Succession to the former French throne (Orléanist)
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Orléanist claimant to the throne of France is Jean, Count of Paris. He is the uncontested heir to the Orléanist position of "King of the French" held by Louis-Philippe, and is also considered the Legitimist heir as "King of France" by those who view the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht (by which Philip V of Spain renounced for himself and his agnatic descendants any claim to the French throne) as valid. According to the Family Compact of 1909, only the descendants of Henri, Count of Paris (grandfather of the current pretender) are considered to be French dynasts. The founders of the cadet branches of Orleans-Braganza and Orléans-Galliera, by becoming foreigners, are considered under house law to have lost their rights to the throne.
Rules explaining the order of succession
Succession under the Ancien Regime
Prior to the Treaty of Utrecht, rules of succession to the crown of France were deemed to have evolved historically and additively, rather than to have been legislated or amended, constituting part of the fundamental laws of the nation.
Inalienability (or indisposability) of the crown: no one has the power to change the dynastic order.
Continuity of the crown: a new ruler succeeds as soon as his predecessor dies; the throne is never vacant
Heredity: The crown is hereditary in the House of Capet
Primogeniture: The elder son is preferred over the younger; the senior descendant represents his deceased ancestor in the line of succession.
Masculinity: The heir must be male.
Male collaterality: In the absence of male descendants in the King's male line, the closest male collateral relative of the King is the heir.
Catholicism: the King must be Catholic.
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This entry incorporates text from “Succession to the former French throne (Orléanist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.