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From: William Addams Reitwiesner <>
Subject: Naundorff and mtDNA
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 06:38:06 -0400 (EDT)


Those who are interested in the genetic aspects of Royal genealogy, or in
the question of the identity of Carl Wilhelm Naundorff, should check the
article in the current issue of *European Journal of Human Genetics*, vol.
6 (1998), pp. 383-395.

Naundorff (d. 1845) claimed to be Louis XVII of France (b. 1785, officially
died 1795), and his descendants have continued to press the claim. In this
article, the authors compare genetic extracts from Naundorff's hair and
bone (from samples kept above-ground after some earlier testing of his
remains in 1950) to hair samples from the following persons:

Archduchess Johanna Gabriela of Austria (1750-1762)
Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (1751-1767)
Louise, Queen of the Belgians (1812-1850)
Carlota, Empress of Mexico (1840-1927)
Anne, Queen of Romania (*1923, blood sample)
Andre, Prince of Bourbon-Parma (*1928)

All of these people are descended matrilineally (mother's mother's mother's
...) from Empress Maria Theresia (1717-1780), as was the genuine Louis
XVII. Here are the descents:

Johanna Gabriela <- Maria Theresia

Maria Josepha <- Maria Theresia

Louise <- Maria Amalia <- Maria Carolina <- Maria Theresia

Carlota <- Louise <- Maria Amalia <- Maria Carolina <- Maria Theresia

Anne <- Margarethe <- Marie <- Francoise <- Francisca <- Leopoldine <-
Maria
Teresa <- Maria Carolina <- Maria Theresia

Andre <- Margarethe <- Marie <- Francoise <- Francisca <- Leopoldine <-
Maria
Teresa <- Maria Carolina <- Maria Theresia

Louis XVII <- Marie Antoinette <- Maria Theresia

Since all of these people share a matrilineal ancestry, and mitochondria
are inherited matrilineally, and mitochondria have their own DNA, all of
these people should (theoretically, at least) have the same mitochondrial
DNA (or "mtDNA" for short).

The authors found that the mtDNA from Johanna Gabriela and Maria Josepha
matched each other. They also found that the mtDNA from Anne and Andre
matched each other, but that it was slightly different from the mtDNA from
Johanna Gabriela and Maria Josepha. The mtDNA from Naundorff, however, was
dramatically different from both of these, leading the authors to conclude
that Naundorff was probably not Louis XVII.

The hair samples from Louise and Carlota were either so degraded or so
contaminated that the authors couldn't get a clean reading from them.

The authors give, on p. 392, three possible explanations for the
differences between the Johanna Gabriela/Maria Josepha mtDNA and the
Anne/Andre mtDNA: (1) this family has a high mutation rate, (2) the
samples are somehow not authentic, and (3) there was an adoption at some
point in the line from Maria Theresia to Margarethe (mother of Anne and
Andre). My own view is that mtDNA researchers haven't yet figured out the
effects on mtDNA lineages of mitochondrial segregation during mitosis,
especially in the germ-line cells, and that this may explain the
differences between the Johanna Gabriela/Maria Josepha mtDNA and the
Anne/Andre mtDNA.

The text of the article should be available soon at the journal's website
<http://www.stockton-press.co.uk/ejhg>;.

William Addams Reitwiesner

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