Prince Philippe, Count of Paris
Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris, was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such. He was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was the Count of Paris as Orléanist claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death. From 1883, when his cousin Henri, Count of Chambord died, he was often referred to by Orléanists as Philippe VII.
Prince Philippe, c. 1890
Philippe d'Orléans (first from right) with staff and dignitaries of General McClellan (center). To his right, his uncle François d'Orléans
Orléanist was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that century in France, three different phases of Orléanism can be identified:The "pure" Orléanism: constituted by those who supported the constitutional reign of Louis Philippe I (1830–1848) after the 1830 July Revolution, and who showed liberal and moderate ideas.
The "fusionist" Orléanism: the movement formed by pure Orléanists and by those Legitimists who after the childless death of Henri, Count of Chambord in 1883 endorsed Philippe, Count of Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe, as his successor. The fusion drove the Orleanist movement to more conservative stances, emphasising French nationality and Catholicism.
The "progressive" Orléanism: the majority of "fusionists" who, after the decline of monarchist sentiment in the 1890s, joined into moderate republicans, who showed progressive and secular-minded goals, or into Catholic rally, like the Liberal Action.
Louis Philippe portrait by Winterhalter
The Duke of Orléans, son of the Count of Paris, espoused conservative stances, also reviving the Order of the Holy Spirit to support his claim.
Satirical cartoon of 1871: Orléanists stand on the ruined December Empire and attempt to enter the "Défense Nationale" building, while Adolphe Thiers looks on.
Charles Maurras in 1937