The son of Louis-Philippe, duc d'Orléans, later king of the French from 1830 to 1848, Joinville joined the navy in 1831, becoming lieutenant in 1836. Sent to Vera Cruz in 1838, he fought well, rising to captain (1839), and in 1840 he carried Napoleon's remains back to France. Named vice admiral in 1844, he caused a stir with an article in the Revue des Deux Mondes comparing the naval forces of England and France, to the detriment of France. To redress the balance he urged France to acquire steamships. A great sponsor of new inventions, he was the patron of Dupuy de Lôme, architect of the earliest steam- and screw-rated ships.

After 1848 Joinville went to England and in 1861 to the United States to offer his services to President Lincoln. Returning to France in 1870, he was expelled, returned under the name of Colonel Lutherod, and was exiled again, but the law that exiled the Orléans family was repealed in 1871. Elected deputy of Haute-Marne in 1871, he retired from public life in 1875. His works include Essais sur la marine française (1852; “Essays on the French Navy”) and Études sur la marine, 2 vol. (1859; “Naval Studies”).