Succession to the French throne (Legitimist)

The Capetian dynasty is the largest dynasty in Europe, with over 120 living male members descended in the legitimate agnatic line. Since the extinction of the House of Courtenay in 1733, the House of Bourbon is the only remaining branch of legitimate descent.

Descendants in the male line of Louis XIV through his grandson Philip V of Spain are designated as House of Bourbon; descendants in the male line of Philip I, Duke of Orléans, are designated as House of Orléans. All those listed below are actually descendants of King Louis XIII; after the death in 1830 of Louis Henry II, the last Prince of Condé (descended from the youngest son of Charles, Duke of Vendôme), no other legitimate lines of descent from Hugh Capet continued to exist.

Patrilineal descent
The Capetian lineage can be traced back more than 1,200 years and is one of the oldest in Europe. The dynasty achieved royal status either in 888, at the election of Odo (a Robertian) to the crown of France, or in 987, at the election of Hugh Capet, making it the oldest Western European royal dynasty in existence.


 * 1) Robert II of Worms and Rheingau, 770–807
 * 2) Robert III of Worms and Rheingau, 800–834
 * 3) Robert the Strong, Margrave of Neustria, 830–866
 * 4) Robert I, King of the Franks, 866–923
 * 5) Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, 898–956
 * 6) Hugh Capet, King of the Franks, 939–996
 * 7) Robert II, King of the Franks, 972–1031
 * 8) Henry I, King of the Franks, 1008–1060
 * 9) Philip I, King of the Franks, 1052–1108
 * 10) Louis VI, King of the Franks, 1081–1137
 * 11) Louis VII, King of the Franks, 1120–1180
 * 12) Philip II, King of France, 1165–1223
 * 13) Louis VIII, King of France, 1187–1226
 * 14) Louis IX, King of France, 1214–1270
 * 15) Robert, Count of Clermont, 1256–1317
 * 16) Louis I, Duke of Bourbon, 1279–1342
 * 17) James I, Count of La Marche, 1319–1362
 * 18) John I, Count of La Marche, 1344–1393
 * 19) Louis, Count of Vendôme, c. 1376–1446
 * 20) John II, Count of Vendôme, 1425–1477
 * 21) Francis, Count of Vendôme, 1470–1495
 * 22) Charles, Duke of Vendôme, 1489–1537
 * 23) Antoine, King of Navarre, 1518–1562
 * 24) Henry IV, King of France, 1553–1610
 * 25) Louis XIII, King of France, 1601–1643

Ancestral lines of the Bourbons

 * Louis XIII, King of France (1601-1643)
 * Louis XIV, King of France (1638-1715)
 * Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)
 * Philip V, King of Spain (1683-1746)
 * Charles III, King of Spain (1716-1788)
 * Charles IV, King of Spain (1748-1819)
 * Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain (1794-1865)
 * Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz (1822-1902)
 * Alfonso XII, King of Spain (1857-1885)
 * Alfonso XIII, King of Spain (1886-1931)
 * [[Image:Blason France moderne.svg|30px]] House of Bourbon
 * [[Image:Coat of Arms of Spanish Monarch.svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Spain
 * Enrique, 1st Duke of Seville (1823-1870)
 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
 * [[Image:Blason duche fr Anjou (moderne).svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Seville
 * Alberto, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939)
 * [[Image:Blason duche fr Anjou (moderne).svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Santa Elena
 * Ferdinand I, King of Two Sicilies (1751-1825)
 * Francis I, King of Two Sicilies (1777-1830)
 * Ferdinand II, King of Two Sicilies (1810-1859)
 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
 * [[Image:Great Royal Coat of Arms of the Two Sicilies.svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
 * Philip I, Duke of Parma (1720-1765)
 * Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma (1751-1802)
 * Louis, King of Etruria (1773-1803)
 * Charles II, Duke of Parma (1799-1883)
 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * [[Image:Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon-Parma.svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Parma
 * Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (1640-1701)
 * Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1674-1723)
 * Louis IV, Duke of Orléans (1703-1752)
 * Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orleans (1725-1785)
 * Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orleans (1747-1793)
 * Louis Philippe I, King of the French (1773-1850)
 * Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans (1810-1842)
 * Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910)
 * [[Image:Blason France moderne.svg|30px]] House of Orléans
 * Louis, Duke of Nemours (1814-1896)
 * Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
 * [[Image:COA Dinasty Orleães-Bragança.svg|30px]] House of Orléans-Braganza
 * Antoine, Duke of Montpensier (1824-1890)
 * Antonio, Duke of Galliera (1866-1934)
 * [[Image:Blason duche fr Orleans (moderne).svg|30px]] House of Orléans-Galliera

House of Bourbon

 * Alfonso XII of Spain (1857-1885), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941)
 * Jaime, Duke of Segovia (1908-1975)
 * Alfonso, Duke of Cadiz (1936-1989)

1. Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou (Madrid 25.4.1974, aged 50), Aîné des Capétiens

2. Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy (New York 28.5.2010, aged 14)

3. Alphonse de Bourbon, Duke of Berry (New York 28.5.2010, aged 14)

4. Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Touraine (New York 1.2.2019, aged 5)

House of Bourbon-Spain

 * Alfonso XII of Spain (1857-1885)
 * Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941)
 * Juan, Count of Barcelona (1913-1993)

1. Juan Carlos I of Spain (Rome 5.1.1938, aged 86)

2. Felipe VI, King of Spain (Madrid 30.1.1968, aged 56)

House of Bourbon-Seville

 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y de la Torre, Duke of Seville (1882-1952)
 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Borbón (1912-1995)

1. Don Francisco de Borbón y Escasany, 5th Duke of Séville (Madrid 16.11.1943, aged 80)

2. Don Francisco de Borbón y Hardenberg (Madrid 21.1.1979, aged 45)

3. Don Alfonso Carlos de Borbón y Escasany (Madrid 10.2.1945, aged 79)

4. Don Alfonso de Borbón y Yordi (Madrid 16.11.1973, aged 50)

5. Don Enrique de Borbón y Garcia de Lobez (Madrid 18.3.1970, aged 54)


 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
 * José de Borbón y La Torre (1883-1962)
 * Carlos de Borbón y Rich (1915-1978)

1. Don Carlos de Borbón y Oro (Ciempozuelos 26.6.1940, aged 84)


 * Francisco de Paula de Borbón y Castellví (1853-1942)
 * José de Borbón y La Torre (1883-1962)
 * Alberto de Borbón y Rich (1916-1997)

1. Don Enrique José de Borbón y Campos (Madrid 11.1.1948, aged 76)

Santa Elena branch

 * Alberto María de Borbón y Castellvi, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Alberto de Borbón y d'Ast, 2nd Duke of Santa Elena (1883-1959)
 * Alfonso María de Borbón y Pintó, Marquess of Santa Fe de Guardiola (1909-1938)
 * Alberto de Borbón y Perez del Pulgar, 3rd Duke of Santa Elena (1933-1995)

1. Don Alfonso de Borbón y Sanchiz, 4th Duke of Santa Elena (Madrid 31.3.1961, aged 63)

2. Don Alfonso de Borbón y Escrivá de Romani (Madrid 2.2.1995, aged 29)


 * Alberto María de Borbón y Castellvi, 1st Duke of Santa Elena (1854-1939)
 * Alberto de Borbón y d'Ast, 2nd Duke of Santa Elena (1883-1959)
 * Alfonso María de Borbón y Pintó, 13th jure uxoris Marquis of Santa Fe de Guardiola (1909-1938)
 * Alfonso de Borbón y Perez del Pulgar (1937-2007)
 * Alfonso de Borbón y Medina (1963-2005)

1. Don Alfonso de Borbón y Pérez-Menzel (6.11.1999, aged 24)

2. Don Fernando de Borbón y Medina (Seville 15.6.1966, aged 58)

3. Don Fernando de Borbón y Vallejo (12.3.2001, aged 23)

4. Don Ignacio de Borbón y Vallejo (12.10.2005, aged 18)

5. Don Jaime Santiago de Borbón y Medina (Seville 19.7.1971, aged 53)

Calabria branch

 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1870-1949)
 * Alfonso, Duke of Calabria (1901-1964)
 * Carlos, Duke of Calabria (1938-2015),

1. Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (Madrid 16.10.1968, aged 55)

2. Prince Juan of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 18.4.2003, aged 21)

3. Prince Pablo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 28.6.2004, aged 20)

4. Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Madrid 3.1.2007, aged 17)

Castro branch

 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
 * Ranieri, Duke of Castro (1883-1973)
 * Ferdinand, Duke of Castro (1926-2008)

1. Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro (St.Raphael 24.2.1963, aged 61)


 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
 * Filippo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1885-1949)
 * Gaëtano of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1917-1984)

1. (Warrington 7.4.1948, aged 76)

2. (Harare 5.5.1977, aged 47)

3. (Warrington 2.1.1950, aged 74)

4. (Vancouver 11.4.1974, aged 50)

5.

6. (Harare 8.11.1978, aged 45)


 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
 * Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897-1975)
 * Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1929-2019)

1. Prince François of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Ravensburg 20.6.1960, aged 64)

2. Prince Antoine of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Geneva 6.6.2003, aged 21)

3. Prince Gennaro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Ravensburg 27.1.1966, aged 58)


 * Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841-1934)
 * Gabriel of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1897-1975)

1. Prince Casimir of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Warsaw 8.11.1938, aged 85)

2. Prince Louis of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (Rio de Janeiro 28.11.1970, aged 53)

3. Prince Paulo Afonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (2014, aged 0)

4. Prince Alexander of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (São Paulo 9.8.1974, aged 50), priest

House of Bourbon-Parma

 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * Xavier, Duke of Parma (1889-1977)
 * Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma (1930-2010)

1. Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma (Nijmegen 27.1.1970, aged 54)

2. Carlos, Hereditary Prince of Bourbon-Parma (The Hague 24.4.2016, aged 8)

3. Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, Count of Bardi (Nijmegen 13.10.1972, aged 51)

4. Prince Sixte Henri of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Aranjuez (Pau 22.7.1940, aged 84)

Luxembourg branch

 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970)
 * Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1921-2019)

1. Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 16.4.1955, aged 69)

2. Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 11.11.1981, aged 42)

3. Prince Charles of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 10.5.2020, aged 4)

4. Prince Félix of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 3.6.1984, aged 40)

5. Prince Liam of Nassau (Geneva 28.11.2016, aged 7)

6. Prince Louis of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 3.8.1986, aged 38)

7. Prince Noah of Nassau (Luxembourg 21.9.2007, aged 16)

8. Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg (Luxembourg 17.4.1992, aged 32)

9. Prince Jean of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 15.5.1957, aged 67)

10. Prince Constantin of Nassau (Paris 22.7.1988, aged 36)

11. Prince Wenceslas of Nassau (Paris 17.11.1990, aged 33)

12. Prince Carl-Johan of Nassau (Paris 15.8.1992, aged 31)

13. Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg (Chat. Betzdorf 1.5.1963, aged 61)

14. Prince Paul Louis of Nassau (Luxembourg 4.3.1998, aged 26)

15. Prince Léopold of Nassau (Luxembourg 2.5.2000, aged 24)

16. Prince Jean of Nassau (Luxembourg 13.7.2004, aged 20)


 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * Felix of Bourbon-Parma (1893-1970)
 * Charles of Luxembourg (1927-1977)

1. Prince Robert of Luxembourg (Fischbach 22.8.1968, aged 55)

2. Prince Alexandre of Nassau (Aix-en-Provence 18.4.1997, aged 27)

3. Prince Frederik of Nassau (Aix-en-Provence 18.3.2002, aged 22)

House of Bourbon-Parma

 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
 * Jacques of Bourbon-Parma (1922-1964)

1. Prince Philippe of Bourbon-Parma (Copenhagen 22.1.1949, aged 75)

2. Jacques de Bourbon-Parme (Roskilde 3.1.1986, aged 38)

3. Joseph de Bourbon-Parme (Roskilde 6.6.1989, aged 35)

4. Prince Alain of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 15.5.1955, aged 69)


 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
 * Michel of Bourbon-Parma (1926-2018)
 * Eric of Bourbon-Parma (1953-2021)

1. Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma (Lejre 12.2.1989, aged 35)

2. Prince Henri of Bourbon-Parma (Roskilde 14.10.1991, aged 32)

3. Prince Charles Emmanuel of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 3.6.1961, aged 63)

4. Prince Amaury of Bourbon-Parma (Paris 30.10.1991, aged 32)


 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * René of Bourbon-Parma (1894-1962)
 * André of Bourbon-Parma (1928-2011)

1. Axel de Bourbon-Parme (Paris 18.9.1967, aged 56)

2. Côme de Bourbon-Parme (Neuilly 7.5.1997, aged 27)


 * Charles III, Duke of Parma (1823-1854)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * Luigi of Bourbon-Parma (1899-1967)
 * Guy of Bourbon-Parma (1940-1991)

1. Louis de Bourbon-Parme (Paris 25.6.1966, aged 58)

2. Guy de Bourbon-Parme (Genolier, CH 6.2.1995, aged 29)

3. Prince Rémy of Bourbon-Parma (Cannes 14.7.1942, aged 82)

4. Tristan de Bourbon-Parme (Cannes 30.6.1974, aged 50)

5. Prince Jean Bernard of Bourbon-Parma (Cannes 15.10.1961, aged 62)

6. Arnaud de Bourbon-Parme (Cannes 26.10.1989, aged 34)

7. Christophe de Bourbon-Parme (Mandelieu 4.7.1991, aged 33)

House of Orléans

 * Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
 * Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)
 * Henri d'Orléans, Count of Paris (1933-2019)

1. Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris (Boulogne-Billancourt 19.5.1965, aged 59)

2. Prince Gaston d'Orléans (Paris 19.11.2009, aged 14)

3. Prince Joseph d'Orléans (Dreux 2.6.2016, aged 8)

4. Eudes d'Orléans, Duke of Angoulême (Paris 18.3.1968, aged 56)

5. Prince Pierre d'Orléans (Cannes 6.8.2003, aged 20)


 * Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910),
 * Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
 * Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)

1. Michel d'Orléans, Count of Evreux (Rabat, Maroc 25.6.1941, aged 83)

2. Charles Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Anjou (Paris 3.3.1973, aged 51)

3. Prince François d'Orléans, Count of Dreux (Madrid 10.2.1982, aged 42)

4. Prince Philippe d'Orléans (12.5.2017, aged 7)

5. Jacques d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans (Rabat, Maroc 25.6.1941, aged 83)

6. Charles-Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres (Neuilly-sur-Seine 11.7.1972, aged 52)

7. Prince Philippe d'Orléans (Buenos Aires 3.11.1998, aged 25)

8. Prince Constantin d'Orléans (Paris 15.2.2003, aged 21)

9. Foulques d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale (Paris 9.7.1974, aged 50)


 * Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910)
 * Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
 * Henri, Count of Paris (1908-1999)
 * Thibaut, Count of La Marche (1948-1983)

1. Robert d'Orléans, Count of La Marche (Edinburgh 6.9.1976, aged 47)

Petrópolis branch

 * Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875-1940)
 * Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza (1913-2007)

1. Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 31.10.1945, aged 78)

2. Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 12.1.1979, aged 45)

3. Prince Filipe of Orléans-Braganza (Brasília 31.12.1982, aged 41)

4. Prince Alfonso Duarte of Orléans-Braganza (Petrópolis 25.4.1948, aged 76)

5. Prince Manoel Alvaro of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 17.6.1949, aged 75)

6. Prince Manoel Alfonso of Orléans-Braganza (Sevilla 9.4.1981, aged 43)

7. Prince Francisco Humberto of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 9.12.1956, aged 67)

8. Prince Francisco Teodoro of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 25.9.1979, aged 44)

9. Prince Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 13.11.1989, aged 34)


 * Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
 * Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará (1875-1940)
 * João of Orléans-Braganza (1916-2005)

1. Prince João Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 25.4.1954, aged 70)

2. Prince João Felipe of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 27.11.1986, aged 37)

3. Prince João Antônio of Orléans-Braganza (Singapore 21.6.2017, aged 7)

Vassouras branch
Vassouras


 * Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
 * Luís of Orléans-Braganza (1878-1920)
 * Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (1909-1981)

1. Prince Luiz of Orléans-Braganza (Mandelieu 6.6.1938, aged 86)


 * Gaston, Count of Eu (1842-1922)
 * Luís of Orléans-Braganza (1878-1920)
 * Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza (1909-1981)
 * Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza (1939-2020)

1. Luiz Philippe of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 3.4.1969, aged 55)

2. Maximiliano of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 14.6.2012, aged 12)

3. Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza (Mandelieu 2.2.1941, aged 83)

4. Prince Pedro de Alcântara of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 1.12.1945, aged 78)

5. Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 1.12.1980, aged 43)

6. Gabriel of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 12.4.2013, aged 11)

7. Prince Fernando of Orléans-Braganza (Petropolis 2.2.1948, aged 76)

8. Prince Antonio of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 24.6.1950, aged 74)

9. Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 24.4.1986, aged 38)

10. Prince Francisco of Orléans-Braganza (Jacarezinho 6.4.1955, aged 69)

11. Prince Alberto of Orléans-Braganza (Jundiai do Sol 23.6.1957, aged 67)

12. Pedro Alberto of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 31.5.1988, aged 36)

13. Antonio of Orléans-Braganza (Rio de Janeiro 29.5.1997, aged 27)

House of Orléans-Galliera

 * Antonio, Duke of Galliera (1866-1930), eighth-generation descendant of Louis XIII
 * Alfonso, Duke of Galliera (1886-1975)
 * Alvaro, Duke of Galliera (1910-1997)
 * Alonso d'Orléans-Borbón (1941-1975)

1. Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón, Duke of Galliera (Santa Cruz, Teneriffe 2.1.1968, aged 56)

2. Don Alonso Juan de Orléans-Borbón (Paris 15.7.1994, aged 30)

3. Don Alvaro de Orléans-Borbón (Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, 4.10.1969, aged 54)

4. Don Aiden de Orléans-Borbón (Spain, 19.6.2009, aged 15)

5. Don Alvaro Jaime de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 1.3.1947, aged 77)

6. Don Andrea de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 9.7.1976, aged 48)

7. Don Alois de Orléans-Borbón (Rome 24.3.1979, aged 45)

8. Don Alonso de Orléans-Borbón (Madrid 23.3.2010, aged 14)(In French, the list comes to 114 people)

Dynastic claims
According to the "Legitimist" faction of French royalists, all male descendants of Hugh Capet in the legitimate male line are dynasts of the Kingdom of France. According to them, the current heir to the French throne, if restored, is Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou.

Traditional "legitimacy" is based on the old rules that existed in the Ancien Régime of the Kingdom of France; civil marriages were then non-existent. Eudes de Orléans-Bragança (b. 1977) and his brother Guy de Orléans-Bragança (b. 1985), sons of Prince Eudes of Orléans-Braganza, were born of civil marriage only, since their father did not obtain an annulment for his first marriage. Consequently, they are regarded as illegitimate according to canon law. Legitimated children, born before their parents' marriage, such as the eldest sons of the Duke of Noto and Louis de Luxembourg, were also excluded from the list.

According to the Orleanist faction of French royalists, the current heir to the French throne, if restored, is Jean d'Orléans, Count of Paris. They consider foreigners ineligible to inherit the French throne, or at least the line of descent from Philip V of Spain (who renounced the French throne in the Treaty of Utrecht). The Orleanist order of succession is limited to the senior line of the House of Orleans (the cadet branches of Orleans-Braganza and Orleans-Galliera, and the descendants of Philip V of Spain are considered foreigners). However, François d'Orléans, Count of Clermont, had been disinherited due to mental disability, and the branches of Michel d'Orléans, Count of Evreux and Jacques d'Orléans, Duke of Orleans (fraternal twins) are reversed according to "historical French primogeniture".

Renunciations
The renunciations of rights to thrones have created rival claims and disputes among the existing branches of the House of Bourbon.

The first of these is the renunciation in 1713, confirmed in the Treaties of Utrecht, of Philip V of Spain, grandson of Louis XIV of France, of his rights to the French throne so that he would be recognised as King of Spain. Such renunciation could have been seen invalid under the fundamental laws of the French kingdom; in France, the right of succession to the throne was considered an inalienable right, so that the king should always be the senior male descendant of Hugh Capet. Nevertheless, the act was of no practical significance until the extinction of the male line of Louis XV of France, which did not occur until 1883. By then the monarchy was no more, and most of the remaining royalists supported the Count of Paris, descendant of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIV.

Charles III of Spain ordained that the Kingdoms of Spain and Two Sicilies ought never to be united. In context, the semi-Salic law of succession then operated in Spain, with Two Sicilies as a secundogeniture if that throne is vacant. In 1900, Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies renounced his rights of succession to the throne of Two Sicilies, upon his marriage to Mercedes, Princess of Asturias. This made his children heirs presumptive to the Spanish throne. But Alfonso XII and his line pushed them farther down the line of succession, while the death of Ferdinand, Carlos' elder brother, made them immediate heirs to the defunct throne of Two Sicilies. Carlos' son Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, reclaimed his rights, to which his uncle, Prince Ranieri, Duke of Castro, objected. The dispute is still unresolved; the Calabria claimant is supported by Spain, while the Castro claimant is supported by other royal houses and the other members of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

In 1908, Pedro de Alcântara, Prince of Grão-Pará, wished to marry Countess Elisabeth Dobržensky de Dobrženicz. Although a Bohemian noblewoman, she did not belong to a royal or reigning dynasty. The constitution of the Brazilian empire did not require dynasts to marry equally, but made the marriage of the heir to the throne dependent upon the Sovereign's consent. The pretender to the throne was Pedro's mother, who wanted her children to marry royalty, in order to increase the prospects of a restoration. As a result, he renounced his succession rights to the throne of Brazil. Thus the Vassouras branch, descendants of his younger brother, Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, became the heirs of the Brazilian monarchy. But in 1940, Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza, Pedro's son, rejected his father's renunciation and claimed the headship of the Brazilian Imperial House.

Other renunciations

 * Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia, renounced his rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants in 1933 due to his deafness. In 1949, he retracted his renunciation of the throne of Spain, but in 1969, Don Jaime definitively renounced the Spanish succession in favour of his nephew, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, by petition of his son Alfonso de Borbón.
 * Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg renounced the titles of the House of Bourbon-Parma for himself and his family in 1986 when his eldest son, then-Hereditary Grand Duke Henri married Maria-Theresa Mestre. The reason for this was that the Duke of Parma, Carlos Hugo, ruled the marriage unequal in 1981, as well as the marriage of Prince Jean of Luxembourg to Hélène Suzanna Vestur in 1987, for which he renounced his rights to Luxembourg in 1986.
 * Prince Louis of Luxembourg, renounced his right of succession for himself and his heirs upon his morganatic marriage in 2006.