulted in the Revolution that engulfed France and started a domino effect across Europe. Government changes occurred across the continent, Naples and Austria while unification talks occurred in the German states.

Louis-Philippe, though had the means to strike back, resigning himself to his faith and a final respect to his liberal beliefs, decided to abdicate and go to exile in England. Few years later, on August 26, 1850, he passed away.

See also:

Who is King Louis-Philippe?