Louis XVII, Marie-Therese, and The Usual Suspects

Louis XVII died in the Temple prison at the age of ten in the hands of his republican prisoners. Louis XVII was exchanged for another boy who died there. Louis XII was exchanged for the dead body of boy. What is true and what not? Marie-Thérèse was sent to Austria, or was it her half-sister Ernestine? Any of these scenarios could have been contrived at the time. But who would have been interested in such an exchange?

Getting Louis out of France would have been the prime object of the Bourbon family. Obviously they failed even if others might seem to have succeeded. Others could be any group of nobles or even republicans disaffected with the bloodbath of the Revolution. Holding on to a possible future King of France would have been the guarantee for high offices in a new regime. Somewhere they bungled that atrociously. Still, the Royal Family never wore mourning for Louis. And neither Marie-Thérèse nor Ernestine was ever shown the dead body of the boy king.

After the Restoration of Louis XVIII to the throne of France, he would have been the last to be interested in a reappearance of Louis XVII brought up in any which way come to replace him. Monsieur the brother of the King and later Charles X would have been of an equal mind as would the Duc d’Angoulême. The Habsburg Emperor was interested in a stable French monarchy; the proprieties of proper succession would have been of no interest to him. The English were of a like mind and would have offered him exile, but not standing. The only ones interested in unrest in France were The Netherlands intent on tightening hold on their south-western provinces and possibly a bit more.

Even if Louis XVII lived, he would have found no supporters in his own French family or his Austrian relatives. The rejection of all and any claims by claimants of all colours and nationalities was therefore a logical event. If Louis was among them, tough for him, but that was politics. Even his sister, meanwhile married to the Duc d’Angoulême and therefore a possible future Queen of France would have had no interest in his return to power. If the Duchess d’Angoulême was his half-sister, such a refusal would have been a necessity to cover up for herself.