Man in the Iron Mask the queen to be left alone with her midwife to give birth to the second child. To make the context clearer, it should be remembered that there was a controversy at that time over which one of twins was the elder: the one born first or the one who, being born second, would have, as was then thought, been conceived first. In such a situation, the reigning twin would face a serious threat to his throne. Also supporting the theory of King Louis XIV's twin, a thorough examination of the French Kings' genealogy shows many twin births, in the Capetian
Man in the Iron Mask jailers took – created significant interest in his story and gave birth to many legends. Many theories exist and several books have been written about the case. Some were presented after the existence of the letters was widely known. Still later commentators have presented their own theories, possibly based on embellished versions of the original tale. Theories about his identity popular during his time included that he was a Marshal of France; the English Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell; or François, Duke of Beaufort. Later, many people such as Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas suggested other theories about the man