French Royalty. Louise Marie Adélaïde Eugénie d'Orléans, daughter of Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, and his wife Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, was born at the Palais-Royal in Paris. She was the fifth of six children, and the younger twin of her sister Françoise d'Orléans. She received the title of Mademoiselle de Chartres at birth. After the death of her sister Françoise, Adélaïde was Mademoiselle d'Orléans. As she was legitimately descended from Louis XIII along the male line, she was a "princesse du sang." Her mother inherited one of the largest fortunes in Europe. During the French Revolution, Adélaïde left France with the family governess. They went first to Belgium and then to Switzerland. Her father, who had taken the name "Philippe Égalité," was guillotined in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. Her mother was exiled to Spain and her brothers to the United States. In 1794, the princess moved to the home of her aunt, Maria Fortunata d'Este, Princess of Conti. They moved to Bavaria in 1798, then Bratislava, and finally Barcelona, joining her exiled mother in Spain. Adélaïde returned to Paris after the onset of the Bourbon Restoration in 1814. She opened a salon and made the Palais-Royal the seat of the liberal party. She commissioned an effigy of her brother Antoine Philippe who died from tuberculosis in England in 1807, and had the cenotaph installed at her Château de Randan. Her brother Louis Philippe became King of the French in 1830. His reign, known as the July Monarchy, lasted until 1848. Adélaïde was a loyal confidante to her brother all her life, and continued to exert influence during his reign. She died two months before her brother abdicated the throne, and was interred at the Chapelle Royale de Dreux.
French Royalty. Louise Marie Adélaïde Eugénie d'Orléans, daughter of Louis Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, and his wife Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, was born at the Palais-Royal in Paris. She was the fifth of six children, and the younger twin of her sister Françoise d'Orléans. She received the title of Mademoiselle de Chartres at birth. After the death of her sister Françoise, Adélaïde was Mademoiselle d'Orléans. As she was legitimately descended from Louis XIII along the male line, she was a "princesse du sang." Her mother inherited one of the largest fortunes in Europe. During the French Revolution, Adélaïde left France with the family governess. They went first to Belgium and then to Switzerland. Her father, who had taken the name "Philippe Égalité," was guillotined in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. Her mother was exiled to Spain and her brothers to the United States. In 1794, the princess moved to the home of her aunt, Maria Fortunata d'Este, Princess of Conti. They moved to Bavaria in 1798, then Bratislava, and finally Barcelona, joining her exiled mother in Spain. Adélaïde returned to Paris after the onset of the Bourbon Restoration in 1814. She opened a salon and made the Palais-Royal the seat of the liberal party. She commissioned an effigy of her brother Antoine Philippe who died from tuberculosis in England in 1807, and had the cenotaph installed at her Château de Randan. Her brother Louis Philippe became King of the French in 1830. His reign, known as the July Monarchy, lasted until 1848. Adélaïde was a loyal confidante to her brother all her life, and continued to exert influence during his reign. She died two months before her brother abdicated the throne, and was interred at the Chapelle Royale de Dreux.
Bio by: Anne Philbrick
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