The King Without a Crown
The execution of Louis XVI of France would rightfully lead to Louis XVII becoming the next king. Only then a child, he and his mother Marie Antoinette, among other members of their surviving family, were imprisoned as France was going through revolution leading to it becoming a republic. Officially, Louis XVII died in prison a child. However, over half a century later, a native American Christian missionary named Eleazar Williams wrote in his diary that he learned that he was Louis XVII. Although he himself had no interest in the throne, he refused to sign a declaration of giving up the throne if only to protect that heritage for his own progeny if they ever decided to pursue such. Theory was that French monarchists were able to free the child Louis XVII from prison, and whisk him away to safety in America, on the premise of restoring him to the throne at the appropriate time, which never occurred. Records show that Williams, in his later years, did meet with then who was the Prince of France upon his visit to the United States, the nature of their meeting and discussions unknown except only to them. Was Williams telling the truth or fabricating a story in his diary for another reason?
