You’d think that now might be a good time to de-emphasize one’s genealogical connection to the European royal families that colonized the world, thereby spawning the American police state people are protesting against in uprisings across the country. But you’d be wrong!
Louis Alphonse de Bourbon, a.k.a., the Duke of Anjou, a.k.a., Some Guy who self-identifies as the King of France in exile, heard about how someone damaged a statue of his great-great-grandpapá or whatever Louis XVI at a protest demanding justice for Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and he’s not happy.
“As an heir of Louis XVI,” tweeted Louis Alphonse on Friday, “I do hope that the damage will be repaired and that the statue will be restored. I already thank the authorities for the measures they will take for that.”
Louis, who also happens to be a second cousin of Felipe VI, the current reigning king of Spain, stakes his claim to the French monarchy on the fact that he’s Louis XIV’s eldest male descendant. According to Vice, he has literally tens of fans, a handful of whom hung out with him at a Parisian meet and greet in 2018.
The French monarchy, as you probably know, ended in 1792, a year before Louis XVI, a.k.a., Mr. Statue, was executed along with his wife, Marie Antoinette—although France did cycle through a few more monarchs in the century that followed before settling on being some kind of republic after World War II.
Will Louis Alphonse end up like Louis XVI before him, or will he have a change of heart and give a bunch of money to the Louisville Community Bail Fund? Find out next time on This Guy Says He’s the King but Honestly I Don’t Think He Is.