Hélène de Mecklembourg-Schwerin

Independent activity Monarchy and royalism 1814–1858 ○ Natural causes

Louis Philippe's daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Orléans who brought her two sons to the Chamber in February 1848 to claim the regency

Born in 1814, the only daughter of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, she married Louis Philippe's eldest son, the Duke of Orléans, in 1837 and bore the Count of Paris and the Duke of Chartres. Frowned on by the queen as a Protestant and a liberal, she won public affection by bringing the Christmas tree to France. After her husband's death in 1842 she was a contender for a future regency. When her father-in-law was deposed in February 1848 she took her sons to the Chamber to claim the throne for the elder and the regency for herself, but the claim was refused. In exile she went on asserting her son's rights, which long kept the Orléans princes from reconciling with the Count of Chambord. She died in England in 1858.

Also known as: Duchess of Orléans · Duchess Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin · Hélène Louise Élisabeth de Mecklembourg-Schwerin