| Jean d'Orléans | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count of Paris | |||||
 Jean in 2019 | |||||
| Orléanist pretender to the French throne | |||||
| Pretence | 21 January 2019 – present | ||||
| Predecessor | Henri, Count of Paris | ||||
| Heir apparent | Gaston, Dauphin of France | ||||
| Born | (1965-05-19)19 May 1965 (age 60) Boulogne-Billancourt,France | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
| House | Orléans | ||||
| Father | Prince Henri, Count of Paris | ||||
| Mother | Duchess Marie Therese of Württemberg | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||
| French royal family Orléanist |
|---|
 |
|
Extended royal family
The Duke of Orléans
The Count of Évreux
Princess Béatrice The Dowager Countess of La Marche
The Countess of Schönborn-Buchheim Princess Hélène, Countess of Limburg Stirum The Dowager Duchess of Calabria The Dowager Duchess of Württemberg Princess Claude, Mrs. Gandolfi Princess Chantal, Baroness of Sambucy de Sorgue |
Prince Jean Carl Pierre Marie d'Orléans, Count of Paris (born 19 May 1965) is the current head of theHouse of Orléans. Jean is the senior male descendant by primogeniture in the male-line ofLouis Philippe I,King of the French, and thus according to theOrléanists the legitimate claimant to the defunct throne of France asJean IV.[2] Of France's threemonarchist movements, Orléanism,Legitimism, andBonapartism, most royalists are Orléanists.[3] Jean is the second son ofHenri, Count of Paris (1933–2019) and his former wifeDuchess Marie-Thérèse of Württemberg (born 1934). With the death of his father, he has been using the style ofCount of Paris since 2019.[4]
Jean d'Orléans was born on 19 May 1965 inBoulogne-Billancourt, the son ofHenri of Orleans andMaria Theresa of Württemberg. He was baptized in theCatholic Church on 14 June 1965 in theRoyal Chapel of Dreux. He received as godfather, his maternal uncle,Carl of Württemberg, and as godmother, his paternal aunt,Princess Chantal of Orleans.[5]
After attending the Passy-Saint-Nicolas-Buzenval, a private Catholic secondary school, he attended theSorbonne, where he obtained a master's degree in philosophy in 1989. In 1992, he earned a master's degree in law from the Free Faculty of Law, Economics and Management of Paris. In 1994, he earned aMaster of Business Administration (MBA) fromAzusa Pacific University inLos Angeles, California.[5]
Jean completed hisnational service as an officer, first taking four months of classes at theSaumur Cavalry School. He was assigned as anofficer aspirant, and then as asecond lieutenant, and has been areservecolonel of theFrench Army since January 2015.[6]
After finishing his military duties, he began to work as a consultant atLazard, then as a financial consultant atDeloitte, followed by working as a project manager at theGroupe Banque Populaire.
Jean is multilingual, speaking French, English, and German.[7]
Prince Jean was due to marry Duchess Tatjana ofOldenburg (b. 1974) in 2001. Duchess Tatjana is the youngest daughter of Duke Johann ofOldenburg (b. 1940) and his wife, Countess Ilka ofOrtenburg (b. 1942).[8] Her elder sisterEilika marriedArchduke Georg of Austria in 1997. However, the wedding was cancelled at the last moment because of a dispute over religious denomination: Jean's father, Henri, feared the Orléans claim to the throne would be compromised if there were to be aProtestant heir.[9]
On 29 November 2008, Henri, then Count of Paris, announced the engagement of Jean, the then Duke of Vendôme, toMaria Magdalena Philomena Juliana Johanna de Tornos y Steinhart, born inVienna on 19 June 1977. The pair are distantly related, as both are descendants ofCount Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice and his first wife, Baroness Maria Eusebia vonSternberg (1584–1634).[10] The civil wedding, conducted by MayorRachida Dati, took place on 19 March 2009 inParis. The religious wedding was held on 2 May 2009 at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame atSenlis, with a reception at theChâteau de Chantilly.[11][12] The bride wore a gown byChristian Lacroix and a jacket embroidered byMaison Lesage.[13]
In 2021, Jean filed a lawsuit against the Saint-Louis foundation, demanding €1 million in damages and the return of five properties, including theChâteau d'Amboise. In 1886, the château was bequeathed to the Institute of France by Jean's ancestor Henri d’Orléans, with the caveat that the property would never be altered by the institute. The Saint-Louis foundation was later founded by Jean's grandfather,Henri VI, Count of Paris, in 1974. Jean's lawsuit alleges that the Institute violated their contract to never alter the property, after they announced plans to transform the Pavillon d’Enghien into a €760-a-night luxury hotel, containing a spa and gastronomic restaurant.[14] Jean had previously lived in the château from 2001 to September 2021 rent-free, but was forcefully evicted by the institute after they began to demand he pay rent, which Jean viewed as a violation of their contract.[15]
Jean and his wife Philomena have six children:
Jean believes that the people of France are "monarchist at heart" and argues that they long for a non-partisan figurehead.[18] He has spoken in support of theYellow vests protests in France.[19] Jean has also expressed his opposition tosame-sex marriage, having participated in theLa Manif pour tous protests, as well asabortion.[20][21] In May 2019, Jean met with French PresidentEmmanuel Macron,Brigitte Macron, and Italian PresidentSergio Mattarella in his then-home in theChâteau d'Amboise.[22]
He was createdDuke of Vendôme (French:Duc de Vendôme) by his paternal grandfather, on 27 September 1987.[23]
Following the death of his father, it was initially thought that Prince Jean would not assume the title of Count of Paris for several months after his father's death, and possibly not for as much as one year.[25]
France: Recipient of theNational Defence Medal, 3rd Class
Portuguese Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (19 February 2000)[26][page needed]
House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies Royal Family:Jean is a direct male-line descendant ofLouis Philippe I, the last French king, who in turn was a descendant ofPhilippe I, Duke of Orléans, the younger brother ofLouis XIV. Jean is also descended fromCharles X, brother ofLouis XVI; and theBourbons of Spain,the Two Sicilies andParma.
Jean, Count of Paris Cadet branch of theHouse of Bourbon Born: 19 May 1965 | ||
| French royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Count of Paris 21 January 2019 – present | Incumbent Heir apparent: Gaston d'Orléans |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — King of France 21 January 2019 – present Reason for succession failure: French Revolution of 1848 leads toAbolition of monarchy | Incumbent Heir apparent: Gaston, Dauphin of France |
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Dauphin of France 30 December 2017 – 21 January 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Capetian pretenders (1792–present)  |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonaparte pretenders (1814–present)  |
| ||||
1 Actually reigned twice: first from 1814–1815, second from 1815–1824 2 Actually reigned from 1824–1830 3 Reigned in pretense asLouis Philippe II from 1848–1873 4 Briefly restored and then deposed in 1815 5 Actually reigned from 1852–1870 6 Pretense disputed until 1891 7 Pretense currently disputed | |||||
| 1st generation |  | |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
| 5th generation | ||
| 6th generation | ||
| 7th generation | ||
| 8th generation | ||
| 9th generation | ||
| 10th generation | ||
| 11th generation | ||
| 12th generation | ||
^never styled Prince of Orléans | ||
| Hereditary Dukes |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Courtesy title | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
