| Charles | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Penthièvre | |
| Full name | |
| Charles Ferdinand Louis Philippe Emmanuel d'Orléans | |
| House | House of Orléans |
| Father | Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans |
| Mother | Maria Amalia of Naples |
| Born | 16 January 1820 Palais-Royal, Paris, France |
| Died | 25 July 1828 (aged 8) Château de Neuilly, Paris, France |
| Burial | Chapelle royale de Dreux |
Charles d'Orléans (Charles Ferdinand Louis Philippe Emmanuel; 1 January 1820 – 25 July 1828[1]) was the eighth child of the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, future Louis Philippe I and la Reine Marie Amélie. He was created Duke of Penthièvre, a title previously held by his great grandfather.
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Charles d'Orléans was born at the Palais Royal in Paris, the official city residence of the Orléans family since 1692.[2]. Inside his family, he was nicknamed Pimpin[3].
He was the fourth of six sons born to the Orléans; Ferdinand Philippe born in 1810; the Duke of Nemours born in 1814; the Prince of Joinville born in 1818 who was followed by Charles. His younger brother's were the Duke of Aumale and the Duke of Montpensier. His oldest sister Louise married Leopold I of Belgium. Another sister Clémentine was the mother of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. He was born one month premature and it was believed he would not live[3]. Although he lived, he remained both physically weak and mentally retarded[3]. He was cared by a servant named Joseph Uginet, who loved him greatly[3].
Charles was given the title of Duke of Penthièvre, which had passed to the House of Orléans by inheritance; Charles paternal grandmother Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, wife of Philippe Égalité, was a great heiress and inherited the Penthièvre fortune from her father prior to the Revolution. As such, the Orléans family were one of the wealthiest in Europe rivalling that of the mainline in the previous century.
As a member of the House of Orléans, he was a prince of the Blood by birth and this entitled him to the style of His Serene Highness. It was not till September, 1824, when the then King Charles X, gave the Duke of Orléans and his family the style of Royal Highness.
He died at the Château de Neuilly on the outskirts of Paris in 1828 aged 8. Uginet wrote: "Pimpin dies from horrible spasms, July 25, 1828"[3]. Possible brides included his first cousin Princess Maria Carolina of the Two Sicilies, also born in 1820. She later married Infante Carlos, Count of Montemolin but died childless.
Charles was buried at the Chapelle royale de Dreux, burial place of the House of Orléans remodelled by his patenal grandmother Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon whom he never met. Under two years after his death, his father became the King of the French on 9 August 1830.
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