Gaston, Duke of Orléans
French prince · France · Historical Figures · Lived 1608 to 1660 · aged 51
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Something wrong?The king's brother who never became king - and spent decades reminding the court of it. Gaston of Orléans wore the title "Monsieur" like a consolation prize, eldest surviving sibling to Louis XIII in a century when proximity to the throne was both fortune and curse.
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Gaston, Duke of Orléans, Château de Blois_Jean_Baptiste_Gaston_-_de_France_n%C3%A9_l'an_1608..._-_estampe_-_Grav%C3%A9_par_E_Desrochers_a_Paris_rue_du_Foin_pres_la_rue_S.t_Jacques_-_btv1b52508420f.jpg?width=1200)
(Gaston d'Orléans, frère de Louis XIII.) Jean Baptiste Gaston - de France né l'an 1608... - estampe - Gravé par E Desrochers a Paris rue du Foin pres la rue S.t Jacques - btv1b52508420f.jpg?width=1200)
Blois - château royal, aile François Ier, intérieur (18)
Drawings of the Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIII, and the Duchess of Montpensier, married 6 August 1626
Gaston de France after Anthony van Dyck, c.1634
Gaston de France presents his sister Queen Henrietta Maria of England to the infant Louis XIV, his mother and brother, Decaisne Henri
Gaston de France, PA01032
Gaston de Francia, PA07394Awards
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Born 24 April 1608, Gaston Jean Baptiste arrived as the third son of Henry IV and Marie de' Medici, a prince by blood but not by expectation. When his elder brother became Louis XIII, Gaston inherited the role of heir presumptive and the Duke of Orléans title - a position that kept him close to power but never quite in it. For decades he carried the honorific "Monsieur," the formal address reserved for the king's eldest brother, a daily reminder of the gap between him and the crown. He died 2 February 1660, having spent fifty-two years as the man one step away.
Historical Figures from France 6
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