THEY were the grandest royal dynasty Europe has ever seen. Builders of the fabulous Palace of Versailles, the Bourbon monarchy effectively ended on the guillotine in 1793 when the French revolutionaries put paid to Louis XV1.
Or did it end there? According to Prince Michael of Greece, cousin to Britain's Prince Phillip, a portly, soft spoken 48-year-old Indian gentleman living a quite life in the central Indian city of Bhopal is the real king of France.
Entering the home of Balthazar Napoleon de Bourbon there are clues. The brass plaque on ther door proclaims 'House of Bourbon' together with the white feathered fleur-de-lis crest of the French Bourbon kings.
Inside is a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Balthazard's own ancestors passed down the story to him that he was somehow connected to the French royal line but just recently the speculation has become rooted in historical fact.
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