Excavating the Story of Charles Edward

From the very moment of his birth, in December 1720, Charles Edward Stuart was the great hope of the whole Jacobite Community, whose major goal was a Stuart restoration. He was the first-born of James Francis Stuart (1688-1766), himself son and heir of the exiled King James II of England and VII of Scotland, but despite this very promising start, his life was nothing but a bitterest existence. Why has such a poignant story disappeared in the background, behind the legend of Bonnie Prince Charlie?