It was 224 years ago today (16 October) that Marie-Antoinette was led to the scaffold and decapitated. The death sentence had been passed the day before at the conclusion of her show trial. Although this event technically falls outside the Versailles Century (1682-1789), I feel moved to include it today by Axel von Fersen‘s broken-hearted letter on the subject to his friend Lady Elizabeth Foster.
Axel von Fersen in later life. Credit: Wikipedia.
Axel von Fersen, of course, was famously the (probably) platonic lover of Marie-Antoinette. He played one of the principal roles in planning and carrying out the royal family’s attempted escape from Paris that ended in failure at Varennes.
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