Editing Man in the Iron Mask (section)

====King's father====
In 1955, Hugh Ross Williamson argued that the Man in the Iron Mask was the natural father of Louis XIV. According to this theory, the "miraculous" birth of Louis XIV in 1638 would have come after Louis XIII had been estranged from his wife Anne of Austria for 14 years.{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=245}}

The theory then suggests that Cardinal Richelieu had arranged for a substitute, probably an illegitimate grandson of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]],{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=247}} to become intimate with the queen and father an heir in the king's stead. At the time, the [[heir presumptive]] was Louis XIII's brother [[Gaston, Duke of Orléans]], who was Richelieu's enemy. If Gaston became king, Richelieu would quite likely have lost both his job as minister and his life, and so it was in his best interests to thwart Gaston's ambitions.{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=246}}

Supposedly, the substitute father then left for the [[New France|Americas]] but returned to France in the 1660s with the aim of extorting money for keeping his secret and was promptly imprisoned. This theory would explain the secrecy surrounding the prisoner, whose true identity would have destroyed the legitimacy of Louis XIV's claim to the throne had it been revealed.{{sfn|Williamson|2002|pp=247–248}}

This theory had been suggested by British politician [[Hugh Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood]], who nonetheless added that the idea has no historical basis and is entirely hypothetical.{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=245}} Williamson held that: "to say it is a guess with no solid historical basis is merely to say that it is like every other theory on the matter, although it makes more sense than any of the other theories. There is no known evidence that is incompatible with it, even the age of the prisoner, which Cecil had considered a weak point;{{sfn|Williamson|2002|pp=249–251}} and it explains every aspect of the mystery."{{sfn|Williamson|2002|p=245}}  His time spent as a valet to another prisoner renders this idea doubtful, however.{{efn|name=valet}}