Tomb of 'Dark Countess', rumoured to be Marie Thrse Charlotte, eldest daughter of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, is exhumed

A digger clears the earth during the exhumation of the grave of so-called 'Dark Countess' in Hildburghausen, Germany.Photo: EPA/DPA

7:18PM BST 15 Oct 2013

updated by @leopoldina: 25 May 2017 11:51:27AM

Yawns

There have been so many theories with regards to what happens to the royal families, like many tests have been done on the Romanov family, whether or not it was really their remains were theirs, same for Louis XVII etc. Heck, Elvis might be alive too. I always find it terribly interesting, so thank you for sharing! However,.. I don't think she switched, but if the DNA results show so, that would be pretty cool!

My apologies Madame, I do shudder at this type of journalism, I do not wish to be disrespectful.

Interesting and sad. The couple could have been any aristocratic family that fled france after the revolution. It will be interesting to see what the outcome might be.

Ah yes, I highly doubt that theory, but maybe we will know more about this Dark Countess? that would be nice

Yes, can't wait for any new information on this!

I read on wikipedia that the Count was "Leonardus Cornelius van der Valck, born 22 September 1769 in Amsterdam, and secretary in the Dutch embassy in Parisfrom July 1798 to April 1799" and according to himself, the Countess was "Sophie Botta, an unmarried woman from Westphalia."

It would be interesting to know why they were so much mystery around them.

uhm I also find that theory very absurd, but I see nothing wrong with the article. They even say Ernestine was "believed to be her half sister", which is great compared to the article from Wikipedia.

Interesting!

I'd never heard of this case or of Ernestine Lambriquet before.

We'll have to see how this turns out

Of course, I followed along with the Anna Anderson situation for years as well.

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The romantic part of me wants to believe it,but the pragmatic part of me says no.

Also I know they are doing this for science and finding out about history but I find it a bit distasteful that they are disturbing a personslast resting placejust for this reason.

I don't know, I think that if the switching theory was true, Marie-Therese's life would had been even more tragic.

Just saw this at VivelaReine's tumblr, and thought it would be worth of mention here. This comments comes from Elena Maria Vidal, on her blog Tea at Trianon:

" Here are some glaring points as to why this story [ Marie Therese being the Dark Countess] is untenable:

1) Louis XVI had no illegitimate children. There is no proof that he had an operation. He was known for his devotion to his wife, fidelity to his marriage vows and his religious scrupulosity. He did not have an affair with a chambermaid and beget Ernestine. There was an Ernestine, a child of servants, whom Marie-Antoinette adopted . (She adopted two other children as well. The queen came from a large family and liked having lots of children around.) There is no evidence that Ernestine was the secret daughter of Louis XVI or of any of the other princes.

2) Louis XVIII would have had to pay off a huge amount of people to buy their silence, and he really did not have all that much money - not enough for that kind of blackmail. He had been an impoverished exile for over 20 years. When he did get hold of some cash, he immediately deposited it in an English bank. The Bourbon family lived on his savings the next time they were all exiled.

3)Louis XVIII may have been clever and devious enough to carry off that kind of a hoax, but the other members of the family were not. His brother Artois (Charles X) was notorious for his lack of discretion. His nephew the Duc d'Angoulme , Madame Royale's husband and cousin, was deeply pious and scrupulously honest, in spite of other innumerable short-comings. He would never have been able to live that kind of a lie. The other nephew, the Duc de Berry , was like his father Artois, completely unable to be devious, no matter how hard he tried.

4) Many faithful retainers and childhood friends of Madame Royale, such as Pauline de Bearn and her mother the royal governess Madame de Tourzel, were close to Marie-Thrse before and after the Revolution. Both mother and daughter were known as women of honor and to insinuate that they would participate in such a hoax is outrageous to say the least. There were many, many others, who had lost fortunes through being faithful to the royal family and were not the type to sacrifice their principles over such a charade that really served no purpose."

Source: http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com.br/2013/10/the-myth-of-dark-counte...

I always wondered when someone would bring up this discussion on the dark countess she was such a strange story a bit hard to follow and believe (as in being a French royal family member) I do not doubt the switching theories but I do not say I believe in it completely nor do i believe for a bit that Lous XVI had illegitmate kids not for a second really...it makes me wonder more than believe about it like the past case brought up about Queen Elizabeth the first being a man aparently not to anger King Henry the Eight they covered up the death of the original Elizabeth by replacing her with a ginger boy who looked alot like her in the village nearby... Strange if anything at all but I does make one think are we being lied to? I believe one must always think about the What ifs?

It was quiet an interesting topic cherie thankyou x

Your welcome

I don't believe in the switching theory completely, so I really want to known why they lived in such mystery, there must be a reason no?

Well this is a theory but a bit more of a myth than anything
They were believed to be the count and countess Dracula but also many people believed her to be the countess Dracula and apparently he was hiding her from everyone but I think it was just to scare people haha.
I think they made a film about it and she was part of the inspiration to the film I think I was called the "countess of Dracula" but if there is more reasons please do share I love these mysteries

Poor woman, she killed the father and mother violently, ripped all her dearest affections. Now even with the death she is able to have peace. Let her rest in peace. This is just advertising for profit.