Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale

Henri Eugène Philippe Louis d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale (January 16, 1822 – May 7, 1897) was a leader of the Orleanists, a political faction in 19th century France associated with constitutional monarchy. He was born in Paris, the fifth son of King Louis-Philippe and Marie Amalie of Bourbon-Sicilies. He used the title duc d'Aumale. He retired from public life in 1883.

Early life
Born at the Palais Royal in Paris, he was brought up by his parents with great simplicity, he was educated at the college of Henri IV.

At the very young age of 8, he inherited a fortune of 66 million livres (approximately £200 million today), the lands and wealth of his godfather, Louis VI Henri de Bourbon-Condé, the last prince de Condé. Henri also inherited the famous Château de Chantilly, domaines of Saint-Leu, Taverny, Enghien, Montmorency and Mortefontaine. He also gained the Château d'Écouen. At the age of seventeen he entered the army with the rank of a captain of infantry.

Marriage and children
On November 25, 1844, he married Princess Maria Carolina Augusta of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, daughter of the Leopold, Prince of Salerno and his wife Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, in Naples. The couple had four children, two of whom reached adulthood:
 * Louis Philippe Marie Léopold d'Orléans, Prince of Condé (15 November 1845 – 24 May 1866)
 * Henri Léopold Philippe Marie d'Orléans, Duke of Guise (11 September 1847 – 10 October 1847)
 * François Paul d'Orléans, Duke of Guise (11 January 1852 – 15 April 1852)
 * François Louis Philippe Marie d'Orléans, Duke of Guise (5 January 1854 – 25 July 1872)

Military
He distinguished himself during the French invasion of Algeria and, in 1847, he became lieutenant-general and was appointed Governor-General of Algeria, a position he held from September 27, 1847 to February 24, 1848.

In this capacity he received the submission of the emir Abdel Kadir, in December 1847. After the Revolution of 1848, he retired to England and busied himself with historical and military studies, replying in 1861 by a Letter upon History of France to Napoleon III's violent attacks upon the House of Orléans.

On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, he volunteered for service in the French army but his offer was declined. Elected deputy for the Oise département, he returned to France, and succeeded to the fauteuil of the comte Montalembert in the Académie française. In March 1872 he resumed his place in the army as Général de division and, in 1873, presided over the court-martial which condemned Marshal Bazaine to death.

At this time, having been appointed commander of the VII Army Corps at Besançon, he retired from political life and, in 1879, became inspector-general of the army. The act of exception, passed in 1883, deprived all members of families that had reigned in France of their military positions. Consequently, the duc d'Aumale was placed on the unemployed supernumerary list.

Subsequently, in 1886, another law was promulgated which expelled from French territory the heads of former reigning families and provided that, henceforward, all members of those families should be disqualified for any public position or function and election to any public body. The duc d'Aumale protested energetically but was nonetheless expelled.

Bibliophile


He was a noted collector of old manuscripts and books. His library remains at Chantilly.

Death
By his will of the June 3, 1884, however, he had bequeathed to the Institute of France his Chantilly estate, including the Château de Chantilly, with all the art-collection he had collected there, to become a museum. This generosity led the government to withdraw the decree of exile and the duke returned to France in 1889. He died in Zucco, Sicily and was buried in Dreux, in the chapel of the Orléans.