Louis XVIII, in full Louis Stanislas Xavier, Comte de Provence 1755-1824
King of France

Born at Versailles, he was the younger brother of Louis XVI. He fled from Paris to Belgium (1791), and eventually took refuge in England (1807). He declared himself king in 1795, following the death of his nephew, the Dauphin Louis XVII, and became the focal point for the Royalist cause. On Napoleon I's downfall (1814) he re-entered Paris, and promised a Constitutional Charter. His restoration to the throne was interrupted by Napoleon's return from Elba until after Waterloo (1815). His reign was marked by the introduction of parliamentary government with a limited franchise, but after 1820 the hard-line ultras, who favoured no concessions to Revolution principles, increased their control.