Adélaïde d'Orléans
Princess Adélaïde | |
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Madame Adélaïde | |
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon |
Louise Marie Adélaïde Eugénie d'Orléans (23 August 1777 – 31 December 1847) was a French princess, one of the daughters of
Biography
Adélaïde and her older twin sister Françoise were born at the
During the French Revolution, de Genlis on at least one occasion took her to the radical Cordelieres Club. In 1791, her father asked de Genlis to take her to England for her safety. The year after, he summoned them back to prevent Adelaide's name from being placed on the list of émigrés. When they arrived, however, de Genlis discovered that Adélaïde was already on the list and that her father, whose political situation had deteriorated, asked her to take Adélaïde out of the country again.
Adelaide received painting lessons from Pierre-Joseph Redouté and produced some highly regarded botanical studies as a result.[1]
Life in exile
In 1792, she left France with de Genlis to the
On 25 November 1809, she and her mother attended the wedding of her brother
Return to France
After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, she returned with her brother and his family to Paris and settled with them in Palais-Royal. During the Bourbon Restoration, Palais-Royal was described as a center of high society social life in the capital, and reportedly, despite the fact that custom dictated that she as an unmarried "spinster" was expected to live in the background, it was she rather than her more reserved sister-in-law who took the role of hostess.
She was described as firm, intellectual, and frank, and she was a leading force in the family councils of the House of Orléans. Her loyalty to her brother has been described as due to the fact that, early separated from her family, she was treated with reserve during her exile because of the political actions of her father during the revolution, and her brother was the first person she could lavish her affection upon. Louis Philippe, in turn, relied upon her intelligence and loyalty, made her his confidant and listened to her advice, and consequently, she came to exert great political influence upon him. Being brought up a liberal, she supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy and a representative government.
She was not on good terms with the reigning Bourbon family; because of their reactionary ideas, and also because the hostility shown by them toward the Orléans line, and to her particularly by
July Monarchy
When Louis-Philippe became King of the French in the reign known as the July Monarchy (1830–1848), she was known as Madame Adélaïde. All her life, she was his loyal advisor or, in 19th century parlance, his "Egeria". It was she who, reportedly, encouraged him to accept the crown during the July Revolution, and her influence continued undisturbed during his reign. When tumult followed the publication of the Ordinances in 1830 and erupted in the July revolution in Paris, the Orléans family was at the country estate Neuilly.
Adélaïde convinced Louis-Philippe that the moment was right for him to place himself as the leader of the opposition against the
At 6 August 1830, she and her sister-in-law were present at the tribune on the ceremony at the chambers in Paris when Louis Philippe was declared King of the French. She and her sister-in-law visited those who had been wounded during the revolution, and supported them financially. In October 1830, a mob broke into the Palais-Royal, and repeated attempts were made to execute the ministers of the former regime, which was refused by Louis-Philippe. When marshal Gerard remarked that it would be difficult to save them, she replied: "Well Monsieur, then we will all perish in the attempt".[2] During his reign, Louis-Philippe visited her daily, discussed the matters of state and family with her, and followed her advice.[2] Her death was therefore regarded as a great loss not only on an emotional but also a political scale.
Adélaïde d'Orléans died on 31 December 1847, two months before Louis Philippe's abdication on 24 February 1848. She is buried in the Orléans family necropolis in the Royal Chapel of Dreux.
Ancestors
Ancestors of Adélaïde d'Orléans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bibliography
- "Mademoiselle d'Orléans", The Edinburgh Annual Register (1816): 290–291.