Jean d'Orléans (Jean Pierre Clément Marie; 4 September 1874 – 25 August 1940) was Orléanist pretender to the defunct French throne as Jean III. He used the courtesy title of

Duke of Guise Count of Guise and Duke of Guise ( , ) were titles in the French nobility. Originally a Fiefdom, seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René I of Naples, René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou. While disputed by the House of ...

. He was the third son and youngest child of

Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres (Robert Philippe Louis Eugène Ferdinand; 9 November 1840 – 5 December 1910), was the son of Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans, and thus, a grandson of King Louis-Philippe of France. He fought for the ...

(1840–1910), and grandson of

Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans Prince Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans (Ferdinand Philippe Louis Charles Henri Joseph; 3 September 1810 – 13 July 1842) was the eldest son of King Louis Philippe I of France and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. He was born in exile in hi ...

and great-grandson of

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

King of the French The precise style of French sovereigns varied over the years. Currently, there is no French sovereign; three distinct traditions (the Legitimist, the Orleanist, and the Bonapartist) exist, each claiming different forms of title. The three style ...

. His mother was Princess Françoise of Orléans, daughter of François, Prince of Joinville and

Princess Francisca of Brazil '' Dona'' Francisca (2 August 1824 – 27 March 1898) was a princess of the Empire of Brazil (as daughter of Emperor Dom Pedro I, who also reigned as King Dom Pedro IV of Portugal, and his first wife Maria Leopoldina of Habsburg), who becam ...

Biography

In 1926 at the death of his cousin and brother-in-law Philippe, Duke of Orléans, claimant to the defunct throne of France as "Philip VIII", Jean was recognised by his

Orléanist 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 France in the long nineteenth ...

supporters as titular king of France with the name "Jean III". Jean was an amateur historian and archeologist, who lived with his family in a large farm near

Rabat, Morocco Rabat (, also , ; ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. It is also the capital city of the Rabat-Salé ...

. Following his "ascension" as

pretender, he and his eldest son were legally forbidden from ever entering France again, due to an 1886 edict which condemned the heads of Bourbon & Bonaparte dynasties, as well as their heirs apparent, to exile. In 1892, Jean passed the entrance exam for the Royal Danish Military Academy and joined the

Royal Life Guards The Life Guards (LG) is the most senior regiment of the British Army and part of the Household Cavalry, along with Blues and Royals, The Blues and Royals. History The Life Guards grew from the four troops of Horse Guards Regiment, Horse Guar ...

. He continued to serve in the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

until 1899, where he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Jean died in Larache, Morocco, in 1940. He was succeeded as Orléanist claimant to the defunct French throne by his only son, Henri d' Orléans, Count of Paris.

Marriage and issue

In 1899, Jean married his first cousin, Isabelle d'Orléans (1878–1961). She was the younger sister of Philip VIII, and the daughter of Philip VII and Marie Isabelle d'Orléans. They had four children: * Isabelle d'Orléans (1900–1983). First married in 1923 to Marie Hervé Jean Bruno, Count of Harcourt (1899–1930) and then to Prince Pierre

Murat Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal Elsew ...

in 1934. * Françoise d'Orléans (1902–1953). Married to Christopher of Greece and Denmark in 1929. He was a son of

George I of Greece George I ( Greek: Γεώργιος Α΄, romanized: ''Geórgios I''; 24 December 1845 – 18 March 1913) was King of Greece from 30 March 1863 until his assassination on 18 March 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was born in Copenhage ...

and

Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia Olga Constantinovna of Russia (; 18 June 1926) was Queen of Greece as the wife of King George I. She was briefly the regent of Greece in 1920. A member of the Romanov dynasty, Olga was the oldest daughter of Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaiev ...

. They were parents of

Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark ( 7 January 1939 – 28 July 2024) was a Greek historian, author, and member of the Greek royal family. He wrote several historical books and biographies of Greek and other European figures, Montgomery-Massin ...

. * Anne d'Orléans (1906–1986). She married

Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (Amedeo Umberto Isabella Luigi Filippo Maria Giuseppe Giovanni di Savoia-Aosta; 21 October 1898 – 3 March 1942) was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanu ...

in 1927. * Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris (1908–1999). Married to

Princess Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza Isabelle of Orléans-Braganza (Isabelle Marie Amélie Louise Victoire Thérèse Jeanne; 13 August 1911 – 5 July 2003) was the consort of the Orléanist pretender to the French throne, Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999), Henri, Count of Paris, ...

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean Of Guise, Duke 1874 births 1940 deaths Dukes of Guise Dukes of Montpensier Orléanist pretenders to the French throne Princes of France (Orléans) Burials at the Chapelle royale de Dreux Royal reburials