French Royalty. The third child and second son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, 10-year-old Louis survived the executions of his parents by only two years. Born "Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy", in 1789 he became heir to the French throne upon the death of his older brother, and received posthumous recognition as King Louis XVII when the Bourbon dynasty was first restored in 1814. A victim of tuberculosis of the bone, the little boy's condition was exacerbated by the physical and emotional trauma he suffered during Reign of Terror, and he spent the the final years of his brief life isolated in a dungeon of the notorious Temple Prison. Following his death there in June 1795, his remains were said to be buried in an unmarked grave here in the Cemetery of Ste. Marguerite with the exception of his heart, which had been secretly removed by a sympathetic physician. Despite rumors that the uncrowned boy had escaped, and the emergence of numerous claimants to his identity, recent DNA testing of his heart, which remains at the Cathedral of St. Denis outside Paris, confirmed its owner was related to Marie Antoinette.

French Royalty. The third child and second son of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, 10-year-old Louis survived the executions of his parents by only two years. Born "Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy", in 1789 he became heir to the French throne upon the death of his older brother, and received posthumous recognition as King Louis XVII when the Bourbon dynasty was first restored in 1814. A victim of tuberculosis of the bone, the little boy's condition was exacerbated by the physical and emotional trauma he suffered during Reign of Terror, and he spent the the final years of his brief life isolated in a dungeon of the notorious Temple Prison. Following his death there in June 1795, his remains were said to be buried in an unmarked grave here in the Cemetery of Ste. Marguerite with the exception of his heart, which had been secretly removed by a sympathetic physician. Despite rumors that the uncrowned boy had escaped, and the emergence of numerous claimants to his identity, recent DNA testing of his heart, which remains at the Cathedral of St. Denis outside Paris, confirmed its owner was related to Marie Antoinette.

Bio by: Nikita Barlow