Louis XVII - Did he die in the Tower?

[BeautyQueen]

I don't understand why you all have to start different subjects, out of one. Did he die in the tower? Yes, he sadly did. That's all there is to it.

[Alixz]

There is a disease called marfan's that makes the arms and legs of a person longer than the norm.  Abraham Lincoln had it.  That is why he was so tall and thin and lanky.  In comparison to a person with "normal" length arms and legs, marfan's sufferers have a normal trunk but their arms and legs are longer than we normally see.

It is an inherited defect.  But more than that I don't know.

I have never posted in this section before, I don't know that much about French Royalty.

But it seems that every family has some story that has been handed down.  My own has several (which I won't bore you with) but even though I have done some research, I have found nothing to substantiate any of the stories that I grew up hearing.

One of things that brought people to America was the idea of a "new beginning".  Many wanted to drop their old life and begin a new one without the excess baggage that they had carried around with them in Europe.  And many made up stories to make themselves more important than they were back home in Europe.

Not to be disrespectful, but this story sounds a bit like John Jakes and his Phillipe Charbeneux who became Philip Kent.  Anyone remember the Kent Family Chronicles?

Carol Jean, no one is saying that you are crazy, only that stories like this abound and with the Internet, they abound even more.

I once said about those who claimed to be Alexei - so many claimants - so little time.  I think that applies to the Dauphin as well.

And one other thing, The French helped the Americans in the Revolution.  But their motives were not so altruistic as we once believed.  The French enjoyed baiting the English and by helping the Americans they baited the English in a big way.  So I don't know if the young American Republic would have had any hand in saving the Dauphin.  It was a much older American Republic that did nothing to help Nicholas II and his family in 1918.

[Carol Jean]

If the disease is inherited, then would not the dauphin have inherited it from some one in the Royal Family? Who? And yes, I know that there is hundreds of stories that have been handed down in families, so I am not just jumping at a straw or some story. Did you know that the Royal Family had talked of and even tried to escape thenselves and flee to America? Also there was rumor that the dauphin had escaped and had gone to America. There is quite a bit that may point to his having escaped, but people seem to only believe what some certain people have said about the dauphin. I don't think that anything I could ever say would change some peoples minds.

[Alixz]

Marfan syndrome is caused by a defect in the gene that enables your body to produce fibrillin, a protein that helps give connective tissue its elasticity and strength. Ordinarily, you have large amounts of fibrillin in your bones, your aorta and the ligaments in the lenses of your eyes. But if you have Marfan syndrome, you're likely to have too little fibrillin in these structures. This causes them to stretch abnormally when they're subjected to ordinary stress.

Most people with Marfan syndrome inherit the abnormal gene from a parent who has the disorder. Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant condition, which means that a defective gene from only one parent is needed to pass the disease on. It also means that each child of an affected parent has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the defective gene.

In about one-fourth of people with Marfan syndrome, a mutation occurs for the first time in the egg or sperm of a parent who doesn't have a genetic abnormality, and the defect is then passed on to the child. Although it's not possible to know for certain, the likelihood is small that the mutation will recur if the same parents have other children

[KaKu]

I follow this discussion and I have got some thoughts.... I´m sorry Carol Jean, but my opinion is that your teory is based more on hopes than facts, BUT you are so hard defender of your teory, which is of course conclusion of your long research. You said something about ... we can just compare DNA mother (Marie Antoinette) and her son, so is possible to compare DNA of your ancestor and Marie? It should be logically possible, what do you all think? And I have also one more appeal, can you send as some pictures from your book, in my country I can only dream about more selection of books than three about Marie Antoinette and one about Louis XVI.... Thank you

[Carol Jean]

Hi, Yes, that would really prove my theory, BUT, I have not located where my ancestor is buried. I was hoping to find out something about this DNA that would prove my theory but as yet have not. This year I have plans to do some traveling to see if I can locate my ancestor's naturlization papers or maybe some other document that would have his date of birth, date of immigration and any other information that I can find. If, they have the DNA of King Louis XVI then maybe I can still have some way to prove my theory as I have a brother living that would be a direct decendant of the ancestor that I think is the lost dauphin. I have been told that DNA goes back either male to male to male or female to female to female, so my DNA could not be tested against Marie Antoinette's, but my brothers DNA could be tested against King Louis XVI's.
As to the pictures, I will try to scan some into my computer and then post them to this site if you are really interested in seeing them.
Thanks for your posting. As you said, I have done a lot of research on my ancestor and I am not one to say something unless I have more than just an idea or that I am wishing something is true.

[KaKu]

Thank you Carol Jean, you know, it is interesting idea, that in the world there can be Marie Antoinette´s  descendant, and if your teory is true I hope in happy end of your research

[Carol Jean]

Hi KaKu, I am going to try to post a link to a few pictures in my book.

[trentk80]

Carol Jean, I'm curious about what happened to your book. Any updates? I read in the link you provided that you are signing copies of it.

[Norbert]

Surely the DNI tests made last year confirm without doubt that the Dauphin died a prisoner  and now lies with his parents in St Denis.

[Imperial.Opal]

 I watched a documentary on Australian TV last night, a french production - LOUIS XVII: Unsolved Enigma, 1785 - 1795,  quote from the

 newspaper review of it

 If it had been solved, it would'nt be a enigma, would it ? And it goes downhill from here. To resolve this question of his fate, DNA
 testing was conducted on what may have been the heart of Louis XVII or that of a brother who died before him or that of someone
 else entirely. It is a dense trawl through dull terrain, end of quote

 I fell alsleep after 40 minutes watching it, 

[Norbert]

Like the Romanov's, it makes a good soap opera

[Eddie_uk]

One of Carol Jeans strongest peaces of evidence is the fact that he apparently resembles Marie Antoinette as do many of his descendants.  I don't think that's very reliable personally.

[Norbert]

Before or after the fall of the monarchy I wonder...the poor woman changed dramatically during her imprisonment ...the sketch of her going to her death is unrecognisable to the glorious portraits of her as Queen

[trentk80]

Before or after the fall of the monarchy I wonder...the poor woman changed dramatically during her imprisonment ...the sketch of her going to her death is unrecognisable to the glorious portraits of her as Queen

I guess Carol Jean resembles Marie Antoinette in her glorious portraits as Queen, not in the sketch of her on the way to the guillotine.