The Orleans-branch used to stick to titles belonging to their line of the family even after the death of the count of Chambord when they became the (be it disputed) main line of the French Royal House.
The father of the deceased count started giving away other titles and revived older titles previously used by other branches of the family that had died out.
The deceased was the first head of his family to use his father's title after the death of the late count. His mother remained the style of countess of Paris and Micaela did not take that title until her mother-in-law had passed away. For that reason Henri took the title duke of France and his wife was styled as Duchess of France. The title seems to have been a very old one but is also odd as he is the pretender to be King of France so styling yourself as Duke of France was not understood.
The father of the deceased inherited a great fortune. He and his wife Isabelle had 9 children so not a cheap family to run. In someway he managed to go through most of it. His marriage became one in paper only and he and Isabelle lived separate lives. She as a much loved matriarch of a large family in her apartment in Paris and a pavilion near her childhood home Chateau d' Eu.
He lived with his girlfriend and there are suspicions his girlfriend got a serious chunk of his fortune while hardly anything went to his offspring.
The deceased had to live of what he made himself with his watercolours. His heir prince Jean did inherit a few things, his wife got the sapphire earrings of Queen Marie Amelie and he inherited some forest land from his grandmother Isabelle. His mother belongs to the rather wealthy Wurtembergs so i think he is better off than his father.
To British eyes, it seems a little odd to see the head of the house opting to be known by the Count title over Duke or Prince, both of which seem higher in rank but maybe in France it is different?
What was the origin of the use of the title Count of Paris? Why Duke of France?
From reading Marlene's blog and various other accounts, it seems that the Orleans family were even relatively recently VERY wealthy, what happened? Its quite rare to lose it ALL in a single generation and would require pretty catastrophic choices.
I read with surprise about the genteel poverty of the father of the recently deceased Count of Paris, but what about his mother the incredibly glamorous Isabel of Orleans-Braganza? Was she impoverished towards the end of her life also? She was always incredibly elegant and well turned out right to the end.
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