Ferdinand Philippe, Duke of Orléans

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French Monarchy House of Orléans Louis-Philippe Children    Ferdinand-Philippe, Crown Prince of France    Louise-Marie of France    Marie of Orléans    Louis, Duke of Nemours    Francisca of Orléans    Clementine of Orléans    François, Prince of Joinville    Charles, Duke of Penthièvre    Henri, Duke of Aumale    Antoine, Duke of Montpensier Grandchildren    Philippe (VII), Count of Paris    Robert, Duke of Chartres    Gaston, Count of Eu    Ferdinand Philippe Marie, Duke of Alençon    Margaret of Orléans    Blanche of Orléans    Marie-Françoise of Orléans    Louis Philippe Marie Léopold, Prince of Condé    François Louis, Duke of Guise Great Grandchildren    Amélie of Orléans    Philippe (VIII), Duke of Orléans    Hélène of Orléans    Charles of Orléans    Isabelle of Orléans    Jacques of Orléans    Louise of Orléans    Ferdinand, Duke of Montpensier    Marie of Orléans    Robert of Orléans    Henri of Orléans    Marguerite of Orléans    Jean, Duke of Guise    Louise of Orléans    Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Vendôme and Alençon Great Great Grandchildren    Isabelle of Orléans    Françoise of Orléans    Anne of Orlçans    Henri (VI), Count of Paris Great Great Great Grandchildren    Isabella of Orléans    Henri (VII), Count of Paris    Hélène of Orléans    François, Duke of Orléans    Anne of Orléans    Diane of Orléans    Michel, Count of Evreux    Jacques, Duke of Orléans    Claude of Orléans    Chantal of Orléans    Thibaut, Count of La Marche    Marie Louise of Orléans    Sophie Joséphine of Orléans    Geneviève Marie of Orléans    Charles Philippe, Duke of Nemours Great Great Great Great Grandchildren    Marie of Orléans    François, Count of Clermont    Blanche of Orléans    Jean, Duke of Vendôme    Eudes, Duke of Angoulême    Clothilde of Orléans    Adélaïde of Orléans    Charles Philippe, Duke of Anjou    François of Orléans    Diane Marie of Orléans    Charles-Louis, Duke of Chartres    Foulques, Duke of Aumale, Count of Eu

HRH Prince Ferdinand-Philippe of Orléans (September 3, 1810—July 13, 1842) was Prince Royal of France.

Born Ferdinand Philippe Louis Charles Henri Joseph of Orléans in Palermo, Italy, he was the eldest son of the then exiled future king Louis-Philippe of France and Princess Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies.

At his birth Ferdinand-Philippe was given the title of Duke of Chartres. In 1830 when his father was offered the French throne by the Chamber of Deputies, Ferdinand-Philippe received the title of Duke of Orléans.

His marriage was arranged to the Duchess Helena Luisa Elizabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (known as Hélène, January 24, 1814—May 18, 1858).

They had two children:

• Philippe, Count of Paris (1838-1894), Prince Royal, who married Marie Isabelle of Orléans, Princess of Spain (1848—1919).
• Robert, Duke of Chartres (1840-1910), married Françoise of Orléans (b.1844-d.1925).

Hélène adored her husband, but tragically, when he was only 32 years old, Ferdinand-Philippe died in a carriage accident in Sablonville in the Hauts-de-Seine département. He was interred in an elaborate tomb in the Chapelle Royale, in Dreux, Eure-et-Loir.

Nearly 16 years later, Helene died, on May 18, 1858 in Richmond, Surrey, England, where members of the French royal family had been forced to flee after the revolt against King Louis-Philippe and the election of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte as President of France. Because Hélène was a Protestant, she could not be buried in the Catholic Chapelle Royale at Dreux. Instead a room with a separate entrance was built attached to the chapel and a window was opened between her tomb and her husband's. The sculpture of the Protestant princess rests atop her tomb, depicting her reaching through the opening to the tomb of her beloved Catholic prince.