[2] Under the Ancien Régime, the court title of Monsieur referred to the next brother in the line of succession of the King of France.
Hercule François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon (1555–1584), was the first notable member of the royalty to assume the title without the use of an adjoining proper name.
For over seventy years, from 1701 to 1774, the title had no living representatives in the French court, as Philippe I of Orléans died in 1701; Louis XV was the youngest of the sons of Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy and at the time of his accession to the throne in 1715 had no brothers.
After his coronation in 1814, the title passed to Charles Philippe, Count of Artois, his younger brother.
His successor, Louis-Philippe I, the next and last king to rule France, had lost both his brothers, Louis Charles and Antoine Philippe, many years before he succeeded to the throne.