15. The King’s Bedroom Disappointments
For a French monarch, Louis XVI was not much of a womanizer. French kings were long infamous for their insatiable lust, but not this Louis. He married Marie Antoinette in 1770 when he was fifteen and she was fourteen, but showed little interest in her, and the marriage was not consummated until seven years later, in 1777. In a letter to his brother, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II wrote that Louis had confided to him what he did with his queen. He: “Introduces the member … stays there without moving for about two minutes“, then pulls out without ejaculating and “bids goodnight“. Aside from inexperience and shyness, Louis might have suffered from phimosis, a foreskin condition that causes pain when the penis is erect. It was not until he underwent surgery that he was finally able to consummate his marriage.
