Who would be king of France today?

Answer 1

Ah well, that depends. There are three royal families, unfortunately.

1. First, the Bourbons - the lineal descendants of all those Louis. Unfortunately, this direct line has died out, so the ultra-legitimists go back to Philip V of Spain, second grandson of Louis XIV, who actually renounced his succession; so the claim to the French throne passes to the Spanish royal family. As the inheritance rules for the French monarchy are different from those of Spain, the current claimant is not the King of Spain but Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, or Louis XX. He was born in Madrid in 1974. His wife is currently expecting twins.

2. The Orléans branch, descendants of Louis-Philippe, who became King of France in 1830 following the abdication of Charles X and his son. Their claim is on much firmer ground, since the main body of Legitimists agreed to support their claims after the direct Bourbon line died out in 1873. The current pretender is Prince Henri Philippe Pierre Marie d'Orléans, Comte de Paris, or Henri VII. He is, in fact, descended from both branches of the royal family.

3. Let us not, however, forget than France has had hereditary Emperors as well as Kings, and a third claim is made by the Bonaparte family. Their rules of succession are again different from all others (after all, Napoleon I was not himself an eldest son), and their current claimant is his great-great-grand-nephew, Charles, Prince Napoléon (Charles Marie Jérôme Victor Napoléon Bonaparte, born 19 October 1950. This claim is complicated by the fact that he has a son. Jean-Christophe, who was nominated (bypassing Charles) as successor by his grandfather, so that father and son can both claim to be Napoleon VII.

So the answer is that the Comte de Paris would be King, but Jean-Christophe Bonaparte would be Emperor.

In either case, it ain't going to happen.