A PRINCE IN THE STORM

In 1943, the family of Prince Michel de Bourbon-Parme, driven out of Europe by the Nazis, takes refuge in New York. A descendant of Saint Louis through his father and of the King of Denmark through his mother, the young man refuses to accept defeat and enlists in the American Army at the age of 17. Commissioned as a lieutenant, spotted by the OSS and recruited by William Casey — the future director of the CIA — he then follows an extraordinary path. Sent to England, he joins the top-secret Jedburgh commando unit, whose three-man teams will be dropped over occupied France during the summer of 1944 to train resistance movements and strike at the enemy. Lieutenant Michel de Bourbon-Parme's team, parachuted into the Massif Central in June 1944, harasses the Germans and notably delays the advance of the SS Division Das Reich on its way to Normandy. At 18, after the Liberation, he volunteers for Indochina, where Viet Minh communists have just declared independence and are fighting against the French presence. On 28 August 1945, he is parachuted in by the Service Action along with five other officers. They are taken prisoner by the Viet Minh that same day. The six Frenchmen then spend eight months in captivity — eight months of hell under unimaginable conditions — which end in the horrific deaths of four of them during multiple escape attempts. Michel de Bourbon-Parme himself manages to reach Laos after crossing the Vietnamese jungle on foot. Demobilised at 20, having already lived several lifetimes, the prince devotes himself to his passion for motor racing (second place in the 1964 Tour de France auto, participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans) and becomes the privileged intermediary of the Shah of Iran, on whose behalf he negotiates contracts for French companies. Always guided by the same motto as in the Indochinese camps: "If you give up, you die."