The Lost King of France: How DNA Solved the Mystery of the Murdered Son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

by Deborah Cadbury

Book Overview

Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.

In 1793, when Marie Antoinette...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312320299
• ISBN13: 9780312320294
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Heartbreaking

The mental and physical suffering of this child is so sad.

Readable history; not for the squeamish

As a history buff interested in medieval times, the French Revolution and its excesses, is also a fascinating read. This rendering leaves out nothing but succeeds in setting the scene of a true outrage of human depravity. Thousands of beheadings, but poor Louis XVII, the little king without a country or a throne, done in by neglect and the cruelest sadism.

Couriosity Satisfied

My daughter and I bought this book and we both thought it well done, enjoyable and very interesting. It is a facinating read for lovers of French history.

DEATH IS PREFERABLE TO A LITTTLE BOY

Imagine what his life was like! Being separated from his mother and father, was horrific enough, then to be thrown into a situation where he is at the mercy of a sadist like "Citizen Simon" is truly beyond comprehension. The boy is brutalized, forced into grotesque sexual acts from which he contracts disease; he is physically, mentally and emotionally tortured for many months until finally he is moved to a different cell and away from Simon...who was later, jusitifiably, killed. In one of the saddest parts of this story, the Dauphin leaves some flowers at his mother's cell door, not knowing she had been killed weeks before. His situation goes from horrific to beyond description in rapid succession until one day he meets a physician, called in at the 11th hour when the keepers are concerend over the deterioration of the Dauphin's condition. Confined in a dark, rat infested cell, with no water and no toilet, he is forced to live in a black, fetid cell with his own waste. His limbs grow abnormally long to compensate for his total lack of exercise, and decent food and his health declines from lack of fresh air, light and water to bathe in. The doctor is a sympathetic soul who makes promises to the Dauphin to help him, and his health, for a time, improves...but one day the doctor does not come and the Dauphin doesn't know his only friend has been poisoned for being a confidante of the Dauphin and being sympathetic to him. My former sympathies for the people of France during the Revolution were considerably eroded after reading this account; I know the conditions were terrible, but after reading what they were capable of doing to a terrified, delicate little boy, they became, rightly or wrongly, a nation of monsters, ravening beasts. The Dauphin becomes a wise, cynical child, with wisdom gained from extreme horror, and he no longer believes in anyone or anything after the doctor is taken away from him, and not long after that, he mercifully succumbs. I literally (forgive the cliche) could not believe what I was reading; I had often wondered about the Dauphn and what became of him after his parents were murdered, and now I know...and it is far beyond any horrors that even his parents faced, given his age and the brutality he was forced to live in for the last couple of years of his sad little life. Remember, this boy grew up in a beautiful place, Versailles, with beauty and love all around him, his doting parents and siblings, and the servants, and then within a matter of days, he is separated from his family and thrown into conditions appalling enough to break a Viking, let alone a delicate, loving child. This book has haunted me ever since I first read it, and I am so thankful that after all he was forced to endure, he is now back with his family and surrounded by beauty and love once again.

Absolutely Gripping!

I actually have one more chapter to go, but this book is truly extraordinary. Cadbury is one of those writers who doesn't waste a single word. In other words, every sentence, every bit of information she gives is necessary. She's a great writer who makes the story of the poor Capet family (Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children -- including the unfortunate Louis-Charles) come to life. You really feel as though you were there! Unfortunately, what happens to Louis Charles while a young boy in prison is depressing and hard to read, but the entire book is so outstanding, you cannot put it down!

Very readable, but heart-wrenching

As my title states, I found this book very 'readable'. I read a great number of historical non-fiction books, & find some authors don't have a clue for holding the readers attention. This is not so of this author.Having a keen interest in the royal family at the time of the French Revolution I was eager to read this book, & was not disappointed, although parts are heart-wrenching to read i.e. the details of how the little dauphin was treated after being separated from his mother & sister, & even moreso after the execution of his mother (Marie Antoinette). Having read a great number of books set at this time I fully understand that the royal family were not blameless, however it must be remembered that this was just a little boy. He should not have been held responsible for the actions of his parents, nor treated so barbarically because of his birthright. The book made it abundantly clear just how desperate some were to completely irradicate the old regime in France, & in particular the royal family, & even moreso the (male) off-spring of (the hated) Marie Antoinette. The book unfortunately does not give much insight into the personality of the little dauphin, but this would probably prove almost impossible for any author to research & re-construct, due to the shortness of his life & the actions of the revolutionists (i.e. during the revolution a debate began over whether to keep the nations heritage intact or begin history anew & radicals began a movement that attempted to purge France of anything that harkened back to the rot that was the monarchy. Archives & family records of nobles were burned) The first part of the book details activity leading up to the French Revolution, & this may tend to put some readers off, however I urge readers to continue with the book as it does settle into details, sometimes quite grim, of the little dauphin's life & demise. The book also gives the reader an insight into the torment, which must have been suffered by the dauphin's sister, after the revolution, when several `impostors' came forward claiming to be her brother.The DNA facts are quite fascinating. In summary, I found the book highly readable, shocking, compelling, fascinating but above all heart-wrenching to read, & I recommend it highly to anyone interested in this fascinating period of history.

An unputdownable piece of historical non-fiction

It is a rare piece of historical non-fiction that is so gripping it becomes a one-sitting read, as Deborah Cadbury's book does. As Alison Weir's comments on the hardback edition state, it is: `stunningly written'.The book opens with a present day mystery of a heart that is purported to be that of Louis XVII of France - the boy-king - that is (dis)proved by DNA. Rather than giving us the answer immediately the author then tells the story of the downfall of the French Monarchy at the hands of the sans-culottes and the leaders of the French Revolution. Told from the royal perspective, centering on Marie Antoniette, Louis XVI, Louis-Charles (Dauphin and future Louis XVII) and their other immediate family and associates, we are given a story full of immense pathos, where the royal family - clearly depicted as undone by previous French royal excesses and a failing economy - are treatedly brutally at the hands of the revolutionaries. Marie Antoniette is depicted as a naïve young woman of excess, then as a great mother, ultimately as aa Queen of France whose suffering reflects much of the Revolution. Louis XVI is presented as a monarch whose stoical steadfastness to uphold the good of his country costs him the constitution and ultimately his life, Louis-Charles as a boy wise beyond his years - clearly intimated as potentially a great french monarch.The first part of the book is taken up with the history of the french royal family from the moment Maria-Antonia of Austria marries the young Dauphin and follows them as they are vilified, blamed and ultimately killed for the problems assailing France. The story is told from the royal perspective, Cadbury engendering great sympathy with the family, possibly to the extent of presenting a somewhat biased view of the revolutionaries as a brutal regime whose leaders use the anger of the mob to further their own political gain. Drawing mainly on personal testimonies of Clery who served the family during their Parisian imprisonment at Tullieres, The Tower and the Temple, Marie-Therese (daughter of Marie-Antoniette and Louis) and Madame Tourzel, we are given the emotional history of a key point in European history where the author gives a very focused view on the ordeals and depravations of Louis XVI, Marie Antoniette, and finally, in a lengthy section, on Louis-Charles mental and physical abuse. Part 1 ends with the death of Louis-Charles according to the official version given at the time.Part 2 deals with the twenty year period of revolution, Robespierre and Napoleon, culminating in Marie-Therese's (as the sole direct survivor) reentry into Paris as the Queen with the newly crowned Louis XVIII and subsequent re-fleeing. At this point history gives rise to the legend that Louis-Charles did not die (as Dr Pelletan's autopsy initially stated) but rather was substituted with another child. The primary mover of this legend came from Madame Simon, the wife of the man depicted as responsible for much of Louis-Charles sy