Duchess of Angoulême’s Diamond Tiara

 

From Royal Watcher:

While the exact origin of this magnificent Diamond Tiara is not exactly known, it was either created by Bapst or Nitot around the time of the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy, using Diamonds from the French Crown Jewels, possibly created by resetting earlier jewels created for Empress Josephine or Empress Marie Louise. In 1816, Madame Royale, the Duchess of Angoulême was portrayed wearing a sumptuous diamond parure comprising the large Diamond Tiara, two rivière necklaces, a pair of chandelier earrings, a belt buckle, a ring, and her mother’s pair of Diamond Bracelets by painter Antoine-Jean Gros. The Duchess of Angoulême asked her uncle, King Louis XVIII, to allow the Tiara to become her personal property, so the Tiara was reset with diamonds from the Royal Family’s collection, and the older diamonds were returned to the Crown Jewels around 1820. (Read more.)

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The Ugly Truth

 From Culturcidal:

You’ll notice that in three years’ time, the battlefront has stayed roughly the same, although Russia has now taken another 1 to 2% of Ukraine. That tells you that this whole conflict has turned into what Donald Rumsfeld might have called a “long, hard slog.”

Furthermore, if you’re wondering who’s more likely to win this war of attrition, keep in mind that Russia has roughly 3.5 times as many people as Ukraine. That may explain why some Ukrainian front-line units are already reportedly operating at half strength, and why there’s no real possibility of Ukraine pushing Russia out of its territory and taking the fight in the other direction. (Read more.)

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Bonnie Prince Charlie's Disastrous Cumbrian Friend

 From Hidden Cumbrian Histories:

By the side of one of Scotland’s most beautiful sea lochs lies a pile of stones. It marks the place where the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed in July 1745 with a tiny and already somewhat battered and disunited group of seven supporters. The inscription on the memorial records that one of the prince’s party was: “Francis Strickland an English gentleman from Westmorland”.

Together, these seven launched the Jacobite Rebellion, the most formidable and daring attempt by the exiled Stuart dynasty to regain the British throne.

Although he came ashore with only this absurdly small band of followers, Charles Edward Stewart’s timing was good because the bulk of the British army was away fighting in mainland Europe. He gained slightly equivocal support from thousands of Highland warriors and within weeks was the master of Scotland and victor of the battle of Prestonpans near Edinburgh. In that fight he annihilated the only semblance of an army the English had at a time when the London government could hardly muster enough troops on hand to guard the royal palaces, let alone fight an invasion.

He was disappointed when his English supporters failed to rise and even more downcast when the French delayed launching their promised invasion until it was too late. Even so, the speed and tactical nous of Charles’s forces wrong-footed the defenders of a succession of English cities. The Jacobites captured Carlisle and penetrated as far south as Derby. This unprecedented success by an invading army threatened to destabilise the British state. Yet the intense squabbling and internal distrust that had grown among his commanders led to the conviction they would not win and they retreated against Charles’s wishes. This allowed the English to regroup and led to the Jacobite army being crushed at the Battle of Culloden with 1,250 rebel deaths. (Read more.)

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Louis XVII: The Pretenders

The Dauphin Louis-Charles (Louis XVII) and his sister Madame Royale.

 
Marie-Antoinette's younger son, her chou d'amour. 

The prince is probably three or four in this picture.

                                                     Dauphin Louis-Charles a couple of years later, at six or seven. 

                                                     Small boys wore pink in those days.

Louis XVII, the eight-year-old imprisoned monarch, was removed from his mother Marie-Antoinette in August 1792. He was abused and forced to testify against her. After his mother and aunt were killed, he was was ill and locked up. His sister Marie-Thérèse, who was upstairs, was never allowed to see him, even when he was dying. He died on June 8, 1795. Marie-Thérèse was not allowed to see his body, either, but was kept locked in her room in the Temple Prison until his body was removed.  From Ancient Origins:

By the time Marie-Thérèse was released in December 1795, rumors had already begun about the fate of Louis XVII. In what has been dubbed “the fauxdauphinomanie of the early nineteenth century,” dozens of fraudsters attempted to adopt the identity of the lost dauphin over the coming decades. While some of their stories were ludicrous, the hounding she suffered must have been unbearable.

The most successful amongst them was Jean-Marie Hervagault, who, inspired by a book published in 1800 entitled Le Cimetière de la Madeleine , copied the plot and claimed to be the lost boy-king rescued from the Temple. Meanwhile, Karl Wilhelm Naundorff claimed to have been smuggled out in a basket. His tomb in Delft was inscribed Louis XVII, roi de France et de Navarre . There were even allegations that the young king had been rescued during a royalist plot and was living in the New World. To that end Reverend Eleazer Williams, a missionary of Native American descent in Wisconsin, somehow convinced several people that he was in fact the lost king. (Read more.)

When Louis XVII died in the Temple Prison, there was no public funeral and his body was not publicly displayed. Not even his sister, who was kept in the same prison, was allowed to see him. From History:

“There is no real and legal certainty that the son of Louis XVI is dead,” wrote the Austrian diplomat, Baron von Thugut. “His death, up to now, has no other proof than the announcement in the Moniteur, along with a report drawn up on the orders of the brigands of the Convention and by people whose deposition is based on the fact that they were presented with the body of a dead child who they were told was the son of Louis Capet.”

According to Cadbury, the mystery surrounding the “orphan of the tower” led to 500 books on the subject and an Edwardian-era monthly journal. The first book, a fictional account called The Cemetery of Madeline, about Louis-Charles’s supposed escape from the tower, came out only a few years after his death. Memoirs were also written by claimants themselves, including the Historical Account of the Life of Louis XVII, dictated by an illiterate, drunken vagabond named Charles de Navarre. Even Mark Twain got into the act, writing of a transient pretending to be “the little boy dolphin” in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The first claimant appeared in Châlons-sur-Marne only three years after the Dauphin’s death. The charming, handsome teenager had been found wandering the countryside and put in the local prison. For months he refused to say who he was, and then said he was a member of a non-existent ducal house. Enamored villagers became convinced the seemingly aristocratic young man was Louis-Charles, and the teen did not disabuse them of this notion. (Read more.)

 

Portrait of Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France, later known as Louis XVII.  Several years ago, some scientists have found a DNA link between the little king and the descendants of the claimant Naundorff. We discussed it on the Tea at Trianon Forum, HERE. The historical background of the mystery is explored in the novel Madame Royale.

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Migration Jihad

 From Tierney's Real News:

By now, you’ve all seen the riots going on in France, Italy and Spain. I hope you realize that this is the end result of “socialism” and open borders. What Europe is now experiencing is an Islamo-Communist invasion (migration Jihad) after letting in 49 million Jihadis from countries that hate them. These are not just some disgruntled students as the fake news wants you to believe. This is not hyperbole. A former Muslim who grew up in an Islamic country said on British TV that they are all taught in school from a very young age about “migration Jihad” which they learned from Muhammad when he “migrated” from Mecca to Medina to overthrow it.

He says that’s the plan being implemented right now in the UK and all over the West. The goal is to send Muslims into our countries as “migration Jihad” to take us over, just as Muhammad did, and this is a plan that’s been in motion since they were all little kids.

“Migration Jihad is the essential doctrine of Islam. It’s what Islam was built on.” (Read more.)

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'Pétros Ení'

 From Vatican News:

The film Pétros ení: Alla scoperta delle origini (Pétros ení: Discovering the Origins) premiered this morning, 16 October, at the Rome Film Festival, where the audience gave a warm round of applause to Pope Leo XIV, who is currently receiving treatment at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

The spontaneous and heartfelt tribute came as Dr. Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, expressed his hope that the Pope’s recovery “continues to progress well” following surgery.

Produced by AF Films in collaboration with Vatican Media and the Fabric of St Peter, to mark the 400th anniversary of the consecration of St Peter's Basilica on 18 November 1626, the documentary is directed by Paula Ortiz, written by Andrea Tornielli, narrated by American actor Chris Pratt and features an appearance by Pope Leo. (Read more.)

 

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Death of Marie-Thérèse de France

The daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette died just three days after the anniversary of her mother's execution.

Here is a rare drawing of Marie-Thérèse as she would have dressed around the time of her death in 1851.

Here is a card commemorating her death on October 19, 1751, with an abridged version of her Will. It says:

+WILL+ OF MARIE THÉRÈSE OF FRANCE, DAUGHTER OF KING LOUIS XVI AND OF QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE, WHO DIED AT FROHSDORFF, +OCTOBER 19, 1851+ Following the example of my parents, I forgive, with all my soul, and without exceptions, all those who may have harmed or offended me; sincerely asking God to extend to them His mercy, as well as to me, and supplicating Him to accord me pardon for my faults. I thank all the FRENCHMEN who have remained attached to my family and to me for the proofs of devotion that they have given us, for the sufferings and pains they endured because of us. I pray God to pour out His blessings on FRANCE, which I have always loved, even in the midst of my bitterest afflictions. Having always considered my nephew HENRI and my niece LOUISE as my children, I give them my maternal blessing. They have had the happiness to have been raised in our holy religion, may they always remain faithful to it, may they always be worthy descendants of SAINT LOUIS! May my nephew consecrate his happy faculties to the accomplishment of the great duties which his position imposes upon him! May he never depart from the ways of moderation, justice and truth!

Here is a more complete reading of her Will:

In the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost … I submit in all things to the will of Providence. I do not fear death; and, lacking merit of my own, I place all my trust in the mercy of God, praying of him for time and grace to receive the sacraments of the Church with fervent piety …

I die in the Roman Catholic and Apostolic religion, in which I have lived as faithfully as I had power, and to which I owe all the consolations of my life.

… After the example of my parents, I pardon, with my entire soul, and without exception, all those who have injured or offended me; sincerely praying God to extend to them His mercy, and to me also, for the pardon of my sins. To all the faithful French who have remained attached to my family and to myself, I leave thanks for the devotedness, the sufferings, and the penalties they have endured in our cause.

I pray God to shower down his blessings upon France–France, that I have never ceased to love even under my bitterest afflictions.

I thank the Emperor of Austria for the asylum which he accorded in his dominions to me and my family. I am grateful for the proofs of interest and friendship which I have received from the imperial family, especially under circumstances of deep sorrow; and not less so for the sentiments manifested by a great number of his subjects, more especially the inhabitants of Goritz …

Having always considered my nephew Henri and my niece Louisa as my children, I give them my maternal benediction. They have had the happiness of being educated in our holy religion: may they continue in fidelity to it, worthy decedents of St. Louis.

May my nephew consecrate his happy faculties to the accomplishment of the great duties imposed on him by his position! May he never wander from the paths of moderation, of justice, and of truth!

I institute my nephew Henri my universal legatee. It is my wish that my remains be deposited at Goritz, in the vault of the Franciscans, between those of my husband and his father.

Let no solemn service be celebrated on my account. All that I desire are masses for the salvation of my soul. Share

A Never Trump Influencer Who Spent Years Sabotaging Him Just Flipped

 From Tierney's Real News:

Karol Markowicz is a New York Post and Fox News columnist, the host of The Karol Markowicz Show and co-host of the Normally podcast, and co-author of the bestselling book Stolen Youth. She just published a full-throated defense of President Trump’s second term in the New York Post. The headline says it all: “I was a Trump skeptic — but his second-term wins made me a believer.”

She admits she voted third-party in 2016, sat out 2020 entirely, and never owned a MAGA hat. Now she’s listing all the reasons that America MUST stick with President Trump, and vote for his endorsed Republican candidates, instead of handing power back to the Communists and Islamists on the left who want to close prisons, install woke DEI, end capitalism, and open the borders wide again.

I’m glad she’s finally awake. I’m also sad it took this long. Here’s the opinion piece, which is well written and 100% correct, followed by my commentary: (Read more.)

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A True Arthurian Legend

 From The Habsburg Way:

You notice that so far I haven’t even spoken of the plot of GALAHAD AND THE HOLY GRAIL. It’s because it is barely necessary as the title tells it all - you get to know Galahad and his background, then Camelot calls, and the the quest for the Grail begins. You follow him and several of the knights of the Round Table as they face challenges and move closer to the longed-for goal.

So far, so Arthurian.

But what Guite does unashamedly is to imbue his book with deep, earnest, traditional Christian Faith. Before I found out that he is an Anglican pastor I was convinced he was a Traditional Catholic - you’ll get there, Malcolm ;) He explores the whole depths of Christian connotations of the Grail legend, Christian Chivalry, prayer and the Sacrifice of the Mass. It actually (gasp) encourages you to pray in temptations and set your hope in Christ! Figure that! (Read more.)

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