French royal connections
administration and holdings of the Order of Saint Lazarus with the newly established Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, both being placed under one Grand Master - Philibert, Marquis de Nérestang de Saint-Didier. This administrative union of the Ordres Royaux Militaires et Hospitaliers de Saint-Lazare et de Notre-Dame de Mont-Carmel received Canonical acceptance confirmed by the Bulls issued by Cardinal de Vendome in 1668 and Pope Innocent XII in 1695. The joined Orders were declared protectorates of the French Crown and the junior Order linked to the École Militaire. The scope of the united Orders had now changed into awards given for military distinction or for services rendered to the Crown. The two Orders remained separate entities and retained different insignia for use by their members.
After the second decade of the 18th century, the relationship of the joined Orders to the French Royal house was further augmented since the reigning French Regent Philippe Charles d’Orléans in 1720 appointed his son Louis d’Orléans et de Châtre as Grand Master of the Orders. This started the trend whereby the subsequent 19th century Grand Masters and/or Protectors were members of the French Royal House. These included the sons of King Louis XV: Louis de France de Berry eventually King Louis XVI [GM 1757-1773; protector 1773-1792], and Louis Stanislas Xavier de France de Provence eventually King Louis XVIII [GM 1773-1814; protector 1814-1824]. King Charles X served as protector during his reign [1824-1930].