Despite France's staunch republicanism and its infamous history of decapitating monarchs , some people in the country would love to see a King Louis XX. And in early July, around 150 of Louis Alphonse's most fervent supporters gathered in Paris's 1st arrondissement to welcome him. The occasion of his visit was to celebrate the bicentenary of the restoration of a statue of one of Alphonse's forefathers, King Henry IV, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt on the city's Pont Neuf bridge.

Just in case you haven't heard, the people of France enjoyed a very special celebration earlier this month. That's right—the homecoming of Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, the Spanish aristocrat who claims he should be the next king of France.

The Duke of Anjou isn't the only pretender to the nonexistent French throne. The other would be Henri d'Orléans , Count of Paris—an 85-year-old descendant of King Louis XIV's brother, Philippe d'Orleans. D'Orléans's claim on the throne is based on the fact that Louis Alphonse's distant relative, Philippe V, renounced his rights to the French crown when he became the king of Spain in 1700.

Alphonse, who currently lives in Spain, is the eldest male descendant of King Louis XIV. That's the great-great-great-great grandfather of Louis XVI, France's last king before the fall of the monarchy and the one who was guillotined during the French Revolution. If that wasn't enough blue blood, Louis Alphonse is also the second cousin of Spain's current king, Felipe VI.

But the crowd on the Pont Neuf seemingly didn't give a shit about Henri d'Orleans's claims—they showed up for Louis Alphonse as their King Louis XX. Among Alphonse's supporters in Paris was Jean, 31, a PhD student in constitutional law. Jean told me that for the opportunity to meet Alphonse, he had wrestled himself free of "family obligations," flipped up the collar of his red polo shirt, and taken the train in from Marseille in the south of France. "Today is a huge day—the heir to the throne is here on French soil," he said. While this was his first time at an event like it, Jean claimed he was born a believer and that his "big family in the province are all royalists."

But growing up, he eventually made his own mind up that a French monarchy is the way forward. "I've thought a lot about it," Jean told me. "I've realized that the current system has only survived this long because of strong leaders, but that won't be the case forever. The president isn't elected by the majority anymore, not when you factor in people who didn't vote," he added.