Palais-Royal Facts for Kids

Part of the Palais Royal today.

Entrance front of the Palais-Royal on the rue Saint-Honoré

Garden-side view with the columns of the former Galerie d'Orléans

The Palais Royal is a building in Paris. It was once a palace of the French royal family. It was built in the 1630s by Cardinal Richelieu to hold his art collection. When Richelieu died in 1642, it became the property of the young King Louis XIV.

From 1649, the exiled Henrietta Maria of France and her daughter Henrietta lived here. The two had escaped England during the English Civil War. They were sheltered here by King Louis XIV, who was Henrietta Maria's nephew.

In 1692, when the Duke of Chartres married Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the King gave the Palais-Royal to his brother, Philippe, Duke of Orléans.

Louis Philippe I, future King of the French, was born here. He was the son of the young Philippe Égalité and his wife Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon.

Louise Henriette de Bourbon also died here. She was married to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans.

The future Louis Philippe I was also born here.

Images for kids

The Palais-Cardinal, circa 1641
Philippe de France, duc d'Orléans the younger brother of Louis XIV.
General site plan (1692) by François d'Orbay, showing the gardens as redesigned by André Lenôtre around 1674
The Palais Brion on the 1739 Turgot map of Paris
The duc d'Orléans' Council in 1716, with Cardinal Fleury sitting at the Palais-Royal. Gobelins tapestry overdoors are woven with the Orléans arms.
Palais-Royal on the 1739 Turgot map of Paris with the gardens as redesigned by Claude Desgots in 1729. The palace itself fronts on its small square.
Plan of the Palais-Royal with the theatre in the east wing (Blondel, Architecture françoise, 1754)
1780 plan of the Palais-Royal with Moreau's opera house (1770–1781)
The Salle Richelieu, designed and constructed 1786–1790 by Victor Louis, became the theatre of the Comédie-Française in 1799.
Palais-Royal (c. 1790) with Victor Louis' second theatre on the left and the rue de Valois replacing Moreau's opera on the right
Galeries de bois at the Palais-Royal, by Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer, lithograph, c. 1825
Palais Royal Gardens: Illustration from an 1863 guide to Paris. Modern planting maintains the lawn, fountains, and trees.
Design of 1781 by Victor Louis for the garden façade
The garden surrounded by the arcades in 2005
View of the Palais Royal garden looking north in 1788 with the Cirque du Palais-Royal in the center
Plan of the Palais-Royal in 1795
The south front of the Palais-Royal, with the Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) in the center
Sculpture of the Pediment of the Council of State
Sculpture of the south front, by Augustin Pajou
Napoleon on the Stairway of Honor (1807)
Stairway of Honor of the Conseil d'Etat, with trompe l'oeil painting of an arch and statue on first floor
Dome over the Stairway of Honor with gilded bursting pomegranate emblems of Philippe d'Orléans
Salle Napoleon, decorated 1858-60 for Ministry of Colonies of Napoleon III
General Assembly Chamber of the Council of State
Murals of the General Assembly Chamber, depicting France at work
Tribunal of Conflicts of the Council of State
Trompe l'oeil ceiling of the Tribunal of Conflicts
Wing occupied by the Ministry of Culture
Salon Jerome of the Ministry of Culture. named after Napoleon's brother
Office of the Minister of Culture
Stairway to the Constitutional Council
Office of the President of the Constitutional Council
Meeting room of the Constitutional Council
Petit Salon of the Constitutional Council
The Oratory, created by Princess Marie Clothilde
Courtyard of Honor, with installation of columns by Daniel Buren
Homage to Arago plaque, making the Paris meridian
The Courtyard of Honor, with the spheres of the Palais Royal fountain visible.
The noon cannon in the bowling green, triggered by the noontime sun
Paul Lemoyne, The Shepherd and the Goat (1830), marble
Gardens of the Palais-Royal
The Alley of Colette
Unified facade of town houses overlooking garden
Colette's town house entrance at 9 rue de Beaujolais
Gallery of Montpensier in the 18th century
Galerie of Montpensier today
Gallery of the Court of Honor, formerly part of Gallery d'Orleans
Gallery of Beaujolais
The Restaurant Le Grand Véfour, opened in 1784 as the Café de Chartres
Ceiling of the Restaurant Grand Véfour
The Salle Richelieu, principal theater of the Comédie-Française
The grand staircase
Balconies of the Salle Richelieu
Ceiling of the Pierre Dux salon of the foyer
Mirrors of the foyer multiply the space
Statues of cariatides decorate boxes next to the stage
The Théâtre du Palais-Royal
Dancers of the Nathalie Pernette company perform her dance piece La Figure du Baiser in May 2017 within the Columns of Buren at the Palais-Royal.

Palais-Royal facts for kids

Images for kids

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