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European RoyalsOther

French Royalists commemorate Execution of King Louis XVI

On the 224th anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI of France, French royalists gathered on the Place de la Révolution (now known as the Place de la Concorde) to commemorate his death. The Place de la Révolution was the site of the King’s execution, in addition to that of his wife, Marie Antoinette (born an Archduchess of Austria) later that same year. Other important guillotined on the site were, Princess Élisabeth of France (Louis XVI’s sister), Madame du Barry (the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France) and Maximilien Robespierre (who actually had a significant role in arranging the execution of King Louis XVI).  The group waved flags bearing the fleur-de-lis, the symbol of Royal France and gave speeches honouring the memory of the monarch.

In the Basilica of St. Denis, Prince Louis-Alphonse de Bourbon attended a Requiem Mass with his wife, Princess Marie-Marguerite. Prince Louis-Alphonse is just one of three claimants to the throne of France. He represents the legitimist line, as the senior male heir of Hugh Capet and the senior descendant of King Louis XIV, through his grandson King Philip V of Spain.

The Orleanist line is represented by Prince Henri, Count of Paris who consider that the Treaty of Utrecht, by which Philip V of Spain renounced his claim to the French throne for himself and his descendants, is valid. In addition, there is the Bonaparte line, who claim the Imperial throne as descendants of Jérôme Bonaparte, the brother of Emperor Napoléon.

Prince Louis-Alphonse and his wife often attend Catholic functions, and he has spoken out in defence of family and against gay marriage. In 2013 he said, “Children need a mother and a father. This is incontrovertible. Why legalise system that produces the absence, the loss of one of the two?”