Louis Philippe I was born on the 6th October 1773 and was the French king (leader of the Orléanist party) from 1830 to 1848. He was a cousin of King Louis XVI of France and was part of the most prominent aristocratic families in France. Because he had strong support for the Revolution he was forced to flee France to avoid imprisonment and execution and was in exile for 21 years. In 1830 Charles X (who was his cousin) was forced to abdicate his position leaving Louis Philippe to be proclaimed the King of France. In 1848 as economic conditions in France worsened he was forced to abdicate. He lived his final 2 years of his life in exile in Great Britain until his death on the 26th August 1850.
