Ernestine Lambriquet

Ernestine de Lambriquet (actually Marie-Philippine Lambriquet ; * July 31, 1778 in Versailles , † December 30, 1813 in Paris ) was a French noblewoman and adopted daughter of the French royal couple Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette .

biography

She is considered the daughter of Jacques Lambriquet , the son of wealthy farmers and chamberlain to the brother of the French king. Lambriquet married Marie-Phillipine Noirot in 1775 , who worked as a maid in the Palace of Versailles . In 1778 the couple's second child, Marie-Philippine Lambriquet, was born. Little Marie-Philippine had three siblings: Louise Catherine (born 1776, died 1778), Emilie Marie (born 1780, died 1781) and Augustin Louis (born 1781, year of death unknown).

Marie-Philippine Noirot died on April 30, 1788, leaving her husband with their two children, Marie-Philippine (Ernestine) and Augustin, who were still alive. As a result, the French Queen Marie Antoinette adopted the girl, who has since been called Ernestine . She should be a playmate of Princess Marie Thérèse . Ernestine, like Marie Thérèse, was showered with presents, taught by the same teachers and even slept in the same room as the princess.

During the French Revolution she found shelter in the country with her biological father under the code name Madame Brunyer in June 1791 , but later returned to the royal family. She was there when the king's castle was stormed by the people in 1792. However, together with the noble Pauline de Tourzel , Ernestine managed to escape while the royal family was arrested.

Ernestine married the Parisian Jean Charles Germain Prempain on December 7, 1810 . He had been widowed for a year and was already the father of three young children.

She died childless on December 30, 1813 in Paris at the age of 35. Her death certificate lists Jacques Lambriquet and Marie-Philippine Noirot as parents.

Mystery

Ernestine was often referred to as the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XVI. and Marie-Philippine Noirot.

According to a certain exchange theory , Ernestine's adoptive sister Marie Thérèse is said to have become pregnant through rape during her incarceration in the Temple . In addition, the French princess is said to have suffered psychological damage from her imprisonment and the loss of her family. Because of the bad mental health, she was not able to enter into the planned marriage with her cousin, the Duke of Angoulême. But because of political interests, the two insisted on marriage. Therefore, a lady had to be found who both resembled Marie Thérèse and knew the customs of the French court. According to the theory, Marie Thérèse and Ernestine were swapped. While Ernestine was marrying the Duke of Angoulême, Marie Thérèse is said to have been brought to Germany, where she lived with the Dutchman Leonardus Cornelius van der Valck from 1810 to 1837 at the Eisausen Castle in Hildburghausen as a so-called Dark Countess . On October 15, 2013 the unnamed grave of the Dark Countess was opened for a DNA test. Coffin nails and parts of a skeleton were recovered. A DNA comparison with descendants of Marie Antoinette's family living today showed that Marie Thérèse de Bourbon could not have been the mysterious Dark Countess. This refutes this part of the theory. However, in the absence of reliable sources, it remains to be seen whether the real princess was exchanged with Ernestine (or another person).

literature

• Carolin Philipps: The Dark Countess. The secret of Marie Antoinette's daughter. Piper Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-49295426-6 .
• Kirsten Klein: daughter from France. The Dark Countess's Secret. neobooks Self-Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-3-84769026-9 .

source

• Susan Nagel: Marie-Thérèse: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter . Bloomsbury, 2009, ISBN 978-0-74759666-0 .