Throughout his life, Philippe was open about his preference for male lovers, most notably the Chevalier de Lorraine, and freely acted with effeminacy.

[1] As such, he ranked immediately behind his older brother Louis, Dauphin of France, who inherited the French throne before Philippe reached the age of three.

[1] He was born in the presence of his father Louis XIII, the Princess of Condé,[4] and the Duchess of Vendôme, prominent members of the Bourbon dynasty.

Philippe's cousin, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, noted in her memoirs that the child's birth was marked by celebratory cannons in Paris.

Their mother Queen Anne revoked the late king's will to arrange for a power-sharing agreement with Cardinal Mazarin, who had been serving as Louis XIII's chief minister.

[11] The Duchess of Montpensier dubbed him the "prettiest child in the world",[12] while his mother's friend and confidant, Madame de Motteville, later said of Philippe that he displayed a "lively intelligence" early on.

[19] During the conflict, the royal family was obliged to flee Paris on the night of 9 February 1651[20] for the safety of Saint-Germain-en-Laye[21] in order to avoid a revolt by the nobility against Mazarin.

When peace returned, the decision was made for Philippe to move his household to the Palais des Tuileries, previously the residence of the duchess of Montpensier opposite the Palais-Royal.

[28] In order to discourage the type of tempestuous relationship that had developed between Louis XIII and his younger brother Gaston, Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin made it a private policy to prevent Philippe from pursuing ambitions which might prompt rivalry with or defiance of the king.

[29] Later, to his already rich holdings Philippe wanted to add the countship of Blois, with its Château de Chambord, and the governorship of Languedoc, but both would be refused to him by his brother.

During his childhood, Queen Anne was observed to address Philippe by such nicknames as "my little girl" and encouraged him to dress in feminine clothing[31] even as a young man—a habit he would retain all his life.

[39] Philippe's favorites, invariably younger, handsome men, dominated contemporary and historical commentaries about his role at court, as had the mignons of Henry III.

[38] As a member of the House of Guise, ranking as a prince étranger, Philippe could keep him near while at court and promote him within his own household without initially evoking scandal or offending sensibilities.

Philippe complained to his mother about the intimacy that Louis and Henrietta displayed, which led Queen Anne to reprimand both son and daughter-in-law.

[60] Later in March of the same year, Philippe became a father when Henrietta gave birth to their daughter Marie Louise, the future wife of Charles II of Spain.

[69] The previous year, the Comte de Guiche has been exiled from court with Philippe reporting to his mother that Henrietta had had private interviews with the dashing nobleman.

The couple had their last child in August 1669,[76] a daughter who was baptized Anne Marie at the private chapel of the Palais-Royal on 8 April 1670 by Philippe's first chaplain, the bishop of Vabres.

Having returned to France at the end of June 1670, Henrietta had to endure Philippe's blatant spite[78] for her part in the Chevalier's exile and her secret mission to Dover.

[90] The Princess Palatine was Henrietta's first cousin once removed, since the latter's father, Charles I of England, was the brother of Elisabeth Charlotte's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Stuart.

Her letters record how willingly she gave up sharing Philippe's bed at his request after their children's births and how unwillingly she quietly endured the presence of his male favourites in their household.

Pregnant later that year, Elizabeth Charlotte gave birth to a son in June 1673 who was named Alexandre Louis and given the title Duke of Valois.

[97] Philippe's second son with Elizabeth Charlotte, known as the Duke of Chartres until he inherited the dukedom of Orléans in 1701,[98] later served as Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV.

[101] From the time of the victory at Cassel until the 1690s, Philippe mainly concentrated his energies on the expansion of his estates, personal fortune, and art collection, including the renovation of his residences, the Palais-Royal and the Château de Saint-Cloud.

[83] Philippe became an important patron of the artists Jean Nocret and Pierre Mignard, both of whom were employed to elaborate the décor at Saint-Cloud and the Palais-Royal.

[105] Minor improvements at the Palais-Royal began in 1661 at the time of Philippe's marriage to Henrietta, but the property was part of the crown holdings, and had not been used officially for years.

Philippe was a patron of musicians such as Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, Henri Dumont, Jacques-Antoine Arlaud and Marie Aubry, many of whom would stay part of his son's household after his death in 1701.

Philippe's careful investment and management of his various estates made him a wealthy man in his own right, and his fortune was augmented considerably at the death of his cousin Mademoiselle in 1693.

Both of his daughters by his first wife Henrietta married influential European sovereigns, eventually becoming queens, and his son the Duke of Chartres pursued an active and distinguished military career, having served at the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692 as well as the Siege of Namur, much to his father's pride.

[127] Worried that she would be put in a convent, a stipulation of her marriage contract in the event of Philippe's death,[128] Elizabeth Charlotte was assured by the king that she could remain at court as long as she wished.

[126] The court was devastated,[131] and his old friend, Louis XIV's discarded mistress Madame de Montespan, was also greatly affected, the two having been very close.