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
 * Enrique, 1st Duke of Seville (1823-1870)
 * [[Image:Blason duche fr Anjou (moderne).svg|30px]] House of Bourbon-Seville
 * 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)
 * Robert I, Duke of Parma (1848-1907)
 * [[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)
 * Jean, Duke of Guise (1874-1940)
 * Henri, Count of Paris (1908–1999)
 * [[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)
 * Infante Alfonso, Duke of Galliera (1886-1975)
 * Infante Álvaro, Duke of Galliera (1910-1997)
 * [[Image:Blason duche fr Orleans (moderne).svg|30px]] House of Orléans-Galliera

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.