Bloody Rag May Not Have Touched Louis XVI's Severed Head

sciencehabit writes "It seemed like the perfect forensic tale. Earlier this year, a geneticist concluded that the remains of a blood-soaked cloth stored for centuries in an 18th century gourd likely belonged to the severed head of the last French king, Louis XVI — a conclusion supported by the fact that the DNA matched that taken from a mummified head belonging to his direct ancestor, King Henry IV. So confident were some people about the findings that a company now offers a blood test for anyone who wants to see if they, too, are descendants of this royal family. But new research released today calls into question the identities of both the blood and the head, arguing that the DNA in those samples does not match the DNA in living relatives of these kings."

Re:So What?

[TWX]

PEDIGREE, n. The known part of the route from an arboreal ancestor with a swim bladder to an urban descendant with a cigarette.

--Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Re:Obvious solution.

[SJHillman]

What I find interesting is that the AC gave a plausible number of "greats" to match Louis XVI's generation.

Re:Obvious solution.

[Garridan]

GP was quoting TFA, which was quoting a historian who knew more than what you gleaned from Wikipedia in 30 seconds. Check your own ignorance, friend. Nobody's questioning the existence of those children, merely the true identity of the father.