known as Philippe Égalité
born April 13, 1747, Saint-Cloud, France
died Nov. 6, 1793, Paris
French Bourbon prince who supported popular democracy in the French Revolution .
A cousin of Louis XVI , he disapproved of Marie-Antoinette and lived away from the royal court at Versailles. In 1787 he was exiled to his estates for challenging the king's authority. In 1789 he was elected to the Estates General and soon joined the Third Estate. After joining the Jacobin Club (1791), he renounced his title of nobility (1792) and accepted the name Philippe Égalité from the Paris Commune. In the National Convention , he supported the radicals, but, after his son Louis-Philippe defected to the Austrians, he was accused of conspiracy, arrested, and guillotined.