Naundorff, The Lost Crown Prince Case

An article containing this story was published in 1864 in the Moniteur. The article also stipulated that Naundorff, with the help of these documents, was able to acquire the required legitimacy in the eyes of those that had formed the inner circle of the former royal family. Naundorff thus succeeded in convincing the former secretary of Louis XVI and many others that he was indeed the dauphin. The documents that Naundorff had found in the armchair were also the origin as to why he went to Orval in 1840, to search for the lost treasure of the Bourbons. 

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“Madame Royale” – as was called Marie Thérèse, the sister of Louis XVII, the Crown Prince of France - did not reply to the letters of Agathe de Rambaud or monsieur de Brémond. She did request a confidante to “study the man and his ways”. Her envoy met Naundorff in Paris and immediately reported back extensively, stating one could no deny “the likeness with portraits of Louis XVII and the general features of the Bourbon family”. Madame Royale nevertheless forcefully refused to meet the man of whom many of her and her parents’ entourage had concluded that he was indeed Louis XVII. Did she only want to support her uncle and father in law, Charles X, as the only pretender to the throne of France?

In January 1834, Morel de Saint-Didier travelled to Prague to personally plead the Naundorff case with Madame Royale. He had previously unmasked two false crown princes, but he had become a fervent supporter of Naundorff. But his report too made not the least impression on Madame Royale. Back in Paris, Morel found the pretender to the throne in bed. An attempt on his life had been made.

“I do not want to formulate an opinion, but merely relate the facts,” he wrote to Madame Royale. “He would have been accosted around eight o’clock; several stabs from a dagger had injured him. I went over to visit him the following day and have written down everything with the greatest accuracy. I saw the wound and the clothes that had been penetrated by several stabs. The wound was located only a few millimetres from the heart…”

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It is hard to believe that Naundorff would have succeeded in deceiving a critical observer as regards his wounds, while it is equally hard to believe that he would have self-inflicted these wounds, as various sceptici mordicus continue to claim. The fact that Naundorff was a notorious swindler does not exclude an assassination attempt – to the contrary, the more convincing his swindle, the more reasons certain parties would have had to take him out.

The political situation was far from stable. The throne of France was occupied by a “civilian king” from the house of Orléans, Louis-Philippe. But Charles X might have stepped down from the throne under the pressure of the July revolution of 1830, he and his immediate descendants of the House of Bourbon were of the opinion that they belonged there and perhaps sooner or later an opportunity would present itself that would turn the tide. A possibly legitimate son of Louis XVI could create problems.

This is also likely the reason why madame de Rambaud identified the swindler Naundorff as crown prince – while she surely must have known that he was not. Agathe de Rambaud he could not fool. She knew very well who was the only true dauphin, because she not only had been involved with his escape from the Temple, but probably had also given the crown prince a new identity…

The veritable dauphin of France could now surface at any given moment with undeniable proof that he was who he claimed to be, and amongst this proof were not only certain documents, but also the fortune of the Bourbons that was thought to be lost. The only condition that had to be fulfilled, was that the political situation would have to allow for the return of a Bourbon to the throne of France.

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Read More:

Louis XVII, the Lost Crown Prince of France

Nostradamus and the Lost Crown Prince

A Bourbon Prince and Princess

Translation Philip Coppens