I first heard about it in a German biopic of Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria (youngest sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria). In it, a gossipy servant claimed to have heard the confession of Queen Marie that her husband was not the father of her two sons.
Of course, this is a questionable source, to say the least. I was just wondering if anybody else has heard the rumor, and whether there are suspicions as to its truth. It would be interesting to know just WHO exactly was the biological father (assuming it was the same man).
If indeed it was somebody other than King Maximilian II, perhaps it could make sense of his harsh treatment of his *sons*. By all accounts, he was a most wretched parent who abused them -- starving and beating them, among other things.
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