King Jean IV

One of the most frustrating things about being a monarchist today is that all too often, it seems like the royal individuals who are genealogically entitled to claim Europe's vacant thrones are perfectly content to make peace with the republics that have supplanted their families and have little interest in advocating restoration. However, as this article reveals in a refreshing contrast, Jean d'Orléans, Duke of Vendome, second (but oldest non-disabled) son of the Count of Paris, is openly and courageously promoting the restoration of the French monarchy, no matter how unlikely this may seem at present.

Since the extinction of the senior French Bourbon line in 1883, France's royalists have been bitterly divided between supporters of Jean's Orléans line (descended in the male line of Louis XIV's younger brother Philippe) and supporters of the Spanish Bourbons (descended in the male line from Louis XIV himself and therefore genealogically senior but arguably excluded by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht). I myself have tended to waffle on this debate, but recently have been more inclined to regard the Orléans claim as superior, and Jean's admirable forthrightness certainly confirms those sympathies. Vive le roi!