A French descendant of Louis XIV has failed in his last-minute attempt to ban an exhibition by pop US artist Jeff Koons in Versailles, which he claimed disrespected his royal ancestors with"pornography".

Since September, half a million visitors have flocked to the Sun King's palace to view 17 major works by the"king of kitsch" in its gardens and gilded galleries.

These include an inflatable lobster, a porcelain representation of Michael Jackson and his chimp Bubbles, as well as Split-Rocker, an 11-tonne stainless steel dinosaur-rocking horse sculpture made from 90,000 live flowers, which is in the Orangerie garden.