The Worst Cousin Ever?: The Curious Case of Philippe Égalité

In the tale of the French Revolution, how bad must you be to be referred to as the “worst person of this story” by Dominic Sandbrook? The Revolution featured the bumbling and incompetent King Louis XVI, the bloodthirsty Maximillien Robespierre and war criminal Jean-Baptiste Carrier - yet the man Sandbrook was referring was Louis-Philippe-Joseph, the Duke of Orléans, who would later rename himself as ‘Philippe Égalité’. A man born into one of the wealthiest families in France changing his name to what translates to ‘Philip Equality’ should give an early indication why some have this tainted perception of him. This article will explore Philippe’s life and how he, despite being the cousin of King Louis XVI, voted in favour of Louis’ execution, before meeting the guillotine’s blade himself in the same year. 

Philippe was born as Louis-Philippe-Joseph in 1747. His father held the position of Duke of Orléans from 1752, with Philippe being set to inherit the position upon his father’s death. In his early years, a young Philippe lived a ‘libertine’ lifestyle that Pete Doherty could only aspire to, as a renowned womaniser and fathering several illegitimate children. However, following his marriage to Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon in 1769, he settled down, for a number of months, before returning to his womanising ways, including supposed affairs with famous figures such as author Grace Elliot and activist Olympe de Gouges.  

In typical ‘Ancien Régime’ practice, after Philippe showed the slightest interest in the military, he was made the ‘Chef d’Escadre’ of the French Navy in 1776, one of the highest ranks within the Navy. However, during the Anglo-French War of 1778, at the Battle of Ouessant, Philippe failed to exploit a gap in the British naval line. Failing to exploit gaps in a defence is something that most Manchester United fans have become accustomed to. This allowed many British ships to escape at the end of the battle. Initially, Philippe returned to Versailles claiming a resounding victory for the French, but when the news emerged that, because of his mistake, the battle was more of a draw, he was disgraced and withdrew from the navy. Historian Antonia Fraser wrote that when Philippe attended a ball following his return, he referred to the appearance of one of the women in attendance as “faded”, to which she replied, “like your reputation, Monseigneur!”. 

Following his embarrassing military affair, he asked King Louis XVI, his cousin, for a position within the army’s expedition to America, a proposal promptly rejected by Louis. Then, after Philippe had reportedly been involved in ‘palace intrigue’ involving corrupt ministers, Louis had him banished from the French court. These were two hugely significant events that likely soured Philippe’s view of Louis XVI and the Bourbon family - which can go some way towards explaining his later actions.  

Philippe was given ownership of the Palais-Royal in 1776 by his father, which was a grand palace in central Paris, that is currently a five-minute walk from the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe. In 1785, his father passed away, allowing Philippe to inherit the title of the Duke of Orléans and his father’s wealth. He used this wealth to renovate the Palais-Royal, turning it into a hub for revolutionary activity, still 4 years prior to the Storming of the Bastille. He built theatres, cafés and shops inside, while opening the palace up to all classes and estates. It also quickly became a hub for illegal activity because of the Duke’s refusal to allow police onto his private property. The Palais thus became a marketplace for revolutionary ideals at a time when books and printing presses were subject to royal censorship. This all greatly boosted the Duke’s popularity and centrality to the development of the future revolution. Many in the National Assembly later credited the Palais for being the birthplace of the Revolution, with writer Antoine Rivarol writing that without the Palais-Royal, events of the Revolution would have taken a different course.  

Following his falling out with Louis XVI, Philippe became a man of the Enlightenment, embracing the works of philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau. He advocated against feudalism, slavery and particularly significantly, against absolute monarchy - instead advocating for a constitutional monarchy closer to that of Britain. His inheritance of the title of the Duke of Orléans also meant he was ‘First Prince of the Blood’, meaning that should the ruling Bourbon line of succession crumble and die out, he would be next in line to the throne. Given this, it is no surprise that his desire for the throne was almost undoubtedly the most significant factor in his support for the revolution. He was always looking to improve his reputation among the sans-culottes, with one incident commonly cited being his role in the Réveillon riots of April 1789. After the riots broke out due to a factory owner lowering his workers’ wages, Philippe was said to have tossed out coins into the crowd, which, in spite of its vain, tokenistic and seemingly painful nature - appeared to actually boost the Duke’s popularity. 

When King Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General in 1789 to address the nation’s financial and political unrest, Philippe was summoned as a representative of the Second Estate (the nobility) and led a liberal minority within the Second Estate that was largely sympathetic to the demands of the Third Estate (the vast majority of the population). When the Estates-General ground to a halt and the Third Estate broke away to form the National Assembly, in the proclamation of the Tennis Court Oath, Philippe led 47 nobles into joining them, illustrating his early revolutionary credentials - in a very ‘pick-me’ nature.  

It was frequently argued that Philippe had secretly funded and incited many moments of the early revolution. The most significant of these came about during the Women’s March on Versailles of October 1789, in which thousands of women confronted the King and Queen directly and ordered them to relocate back to central Paris. Due to the violent and dramatic nature of the confrontation, Marie Antoinette believed that the women that confronted and likely attempted to murder her did so upon the orders of the Duke. While the influence that Philippe had upon the events is up for debate, the High Court of the Grand Châtelet accused him of acting as an accomplice in an attempt to murder Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  

The leader of the National Guard, the Marquis de Lafayette, was likely threatened by the revolutionary clout of Philippe, whose influence challenged Lafayette’s attempted control over the Revolution at the time. As a result of this, Lafayette convinced Philippe to leave for Britain in a form of self-imposed exile, to which Philippe begrudgingly obliged - partly as a result of promises Lafayette would supposedly grant upon his return. The Duke left for a number of months until his return to France in July 1790. However, upon his return, he never truly enjoyed the same influence in revolutionary politics as he had in 1789 and the years prior, due to the fast-moving nature of the revolution. He had previously been cited as a figure that could replace Louis XVI, before the revolution took a truly republican nature.  

He still continued to support the revolution, however, joining the Jacobin Club in 1791. Following the abolition of the monarchy and the September Massacres of 1792, he famously gave himself the name ‘Philippe Égalité’, renouncing his noble titles. As Dominic Sandbrook remarked, this is almost akin to Prince Harry today renaming himself ‘Harry Diversity’. Virtue-signalling clearly ran in the family, as his younger sister also renamed herself to ‘Citoyenne Vérité’, meaning ‘Citizen Truth’. 

Yet, like David Cameron in 2024, he made a return to frontline politics, something few had asked for, with his election to the new national assembly, known as the National Convention, in September 1792. He tended to side more with the radical Montagnards, led by Robespierre, over the more moderate Girondins.  

The Convention went on to put King Louis XVI on trial and would vote on his punishment in January 1793. Despite Philippe supposedly confiding in his friends that he would vote against execution, he ended up casting his ballot in favour of the execution of his cousin. If this vote achieved anything, it was almost unanimous disapproval. His Montagnard allies considered his vote shameful (despite them pushing for execution themselves!), his son, despite being a radical Jacobin himself, was horrified with his father’s vote - and Philippe’s vote was said to be the only vote that visibly enraged King Louis XVI, or Citizen Louis Capet as he was then known. This was made all the more incredible by the fact that, during the Convention’s vote, the verdict of ‘execution without conditions’ only received a majority of one vote. Truly a betrayal on terms with Luis Figo leaving Barcelona to join Real Madrid, or maybe slightly more significant. 

On 1st April 1973, the Convention passed a decree that condemned anyone with associations with “enemies of liberty”, that Philippe voted in favour of. This truly created a knife, or guillotine blade, for Philippe’s own back as three days later, his son fled to Austria, with whom France was warring. While his son managed to flee the country after his arrest, Philippe was not so lucky and was arrested on the 4th April 1793. He was then imprisoned in Marseille until November, when the Revolutionary Tribunal sentenced him to death and he was guillotined on the same day. It is said that members of the crowd of onlookers mocked him, echoing his “I vote for death” quote that he uttered at the trial of his cousin. Interestingly, his son would actually become the last King of France from 1830-48. 

It is easy to brush aside the life of Philippe Égalité as merely a historical oddity. But the idea of someone from a well-off background attempting to disregard their past, to opportunistically exploit current events for their own benefit is a tale just as familiar to us as it was to those in the districts of revolutionary Paris. After all, Philippe was talked about as a potential replacement for Louis XVI during the early revolution - and perhaps if the Duke had not gone into exile, he could have indeed replaced Louis as monarch, potentially creating a much more moderate revolution. But, overall, I think the true moral of the story of Philippe Égalité is to check in on your cousins from time to time - just to make sure they aren’t plotting against you if nothing else. 

Bibliography

“Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans” - World History Encyclopaedia, H.W. Mark, 2023. 

“Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc d’Orléans” - Britannica. 

“The Birthplace of the Revolution: public space and political community in the Palais-Royal of Louis-Philippe-Joseph D’Orléans, 1781-1789” - French History, (10, 1), D.M. McMahon, pp. 1-29. 

“Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans” - EBSCO, C.H. O’Brien, 2022. 

“Philippe Egalité” - Enlightenment Revolution. 

“547. The French Revolution: The Execution of the King (Part 4)” - The Rest is History Podcast, 2025. 

“546. The French Revolution: The Monarchy Falls (Part 3)” - The Rest is History Podcast, 2025. 

Marie Antoinette: The Journey, A. Fraser, (2002), Vintage, London.