Succession to the French throne
In 1791 the French National Assembly drew up a new, written Constitution to which the King gave his assent, and which governed France for the last year of the 18th century monarchy. For the first time it was necessary to define formally, as a matter of statutory constitutional law, the system of succession, and the titles, privileges and prerogatives of the Crown. In debating the succession to the Crown the contemporary understanding of the law of succession was publicly clarified. It rebutted the assertion by some that the claim by the Spanish line is a late construct, made to satisfy the ambitions of princes deprived of other claims. Indeed, it is evident that the issue of the rights of the Spanish line to the French crown remained an important constitutional issue.
Stanislas Marie Adélaïde, comte de Clermont-Tonnerre
Clermont-Tonnerre desired to model the new constitution of France on the organic laws of England. He served on the first incarnation (established 17 July 1789) of the eight-member Constitutional Committee. When the National Assembly rejected its proposals for a bicameral legislature and an absolute veto for the Crown (10–11 September 1789), he resigned along with five fellow conservatives (including Jean Joseph Mounier). For the remainder of his tenure in the National Assembly he attached himself to the party of moderate Royalists, known as monarchi gens, led by Pierre Victor, baron Malouet.