PALAIS ROYAL, (Fr., royal palace). The name now• borne by a hetero geneous mass of buildings on the eastern side of the Due Riehelicu in Paris, nouposed of a palace, theatres, ',oldie gardens, bazaars, shops, eafAs, and restaurants. The old palace was built be tween 1619 and 1636 on the site of the Ibitel Ramhouillet by Cardinal Richelieu, who at his death bequeathed it to Louis XIII. It subse quently became the residence of the Orleans branch of the Bourbons, and during the minority of Louis XV. acquired a scandalous notoriety as the scene of the wild orgies in which the Re gent, Orleans, and his dissolute companions were wont to indulge. in the time of his great-grand son, Philippe EgalitA. it became the focus of revo lutionary intrigue. This prince, partly to repair his impoverished fortune and partly to prove the sincerity of his professed sympathy with the people IT Paris. converted part of the gardens of the Palais Royal into a place of public resort. and the pavilions of the great court into bazaars, which were divided into shops and stalls. On the downfall of Eglilib"; the building was taken po,,,essiim of by the Republican Governmunt.
On the restoration of the Bourbons it was occu pied by Louis Philippe till his elevation to the throne of France in 1830, when it was incorpo rated in the general domains of the State. The palace was saeked by the mob the Revo lution of IS18, when many of its works of art were destroyed. It was thoroughly repaired and magnificently furnished in 1855, and given by Napoleon III. to his uncle, deroine Bonaparte, whose son. Prince Napoleon. resided there until 1871. The Communists set fire to the palace in 1871, and all the apartments occupied by the Prince were destroyed, but the flames were checked before they spread to the galleries and shops, and the injured portions were restored in the autumn of 1873. The garden. with its ave nue; and parterres, fountains, and grass plots. still constitutes one of the bin chest and most frequented spots in the whole city; and its eab7.s. -till maintain, in great measure. their former reputation. The north side of the grand court is oeceupied by the du Palais Royal. de voted to high comedy and farce.