Prince Philippe , Count of Paris Prince Philippe d ' Orléans , Count of Paris ( Louis Philippe Albert ; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894 ) , was the grandson of Louis Philippe I , King of the French . He was Comte de Paris , and was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death . Early life . Prince Philippe became the " Prince Royal " , heir - apparent to the throne , when his father , Prince Ferdinand - Philippe , Duc d ' Orléans , died in a carriage accident in 1842 . Although there was some effort during the days after the abdication of his grandfather in 1848 to put him on the throne under the name of Louis - Philippe II , with his mother ( Helene of Mecklenburg - Schwerin ) as Regent , this came to nothing . They fled and the French Second Republic was proclaimed in its stead . A historian , journalist and outspoken democrat , the Philippe volunteered to serve as a Union Army officer in the American Civil War along with his younger brother , Prince Robert , Duke of Chartres . He was appointed as an assistant adjutant general with the rank of captain on September 24 , 1861 and served under the name of Philippe d ' Orléans , the Count of Paris . He served on the staff of the commander of the Army of the Potomac , Major General George McClellan , for nearly a year . He distinguished himself during the unsuccessful Peninsular Campaign . He resigned from the Union Army on July 15 , 1862 . His history of that war is considered a standard reference work . During their stay in the United States , the princes were accompanied by their uncle , the Prince of Joinville , who painted many watercolours of their stay . After the war , they both joined the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - an organization of Union officers who had served during the American Civil War . Marriage and issue . In 1864 he married his paternal first cousin , Princess Marie Isabelle d ' Orléans ( 1848 – 1919 ) , Infanta of Spain . She was daughter of Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain and Prince Antoine , Duke of Montpensier ( 1824 – 1890 ) , the youngest son of Louis - Philippe of France and Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily . They had eight children : Restoration of French monarchy . In 1873 , anticipating a restoration of the monarchy by the largely monarchist National Assembly that had been elected following the fall of Napoleon III , the Count of Paris withdrew his claims to the French throne in favour of the legitimist claimant , Henri V , best known as the " Comte de Chambord " . It was assumed by most that the Count of Paris was Chambord ' s heir , and would thus be able to succeed to the throne upon the childless Chambord ' s death , reuniting the two claims that had divided French monarchists since 1830 . However , Chambord ' s refusal to recognize the tricolor as the French flag sabotaged hopes of a restoration , and Chambord died in 1883 without ever specifically recognizing his Orléanist rival as his heir . Upon the Count of Chambord ' s death , the Count of Paris was recognized by most monarchists as Philippe VII of France . This succession was disputed by the Carlist descendants of the Bourbon kings of Spain , who argued that being descended directly from Louis XIV their claim was greater than that of the Orléanists ' ; however , this argument pointedly ignored Philip V of Spain ' s renunciation of his and his descendants ' claim to the French throne pursuant to the Treaty of Utrecht . The Count of Paris lived in Sheen House , Sheen in Surrey , England , where his grandfather had sought refuge after his abdication . He died at Stowe House in 1894 . He was succeeded as claimant to the French throne by his son Prince Philippe .