MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA ANALYSIS ON REMAINS OF A PUTATIVE SON OF LOUIS-XVI,KING OF FRANCE AND MARIE-ANTOINETTE

Carl Wilhelm Naundorff was buried in 1845 in Delft as Louis Charles, D uc de Normandie, 'Louis XVII', However, the son of Louis XVI and Marie -Antoinette - Louis XVII - officially died in the Temple of Paris in 1 795, In order to resolve the identity of Naundorff, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop sequences of his remains were compared with the sequenc es obtained from the hairs of two sisters of Marie-Antoinette, Marie-A ntoinette herself, and with the sequences obtained from DNA samples of two living maternal relatives, The mtDNA sequence of a bone sample fr om Naundorff showed two nucleotide differences from the sequences of t he three sisters and four differences from the sequences of living mat ernal relatives. Based on this evidence it becomes very unlikely that Naundorff is the son of Marie-Antoinette.