France seized Chambord in 1915 because its owner served Austria, while his half-brothers, who fought for the Allies, sued him for a bigger share

In 1821 a national subscription bought Chambord for the infant Duke of Bordeaux, born months after his father, the Duc de Berry, was assassinated. As Count of Chambord he was the royalist claimant to the throne, and in 1871 he refused the crown rather than accept the tricolour flag. He died childless in 1883, and the estate passed to his nephews, the Bourbon-Parma princes. A family agreement of 1910 gave Prince Élie (Elias) half of his father's estate, including Chambord. Élie held a commission in the Austro-Hungarian army. On 22 April 1915 the civil court at Blois placed Chambord under sequestration as enemy property. Élie's half-brothers Sixtus and Xavier served in the Belgian army^†. In 1925 they sued, arguing the 1910 agreement broke the French rule of equal shares, and a French court agreed. The appeal court reversed that in 1928, and the Cour de cassation confirmed the reversal in 1932. Élie's ownership was recognised but the seizure stood. The state took Chambord by pre-emption and paid him 11 million francs. In 1938 the budget minister refused his request for the return of paintings and objects. In 2026 Chambord belongs to the state and is run by a public body created by a law of 23 February 2005. No later lawsuit by the Bourbon-Parma family to recover Chambord was found in the record.