Lot Essay
1776 The Palais Royal is passed to Louis-Philippe of Orleans, who being short of money, undertook the construction round three sides of the garden, of apartment houses with ground level shopping arcades and uniform facades, work of the architect Victor Louis. The three new streets skirting the frontage are named after the younger Orleans brothers : Valois, Montpensier and Beaujolais. 1786-1790 The architect Victor Louis was commissioned by Philippe-Egalite to build the Theatre-Francais, now the Comedie Francaise and the Palais-Royal Theatre at the corner of Montpensier Street and Beaujolais Street; it is now a vaudeville theatre. 1793 Philippe-Egalite is beheaded and the Palais Royal becomes Public Property.