Are There Still Any Royalists in France?

In the weekend of 7 and 8 May, French royalists of the Action Française gathered in Paris for a banquet, debates and a traditional nationalist parade. This year the event was attended by Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, politician for the extreme-right Front National. Mrs. Maréchal participated in a debate with the title ‘I am a royalist, what about you?

Delegate Robert Prévoisin of the Action Française told RTL about the advantages of a monarchy: ‘a king thinks of the next generation when a president thinks his re-election.’ He continued by stating that the French people are disgusted by the things that are happening in  the republic.

According to a BVA poll for France-Soir published on the occasion of the presidential elections in 2007, 3% of French said they were “quite favorable” to a king in France and 14% “fairly favourable.” A total of 20% of the voters claimed to vote for a royalist candidate in the presidential elections, if there had been one.

The Action Française has approximately 3000 members in France. The number has increased due to their opposition to same-sex marriage in 2013. Perhaps the Action Française has found an ally in the extreme-right Front National, a combination of Nazi sympathisers, extreme nationalists and disappointed voters.Both the royalist group as the party have been against the inflow of migrants from Africa and the Middle East in France and Europe. They also agree with the FN that France should quit the European Union. In the past the Action Française was known for its anti-semetic views, so perhaps the organisation and the FN are birds of a feather indeed.

The Count of Paris and Don Luís Alfonso de Bórbon were both wisely absent.

Report in French, here.

More information about the organisation, here.

Filed under France
Tagged France, House of Bourbon, House of Orléans, Restoration.

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