Charles X of France

King Charles X of France married Princess Maria Teresa of Savoy on 16 November 1773. She was the daughter of Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain. The couple had two sons Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême and Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry; two daughters Sophie and Marie Thérèse.

After abdication, Charles first left for Great Britain. He reached England on August 16, 1830 as a private citizen. Unlike last time, he was not at all welcomed there. Instead he was mocked by the crowd who waved the new tricolor flag as he embarked from the steam boat.

Charles later shifted to Scotland and stayed there until he was invited by Emperor Francis I of Austria in the end of 1832. He then moved to Prague and remained there until1835 and then moved to Gorizia. He died there on November 6, 1836 from an attack of Cholera.

Charles Philippe was born on October 9, 1757 at the Palace of Versailles in France. His father, Louis de France was the only surviving son of the reigning King Louis XVand hence his heir apparent. However, Louis died early (1765) and never became the king.

Charles’ mother, Dauphine Marie Joseph, was the Duchess of Saxony and younger daughter of the King of Poland. She died in 1767 from tuberculosis. The couple had thirteen children out of which many died young. Charles Philippe was born tenth and had three surviving brothers above him.

As a young man, Charles was said to be one of the most attractive men of the dynasty and in spite of his early marriage to Princess Maria Theresa of Savoy he is said to have numerous romantic liaisons. To distract him from such scandalous affairs, he was engaged in the siege of Gibraltar in 1782. Later, he abandoned such a lifestyle to concentrate on politics.

In 1786, the monarchy in France had to face the first ever challenge. By that time, Charles’ grandfather Louis XV had passed away and Louis-Auguste had succeeded him as King Louis XVI of France. During this period, France was nearly bankrupt from wars. It soon became clear that to survive, France must undertake financial reforms.

Charles Philippe agreed that it was time to remove the financial privileges of the aristocracy but he was vehemently opposed to removal of their social privileges. Ultimately, the king set up ‘The Estate General’. It met on May 1789 after almost 160 years.

However, the great assembly failed to find any solution because the Third Estate, consisting of common people, wanted the vote to be taken all together while the clergy (First Estate) and the nobles (Second Estate) favored vote by estates. Charles opposed the demand of the Third Estate as that would have given them more votes.

On 11th July of 1789, Charles Philippe had Jacques Necker, the pro reform Finance Minister of France, dismissed from his post. He was seen sympathetic to the cause of the commoners. The incident led to a popular uprising and on 14th July the fort at Bastille was stormed. On 17th July, Charles Philippe, along with his family, fled France.

Charles Philippe first went to Savoy. Then he went to Turin and then to Trier. Meanwhile, situation in Paris was turning from bad to worse. Charles tried to organize a counter revolutionary invasion of France. He also set up a court in exile at the Electorate of Trier.

On 1st January 1792, the National Assembly, formed by the Third Estate in France, declared Charles and other emigrants traitor and confiscated their property. By September, monarchy was abolished and the royal family was imprisoned. In the same year Charles escaped to Britain and received a generous allowance from King George III.

In 1793, King Louis XVI along with his queen Marie Antoinette was guillotined. Crown prince Louis XVII died two years later in prison. By then, Comte de Provence, younger brother of King Louis XVI, had also left France. After the death of his nephew, he became the titular monarch of France and began to be known as King Louis XVIII. He had his court in exile in Harland, England.

In January 1814, Charles Philippe left England to join the coalition force in the south of France as the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom. By then, Napoleon I had lost his hold. The coalition forces captured Paris on 31st March.

On April 6, 1814, Senate invited the Bourbons to reassume the throne of France. Napoleon abdicated five days later on April 11 and Charles Philippe entered Paris on 12th. He began to act as the Lieutenant General of the Kingdom until King Louis XVIII arrived on May 3.