The Tragic Fate of the Heir to the Throne of Paris
On a day like today, 229 years ago, the chief jailer of the Paris Temple prison announced the death of Louis Charles of Bourbon, the only surviving male child of Kings Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France. Louis Charles, also known as the Dauphin Louis, was considered the heir to the throne of Paris before the proclamation of the French Republic in January 1793. The Dauphin’s death occurred when he was only ten years old, two years after the execution of his parents by guillotine.
The Mystery Surrounding His Death
Since his death, various theories and speculations arose about the final fate of Luis Carlos de Borbón. According to some clandestine royalist sources, the dolphin was buried in the Saint Margaret’s cemetery in Paris, in a grave marked only with a D for dolphin. However, other sources suggest that the dolphin did not die in prison, but rather that he was rescued and hidden by a family in Calais, adopting a false name: Pierre Benoit.
This version was supported by the surviving relatives of the guillotined Bourbons, Xavier and Carlos de Borbón, brothers of Louis XVI, who never accepted the heart of the dauphin extracted during the autopsy, as they doubted its authenticity.
The Supposed Resurgence in Buenos Aires
Years later, in 1823, a French engineer named Pierre Benoit obtained several positions in the administration of the newly created Argentine Republic. In Buenos Aires, a rumor began to circulate that Benoit was actually the dolphin Luis. This theory was based on unsubstantiated elements, such as the claim that Benoit had painted portraits of members of the French royal family and signed himself with the initials L.C.R.F.P.B. (Louis Carlos King of France Pierre Benoit). It was even said that he kept Queen Marie Antoinette’s braid hidden. However, Pierre Benoit, the supposed dauphin of France, died poisoned by a French doctor with revolutionary ideology in 1852.
The Mystery Endures
Despite speculation and theories, the final fate of Luis Carlos de Borbón remains an unsolved mystery. The truth about his death and any possible resurgence in Buenos Aires remain shrouded in the veil of time, leaving room for imagination and historical intrigue.
