Orléans, Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duke d'

(1747-1793) (Philippe Égalité)

   royal figure

   Known eventually as Philippe Égalité, Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duke d'orléans, the cousin of King louis XVI, was born at Saint-Cloud. He married the great-granddaughter of King louis XIV, Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, in 1769 and came into a considerable fortune that he used, in part, to advance his political ambitions. A Freemason (grand masonic master in 1786), he adopted the liberal ideas of the period and admired the British political system. His opposition to the ministry of rené maupeou caused him to be briefly exiled (1771-72). After serving as a naval officer, he returned to politics and took every opportunity to express his hostility to the regime and the court. A deputy for the Second Estate to the estates general, in 1789 he was one of the first to rally to the Third Estate (see revolution of 1789). Allied with mirabeau, he dreamed perhaps of taking Louis XVI's place, or at least of being named regent. Exiled to England after the uprisings of october 5-6, 1789, he returned to France in 1790. Elected deputy to the Convention in 1792 (he had taken the name Philippe Égalité), he voted for the king's death. His own son, the future king louis-philippe, had emigrated with charles dumouriez after this betrayal, and soon the duke d'orléans was arrested by the montagnards, then subsequently sentenced to death and executed.