Henri d’Orléans, Count of Paris and Duke of France died on 21 January at the age of 85. It was announced that the funeral of the Count of Paris would take place on 2 February at 3 pm in the Royal Chapel at Saint-Louis de Dreux.
From 30 January to 1 February, an ardent chapel will be open in the Royal Chapel so that people can pay their respect to the Count of Paris.
Henri, Count of Paris was supposed to attend the ceremonies commemorating the death of King Louis XVI 226 years ago in the St-Germain l’Auxerrois church in Paris on the day of his death. His son, the Duke of Vendôme, announced the death of his father and head of the House of Orléans on his Twitter account asking for thoughts and prayers. Prince Jean, Duke of Vendôme is now the head of the House of Orléans, but it is not known yet if he will inherit the Count of Paris and Duke of France titles from his father.
The last appearance of Henri, Count of Paris was in early January when he gave a filmed interview to the Radio LCF where he talked about his love for painting and how he managed to feel happiness in art thanks to the support of his second wife Micaela, Countess of Paris.
In addition to being a painter, the Count of Paris was a retired military officer and an author. As the Head of the House of Orléans and a descendant of King Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, he was considered as the legitimate heir to the throne by the Unionists. He is not the only one though as the House of Bourbon also claims a legitimate heir to the French throne, continuing on the legendary rivalry between the Orléans and the Bourbons. The Count of Paris and his first wife, the Duchess of Montpensier had five children and twelve grandchildren. The House of Orléans lost another member of the family in 2017 when the eldest son Prince François died following a bad fall.
