Maria Stella

Analysis In spite of much discussion and investigation, the case of Maria Stella remains one of the unsolved problems of history, but it could be solved today by DNA, as there are direct descendants of all those involved. Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey's Mystery of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough (London, 1907), is founded on her own accounts and argues in favour of her point of view.

An alternative view is Maurice Vitrac's Philippe-Egalité et M. Chiappini (Paris, 1907), which is based on unpublished material in the Archives nationales. Vitrac seeks to overthrow Maria Stella's case by an alibi. The duke and duchess of Chartres could not have been at Modigliana in April 1773, for the simple reason that they can be proved at that time to have been in Paris. On 8 April the duke, according to the official Gazette de France, took part in the Maundy Thursday ceremonies at Versailles; from 7 April to 14 April he was in constant attendance at the lodge of Freemasons of which he had just been elected grand master. Moreover, it was impossible for the first prince of the blood royal to leave France without royal permission, and his absence would certainly have been remarked. Lastly, the duchess's accouchement, a semi-public function in the case of royal princesses, did not take place till 6 October. Vitrac identifies the real father of Maria Stella with Count Carlo Battaglini of Rimini, who died in 1796 without issue; the case being not one of substitution, but of ordinary farming out to avoid a scandal.

Legacy In 2017, the city council of Modigliana set up a programme of events to commemorate the figure of Maria Stella, including conferences, lectures, studies and a historical theatre drama written and directed by L.A. Mazzoni and played by actors of Filodrammatica Berton. There is now a plaque commemorating the event on the Palazzo Pretorio where the exchange is alleged to have taken place. It consists of a relief with figures of the Count and Countess of Joinville and Lorenzo and Vincentia Chiappini handing babies to each other.