Louis XV of France
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) on 15 February 1723, the kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France.
Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom.
Descendants of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
A member of the House of Bourbon, he is the founder of the current House of Orléans. His heirs formed a junior collateral branch of the royal dynasty. They include the second duke, who governed France during the minority of Louis XV in the Regency era; one French monarch, Louis Philippe I; and the Orléanist pretenders to the French throne still flourishing in the 21st century. The accumulation of the vast wealth which the House of Orléans would possess and use to influence both politics and court life (until it was confiscated during the French Revolution) began with Philippe, a lifelong beneficiary of his brother's largesse.