The man who would be King of France if France had a king and if the rival Bourbon pretender didn’t get there first wants his castle back, claiming its present owner has no right to turn it into a hotel.
Jean d’Orléans, the current Count of Paris and head of the Orléans branch of the French royal family and direct descendant of King Louis-Philippe, who was overthrown in 1848, is suing the Institut de France, to which his great grandfather gave the Chateau de Chantilly, with all its art and antiques, in 1886.
The institute, which is the parent body of the Académie Française and other learned bodies, has gotten approval to turn one of the chateau’s pavilions into a €760 a night luxury hotel with spa and haute cuisine restaurant. The plans are currently on hold because of internal issues at the Institute.
The count and his brother have appealed to the national financial prosecutor, claiming that the plans violate the terms of the gift, which includes strict provisions that “prohibit the loan, sale or travel of the thousands of objects and paintings; modification of the hanging of the paintings; or any changes to the exterior or interior architecture of the château,” and that the bequest should now revert to the family.
They’ve also charged that there is a “suspicious disappearance of works” from the site, which has France’s second largest collection of antique paintings, after the Louvre. The chateau itself was built in the late 19th century, replacing buildings dating to the 15th century that were destroyed during the French Revolution. Over the past twenty or so years, it has been repaired and restored at a cost of over €70 million.
image: Jebulon/Wikimedia
