Pretender to the French throne fought long legal battle with his father’s estate

Much of the family’s fortune had been spent by his father in trying to prove his claim to the throne, in disputes with his children, and on his mistress. He bequeathed Henri and his siblings only six monogrammed handkerchiefs and a pair of slippers betwee

The king is dead! Long live the pretenders! For a country without a crown, there seems no shortage of men anxious to play France’s game of thrones. Notwithstanding memories of what the guillotine did for a previous French king and his wife, Henri d’Orleans, Count of Paris and self-proclaimed Duke of France, was one whose claim seemed promising, at least to him.

There was a moment in 1965 when Henri’s father thought the call might come. Charles de Gaulle was nearing the end of his seven-year presidency of the French republic and it was clear that no mere political mortal could succeed him. The family reasoned that a man who could appeal across party and class might prove irresistible to the voters – and from president it would be but a short step to elected monarch.

Rumour was that de Gaulle, who had met the family on several occasions, was sympathetic to the idea of a restoration of the monarchy, which would have made Henri heir and eventually king. Indeed, de Gaulle is even supposed to have told the family: ‘‘You have three years to get ready. I will not run for a second term.’’ Yet, whatever support de Gaulle might once have given to the idea, their hopes were dashed when he instead announced his candidature for a second term.

Henri, who has died aged 85, fought hard to prove his claim, with books, articles in the press and even a website. When all those failed to persuade the people of France to rise up and restore the monarchy, he took a democratic path. He stood with no sense of irony in the 2004 European elections for the Alliance Royale, a Eurosceptic party, whose policy was the restoration of the monarchy with Henri as its preferred candidate for king. It won 0.031 per cent of the vote.

Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d’Orleans was born at the manor of Anjou in Belgium, the second of the 11 children of Henri, Count of Paris, and his wife, Princess Isabelle of Orleans and Braganca. He was a direct descendant of Louis Philippe I (1773-1850), who was proclaimed King of France in 1830, but was forced to abdicate in 1848 and lived his last years in exile in England. The family was subject to the 1886 law of exile, which banned the heads of former ruling families from living in France.

During World War II, the family took refuge with his mother’s relations in Brazil before heading to their property at Larache, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Their exile continued in Spain, then Portugal, where they learnt to milk cows. President Auriol of France granted Henri and his brother Francois special dispensation to continue their secondary education in Bordeaux, and in 1950 the law of exile was abrogated, allowing the family to settle near Paris. Henri studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and then joined the French Foreign Legion, serving during the war in Algeria.

In 1957, he married Duchess Marie-Therese of Wurttemberg. They had five children, including Prince Jean, Duke of Vendome, who has expressed support for the ‘‘gilets jaunes’’ protesters and becomes the new pretender to the French throne.

The marriage was dissolved in 1984 and Henri married, secondly, Micaela Anna Maria Cousino y Quinones de Leon.

When the Algerian War ended in 1962, Henri served at the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security before becoming a military instructor in Corsica. By the early 1970s. he had returned to civilian life and was working as a public relations manager for a Swiss bank. He wrote several books, exhibited his art and created two brands of perfume, Lys Bleu, named after the symbol for the French monarchy, and Royalissime, both of which were said to sell well in Japan.

After succeeding his father in 1999, Henri also took the ancient title Duke of France, which had not been used for 1000 years and which, like the Count of Paris, carries no legal status. Much of the family’s fortune had been spent by his father in trying to prove his claim to the throne, in disputes with his children and on his mistress.

Henri believed the old man had been bitter at de Gaulle’s betrayal. ‘‘As he had failed, the others must not succeed,‘‘ he said. ‘‘A bit like the captain who goes down with his ship, but asks the crew to stay on board.’’ Henri also discovered that his vengeful father had bequeathed him and his siblings only six monogrammed handkerchiefs and a pair of slippers between them.

More expense was incurred as lawyers were engaged in a decade-long battle using complex French inheritance laws to wrest his father’s assets from various foundations and trusts. The search turned up two chateaux, Marie Antoinette’s dinner table and 70 sketches by Louis XIV, all of which were sold at auction.

Although Henri’s claim to the French throne was widely regarded as the strongest, others had claims. The House of Bourbon’s pretender is Louis de Bourbon, 44, a direct descendant of Louis XIV who counts Queen Victoria and Francisco Franco among his ancestors. Another is Jean-Christophe Napoleon, 32. Some have even suggested that the Queen has a claim through Edward III, although she has not been known to pursue the matter – at least not in public. – The Times