However, Ludwig’s successor Maximillian and, indeed, several other monarchs across Europe tended to treat their heirs quite abysmally. One need only think of the treatment accorded to the Edward VII by his father, the Prince Consort Albert; or to Crown Prince Rudolf by his father, King Franz Joseph of Austria. Franz Joseph allowed a military martinet by the name of Count Leopold Gondrecourt to ‘make a man’ of Rudolf by firing a pistol next to his ear while he slept, or forcing him to march in the snow without even a coat. The Prince Consort expected his son Edward to study for more than 10 hours a day, and did not allow him to come into contact with people of his age. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, expectations of royal children, especially heirs, were unreasonably high and children were expected, from the cradle, to be more than any other children – stronger, braver, more intelligent, more virtuous – in order to set an example to their future subjects. Inevitably, their children failed to live up to their fathers’ stringent moral standards, but this was invariably seen as rebellion and obstinacy, and was frequently rewarded with beatings or severe reprimands. As Greg King writes: “Crown Prince Rudolf eventually severed relations with his father and even conspired with his political enemies; the Prince of Wales responded to his father’s callousness by becoming the exact opposite of what was expected of him. Rudolf rebelled through his political involvements; the Prince of Wales through his numerous love affairs and questionable private life.”²

In any event, both of Ludwig’s parents put their country before their family and henceforth seemed aloof, cold and distant to their sons. In the absence of a familial role model, Ludwig turned towards his governess, Fraülein von Meilhaus, who was a warm and loving woman but who made the twin mistakes of inculcating in the young Ludwig the feeling that he was monarch by right of God and urging him to look up to monarchs of the past – particularly Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil or the Sun King. In the young Ludwig, she found a conscientious student. But it was the Castle of Hohenschwangau – the legacy of the knights of Schwangau, who first raised its battlements in the 11th century, and which was restored by Ludwig II’s grandfather and painted with scenes from German mythology, including such mythic heroes as Lohengrin and Parsifal – which had the most extraordinary effect on the young Ludwig, who was deeply affected by their inspiring stories. In a way, it offered a comforting release from the strictly regulated and formal courts of Germany. Hohenschwangau translates loosely as “the High Country of the Swan”, and accordingly Ludwig adopted the swan as his personal emblem.³