List of applicants for the French throne

After the revolution of 1789 and the execution of King Louis XVI, supporters of the restoration of the monarchy ( royalists ) declared the king of France the son of the executed king, Louis XVII , after whose death the right to the throne passed to the brother of Louis XVI - Count of Provence, who proclaimed himself king of France by Louis XVIII . The restoration of the Bourbons of 1814 brought him the throne of France, turning him from a contender to the throne into a real ruler.

1830-1883

After the July Revolution of 1830, French royalists - supporters of the ousted King Charles X (legitimists) recognized the right to the throne only for the eldest branch of the French Bourbons (descendants of King Louis XIV ) and advocated transferring the throne to Henry V , grandson of Charles X, counting Louis-Philippe I usurper ^{[1] [2]} .

After the fall of the Second Empire, the Legitimists were closest to embodying their idea of ​​rebuilding the Bourbon monarchy. The National Assembly, which had a monarchical majority, proposed the crown to Count de Chambord, but the principle of the latter in the issue of the state banner ^{[K 1] [3]} led to a revision of this decision - the republic was proclaimed. In subsequent years, the Legitimists and Orleanists negotiated the merger of the two royalist parties, which led to the recognition of the leader of the Orleanists Count Paris of Paris as childless Count de Chambord ^[4] .

1883 - Present

After the death in 1883 of Count de Chambord ("Henry V"), most of the Legitimists joined the Orleans and recognized the right to the throne for the representative of the Orleans party. The most conservative part of the Legitimists turned to the Spanish Bourbons , believing that the abdication of Philip V (grandson of Louis XIV) from the right to the French throne as a result of the Utrecht Peace was not legally binding and thus the Spanish Bourbons have more rights to the throne of France than representatives of the Orleans branch Bourbons. Since that time, representatives of the Spanish Bourbons (descendants of King Charles IV ) have claimed the throne of France.

After the revolution of 1848, supporters of King Louis Philippe of Orleans ( Orleans ) advocated the restoration of a constitutional monarchy led by Louis Philippe I and his descendants and for the recognition of the rights to the French throne for representatives of the Orleans House , rivaling the legitimists ^[2] .

After the death of Napoleon I, the party of his supporters, advocating the restoration of the empire, declared the duke of Naples , the son of Napoleon I, the contender for the imperial throne of France. After his death, Napoleon I’s nephew Louis-Charles Bonaparte became the leader of the Bonapartists, as a result of a political struggle, he ascended the throne under the name Napoleon III . At the end of the 19th century, a temporary split occurred in the Bonapartist party due to disagreements in the choice of the head of the party after the death of Napoleon III’s son, Napoleon Eugene (“Napoleon IV”) ^[5] .

The mysterious death of Louis XVII in 1795 made it possible for many people to declare themselves to be miraculously surviving dauphin and to claim the name and throne of France. The first was Jean-Marie Ervago , who declared himself a saved Dauphin in 1798. In the future, dozens of people declared their royal origin, such as Mathuren Bruno and the “Baron de Rishmon” . The most famous and convincing of them was Karl Wilhelm Naundorf , long tried for recognition of him as the surviving Louis XVII. His descendants so far have insisted on the legality of claims in the name of Louis XVII ^{[6] [7]} .

• Bonapartists // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Legitimism // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Orleans Party // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.