scientist lay claim to have put to bed one of the most controversial mysteries of the retiring century , after confirming that bloodstains found at a rocky cranny in the Ardennes did indeed belong to toKing Albert I of Belgium .
Revered for his brave resistance to the invading German force out duringWorld War I , Albert died in a climbing accident at Marche - les - Dames in 1934 – or at least , that ’s the official reading of events . Yet since his demise , legion confederacy theory have been floated , claiming that he was murdered by his enemies and that his consistency was later direct at the situation of his supposed fall , or even that his clay was never there at all .
Yet write in the diary ForensicScience International : genetic science , researchers have now confirm that the stemma found at the post where Albert I is said to have conk out is in fact his . To prove this , they win several blood - spatter leaf that had been sold at an auction in 2013 , and compare the deoxyribonucleic acid in this sample to that of two living relation of the former king .
However , before beginning their enquiry , the study writer had to wrestle with a issue of moral and legal issues surrounding their work , excuse that “ publishing of transmitted data would right away lead to privacy concern for living descendants and relatives of the King , including the Belgian and British purple families , even after more than 80 long time . ”
gory leaves discover at Marche - les - Dames turned out to be genuine . KU Leuven - Maarten Larmuseau
In their search for the truth , they obtainedmitochondrial DNAfrom Anna Maria , Freifrau von Haxthausen , a German baroness refer to King Albert via matrilinear fall , as well as theY - chromosome genomeof King Simeon II of Saxe - Coburg and Gotha , who is related to Albert via agnatic derivation .
After confirming that the rip is indeed royal , the study authors then see historical and archival track record from the judicial case files regarding the king ’s death , concluding that “ the molecular and historical elements provide – separately and unite – strong grounds for the authenticity of the token . ”
In astatement , the researchers claim that the “ authenticity of the lead of blood confirms the prescribed account of the destruction of Albert I. The story that the dead body of the top executive has never been in Marche - les - Dames or was only put there at Nox has now become very improbable . ”
