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- [00:00]
Afwa Hirsch
Wondery subscribers can binge seasons of legacy early and ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Hello and welcome to the third episode of our series on Marie Antoinette. We left you with Marie Antoinette mourning the death of her son. She's become the most hated woman in France, a figurehead for all that's wrong in a country that's rotting from the top down, a country that is crying out for change.
- [00:39]
Peter Frankenburn
Her husband, Louis the king, is struggling to deal with increasingly rebellious and angry subjects. France and Paris in particular are tinderboxes. A country and a capital ready to explode with one spark. And if it does, the lives of Marie Antoinette, Louis and their two remaining children will be at the mercy of the people, the people who hate her. From Wandery and Goal Hanger. I'm Peter Frankenburn.
- [01:17]
Afwa Hirsch
I'm AFWA Hersh.
- [01:18]
Peter Frankenburn
And this is Legacy, the show that tells the lives of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived and asks if they have the reputation that they deserve.
- [01:37]
Afwa Hirsch
This is Marie Antoinette, episode three, at the Mercy of the mob. It's the most famous day in the history of France. Peter 14 July 1789.
- [02:12]
Peter Frankenburn
We call it Bastille Day, the Catal. It's hugely symbolic, partly because it's the day every year that the French, French celebrate the revolution and all the things that go wrong as a result. But tell us a bit about what happens. How does the revolution break out?
- [02:26]
Afwa Hirsch
Bastille Day starts with a mob breaking into the fortress prison that for many had come to really symbolize everything that was wrong, broken and corrupt about monarchical France.
- [02:40]
Peter Frankenburn
And the scenes that unleash after the Bastille gets stormed are exceptionally violent. And we should give a word of warning. This episode does contain descriptions of violence, but that violence and the terror are an integral part of the revolution. From start to finish, the story of.
- [02:57]
Afwa Hirsch
Marie Antoinette is going to take an increasingly violent turn. Violence, or the threat of it, surrounds every day of her life for the next four years.
- [03:10]
Peter Frankenburn
And I think that's one of the reasons why the Marie Antoinette story is so compelling. Why it gets made into films where people talk about it is that the contrast of luxury and gambling and fine jewels and fine clothes and the scenes of Versailles, how those give way to scenes of devastation of people having their heads cut off. And I think Marie Antoinette, because of what happens to her, is the symbol for and provides a legacy and the story of the revolution today.
- [03:38]
Afwa Hirsch
But there's a huge disconnect with what's happening in Paris and What's happening in Versailles? And on the 14th of July, Marie Antoinette passes the day in Versailles, completely unaware of what's happening in the capital. And her husband Louis famously writes in his journal for the day, rien, nothing going. Nothing happened today in his. It's not even a defence. But he uses his journal to record hunting trophies and accomplishments on horseback, the things that really count to him. But it really shows what he values, values and how completely out of touch he is.
- [04:12]
Peter Frankenburn
And when that news reaches him, it's amongst other things that the Governor of the Bastille has been dragged towards the Hotel de Ville in the central Paris, where he's set upon by a mob and killed. His head is cut off by a butcher, stuck on a pike and paraded around as rioting and looting spreads. And when the Duke de Lioncourt brings him the news of what's been happening, the King says, is it a revolt? And memorably, the Duke says, no, sir, it is a revolution. Uprisings, revolts, grievances have often been part of the story, not just in France but elsewhere in Europe. But for this to escalate into something much more dramatic is very unusual.
- [04:47]
Afwa Hirsch
There's a perfect storm that's unfolding in France that really conspires to make this an exceptional day and the beginning of an exceptional period in history. We've had wage stagnation, inflation, economic crises, a tax system that really disproportionately pressures the poor, but also a rising population which has put pressure on land and a rise in literacy and education. People are more able to articulate their grievances, more aware of what's happening not just in France, but also in America, where France has contributed to the Revolution there, wanting to oppose anything that benefits England and the British. But actually what that's done is support a revolutionary movement in America whose entire ethos is about overturning monarchical control, now backfiring in a really spectacular way.
- [05:42]
Peter Frankenburn
So some of those clever men in the Age of Enlightenment, from Rousseau, Voltaire, Danton, des Mooulins, Marat and so on, they're all looking at influences and what's going on in other parts of the world. And that idea that a republic is a better model is one that is the sort of the key to the success of the American Revolution, getting rid of imperial power, in the American case of Britain. But so there's so much in the air on top of that, we have extreme weather events in the winter of 1788 and spring of 1789 that bring about poor harvest. Those are probably connected to unusually strong El Nino events. And that means that harvests are bad, grain prices are high. And typically what happens when you have inflation is that people panic and they buy more than they need. A bit like in the pandemic, stockpiling loo roll, stockpiling loo roll. And there was plenty of loo roll to go around, but the more people bought it, the more people started to fight about it in supermarkets. Louis, in the spring of 1789, had said that he wanted to hear people's grievances, he wanted to hear what people are angry about. And tens of thousands of people sent him the cahiers, they sent him the do, explaining what they wanted fixed. And that raised people's expectations. And where those were dashed, then of course, things became worse.
- [06:51]
Afwa Hirsch
And when you take into account all of these factors, the idea that one person, and especially one woman could be responsible for all this suffering is clearly ridiculous. But as is so often the case, it's much easier to personify catastrophe, to blame a tangible person, rather than really understand the complexities that are causing suffering. And so Marie Antoinette is the perfect villain in this storm. She's blamed, she's stockpiling grain, that's what's driving up prices, she's having orgies and lesbian affairs. France is being punished for the moral degradation of its monarchy. This is the age of so called Enlightenment, but it's also still a superstitious age. And this figure of this hugely famous, heavily scrutinized, unpopular queen feeds perfectly into the foment, the anger, the rage that's spreading across France.
- [07:49]
Peter Frankenburn
She's an outsider, she's a foreigner. And at times of crisis, typically people who are different get persecuted.
- [07:55]
Afwa Hirsch
Nothing like an immigrant to put all the blame on.
- [07:57]
Peter Frankenburn
It doesn't help that Louis is not a natural leader. He doesn't know what to do. He tries to involve other people in making decisions. He brings together the Estates General, so bringing together the church, the nobility and third estate, the commoners. The commoners protest and say, we're not going to go anywhere unless there is a new constitution made and famously called the tennis court oath, because they're sitting in one of the palace indoor courts to make their demands. And what that's trying to do is to deflect away from him as the decision maker. But it just doesn't work. And as that panic in the Bastille starts to take over other parts of Paris, things start to reach Versailles to the news, it's what's the best way to try to stop this from happening? And they're all out of ideas. The Duke of Artois, the king's younger brother, and his family, they run for the border. They escape out of France. So does the Duchesse de Polignac, Marie Antoinette's close friend. And she goes because Marie Antoinette persuades her that she should. The minute that senior figures start to leave, the more emboldened people are that there is a vacuum, and those vacuums get filled very quickly.
- [09:03]
Afwa Hirsch
There is a strong case for Marie Antoinette to follow her friends and flee the country. She's having a hard time just in her most intimate personal life. She's lost two of her children. Her youngest, Sophie, died two years earlier, and her second child, the Dauphin Louis, died only five weeks before Bastille Day. And she's now 33, grieving and hated by her people. So you can see the temptation to just flee. But actually, she decides that she should stay where she is. And I think that reflects quite well on her character, actually.
- [09:39]
Peter Frankenburn
I suspect it also reflects on the fact that her husband could make a decision. There's discussion about whether Marie Antoinette should head for the great fortress of Metz in eastern France, but close enough to the border, in fact, if she'd left, that might have taken some pressure off him. Things might have settled down. But I think that moment, looking back on it, was the moment to read the tea leaves and at least to try to prepare for what might become coming towards them. So you might think it reflects well on her, for I think it shows the misreading, that there was a storm that she could ride out.
- [10:06]
Afwa Hirsch
And in fairness, there have been revolutions before that didn't result in the death of a monarch. There are other movements that just called for parliamentary reform, constitutional reform. So there was a huge spectrum of change that could have resulted from July 14th. And what ended up happening in revolutionary France was an extreme end of it. And it seems that they really underestimated how much personal danger they were in.
- [10:31]
Peter Frankenburn
There are rumors that Marie Toilette has asked her brother to send Austrian troops to come and plot the downfall of the Assemble Nationale, or the sort of new Assembly. And meanwhile, in the countryside, La Grande Peur, the Great fear, the Great Terror, starts to escalate. Chateaux, manor houses, elites are targeted. Owners get killed. And then there's a rising sense that people need to move on Versailles, to move on Paris and demand change.
- [10:57]
Afwa Hirsch
Remarkably, given the scale of that turmoil in the countryside, Versailles remains a bubble, completely detached from the real scale of what's happening outside. But the two worlds are about to collide. October 5, 1789. The Royal Palace, Versailles. A noise snaps Marie Antoinette's mind into focus. She's not sure if she has been sleeping under the thick duvet. She feels cold. Her eyes sting from tiredness. She hears the crowd outside growing animated, watching the angry masses arrive. The day before, a dreadful sense of foreboding had settled over Versailles. Louis had reassured her that the protest would burn itself out if only they had decided to leave then. But he wouldn't hear of it. Even her maid, Madame Campin, had tried to warn her. They wish to return to Paris. With your head on a spike, you must leave. By the time Louis admitted that leaving might be a good idea, it was too late. A crash sends a shock of adrenaline shooting through her body. One of her maids rushes in. Madame, the mob is in the palace. We must go. After struggling into clothes, she makes for the door, only for it to fly open before she gets there. A Swiss Guard staggers into the room, blood dripping from his face. They're coming for the Queen. Leave now. The noise of the riot is getting closer. For a moment she's paralyzed with fear. Then she remembers the hidden passage leading to Louis's apartment. Gathering her maids, she slips through the secret door, the sound of the mob ransacking her quarters echoing after them. Reaching her husband's room, she's relieved to find the children are already there. Dressed in their nightclothes. Marie Therese and the Dauphin rub their eyes in a daze. Louis Joseph asks maman, are they here to hurt us? Bending down, she takes his small hand and tells him, while we're together in here, nothing can hurt us. But as she meets her husband's troubled gaze with her own, she wishes it were really true.
- [13:16]
Peter Frankenburn
Amazing. It's the sort of the night and day that going from harpsichord music and parties, days, weeks, months beforehand, suddenly, to having your fate being taken out of your hands. So I think that the calmness that they show, I suppose, is partly a function of shock. How to possibly understand what's going on. I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't escaped through that sequen. But Ida thought she'd have been torn to pieces on the spot.
- [13:42]
Afwa Hirsch
And it's worth saying that no one was spared the violence of that moment. Men, women, children were ripped to pieces in the frenzy of the mob. It was quite plausible that the same thing would have happened to them. But instead, Marie Antoinette, King Louis and his sister Elizabeth and the two royal children are taken to Paris.
- [14:01]
Peter Frankenburn
It's a 12 mile journey, but it takes seven hours. Accompanied by a huge crowd CHANTING AND singing and they're waving the heads of of the murdered guards on pikes. Marie Antoinette, her husband and her children will never see Versailles again. They now belong to the revolution and the revolutionaries.
- [14:38]
Afwa Hirsch
Foreign It's October 1789 and the royal family have been taken to Paris, where the revolutionaries can keep a close eye on them. The Royals are put in the Tuileries palace on the south bank of the Seine, which is a sprawling old palace. And even by the standards of palaces at this period in France, it's not in a great state of cleanliness or actually repair. It's really hardly been used for decades at this point.
- [15:06]
Peter Frankenburn
They're not exactly down on their uppers, they're fine, they have a nice income, they eat as grandly as before. He's putting on even more weight. Louis xvi. Marie Antoinette, in the meantime, is doing tapestry, she's playing billiards, she's spending more time with her children. And so it's a sort of gilded cage. It's another sort of prison, this one also being looked at by everybody. But I think there's no illusions that the wings are being clipped and also that there's a constant fear of what might lie around the corner.
- [15:33]
Afwa Hirsch
And it's worth taking a moment to think about where we are in revolutionary France. So, as we mentioned, at the beginning of the Revolution, Louis summoned the Estates General, which was this basically defunct way of bringing together the different constituent elements of governance, which was hardly ever used, but now that's been transformed into a national legislative Assembly, a body made from across the political spectrum, including right wing royalists on one hand, to Republicans on the other. And the assembly has adopted the famous Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which is one of those foundational documents still today. And that is also the backdrop to a new constitution that's being threshed out at this time.
- [16:20]
Peter Frankenburn
Part of the problem is that people are not just thinking about the end of the monarchy. Most of the new national assembly reckon that the future involves some kind of constitutional monarchy, probably something along British lines of sort of head of state, but with some powers. But most decisions being left at least either in the hands of the Parliament or with Parliament, significant control over what the King might do. But the view of people like Robespierre and Danton, who have become so well linked to the Revolution, are still very much in the minority.
- [16:53]
Afwa Hirsch
There is another development in October 1789 that is relevant for our story, Peter, and that comes not from the national assembly or from Versailles, but from a doctor who proposes a scientific device for execution. I feel like everybody listening can probably guess his name.
- [17:13]
Peter Frankenburn
I've got an idea.
- [17:13]
Afwa Hirsch
He says, Dr. Guillotin, who came up with a way of achieving, and I quote, equality on the scaffold. Previously, nobles have been executed by axe, whereas commoners have been hanged. So if there's to be the death penalty in this revolutionary era, it should be the same for everyone and as clean as possible.
- [17:37]
Peter Frankenburn
What a charming solution that the doctor should be worrying about how to make death more equal.
- [17:41]
Afwa Hirsch
I wouldn't hold the guillotine up as the high pinnacle of democratic ideas.
- [17:46]
Peter Frankenburn
But anyway, there's a lot of opinions about what France should look like. So in June 1790, all noble titles are abolished. So the Duke d'orleans, Louis cousin, has identified himself with revolutionaries, probably hoping to become king. He calls himself Philippe Egalite.
- [18:03]
Afwa Hirsch
There's a bit of rebranding if ever.
- [18:04]
Peter Frankenburn
I've heard it, Dave. Equal. That's going to help. Well, I'm not going to spoil too much, but it doesn't save him from the guillotine. But there are lots of discussions about what a constitution would look like and perhaps not surprisingly, endless debates going on through the night. And the assembly is divided about what that should mean and how it should happen. And as a result, there are people who start to make noises to demand quicker and more extreme action. And the most extreme of those are the Jacobins, or the Jacobins, the party of a young lawyer called Maximilien Robespierre.
- [18:36]
Afwa Hirsch
Violence doesn't stop. There are riots up and down the country and a general feeling of unpredictability. And April 1791 is a great example, because all of a sudden, after the royal family have been living pretty much undisturbed in the Tuileries, suddenly the National Guard stopped them from leaving. They'd been moving back and forth between the palace and a chateau outside the city for the summer. But now this arbitrary decision says they have to stay put and underlies the constant sense of threat. And meanwhile, the assembly is debating the future of the Dauphin. And one of the things they're discussing is whether he should be taken away from the royal family and educated as a citizen.
- [19:19]
Peter Frankenburn
Part of the problem is it's not clear who's in charge, who makes decisions about everything from the Dauphin's education and what he should be reading to. Where do the royals get to spend their time? The National Guard stopping them leaving Paris is the last straw. Minds are made up. They have to get away. And the aim isn't to get out of France. The King mustn't be seen to be abandoned the country. But instead the plan is to head for Montmedy, a formidable citadel in northern France where he can rally other royalists. And here we get Count Fersen, the dashing handsome Swede, who buys a large carriage, a Berlin de Voyage, which is a sort of monster of a vehicle, designed for long journeys over poor roads. The problem is, although it's got a larder, a cooker, a table, et cetera, really quite fancy, it sticks out like a sore thumb at a time when people are protesting in the streets.
- [20:10]
Afwa Hirsch
I just want to acknowledge that the return of Count Thiersen at this moment suggests that he really does care about Marie Antoinette, because people are deserting the royal family. At this point. The cousin of the King has aligned himself with the revolutionaries. This Swedish Count, who has no need to immerse himself in this perilous time, has taken it upon himself to come and help their escape. So as well as being just don't send the Bentley handsome, he's also honourable.
- [20:37]
Peter Frankenburn
Don'T send the Bentley. Maybe there are other ways of being a little bit more low key that mean that your brilliant plan might just get hatched.
- [20:45]
Afwa Hirsch
His choice of getaway vehicle is one of many things that is not ideally thought through and executed about this escape, another of which is that it's overseen by the 31 year old Duc de Choiseul, a colonel of the Royal Dragoons, who is rich and so can pay for the horses that they need along their way, but is also, according to Fersen, inclined to be chaotic, not qualities you need in someone organising a pretty complicated and incredibly high stakes escape.
- [21:14]
Peter Frankenburn
But the plan gets hatched. The set date is to leave on 19 June, but the king refuses to go on a Sunday. Thurston is going to drive the carriage until it's out of Paris, then they're going to be handed over to another driver and it's just all half baked. So the Dauphin is woken up at half past ten by his governess and dressed in girl's clothing with a dress and a bonnet, and he's told that it's a game and his sister is also simply dressed and they're taken off to the carriage where Fersen is waiting for them dressed as a coachman.
- [21:43]
Afwa Hirsch
But the King and Queen can't get away until 1:30am because of the length of the King's disrobing ceremony. And the thing is, they can't dispense with any formalities because they don't want anybody who's not directly involved in the plot to know that anything's different. But the problem with that is that every minute counts, the clock is ticking and they need to be as far away as possible by the time the alarm is raised. Which inevitably will be in the morning, when everyone awakes and discovers that the family is missing.
- [22:12]
Peter Frankenburn
When they get outside the city barrier, they transfer to the large Berline and Thurston steps down. He watches the carriage roll away. He's really worried that they're behind schedule. So they're supposed to be meeting the Duc de Choiseul by the village of St. Weisel around 2:30 to 4:30 in the morning, when no one's awake. But a harness breaks and time passes. And eventually, not surprisingly perhaps, Choiseul panics. He reckons something must have gone wrong, his mission needs to be abandoned. So he takes his dragoons and the waiting party that's supposed to escort the King and Queen to safety and heads off to Montmedi, dispatching a messenger along the route, telling them that it's all off.
- [22:49]
Afwa Hirsch
6:00Am Valerie, the courier dispatched ahead of the royal party, arrives at Saint Wezel, expecting to meet Choiselle. But of course, Choisel has panicked and scarpered, so nobody's there. That means when, 30 minutes later, the coach arrives, there's no one there to meet them and they have to press on alone.
- [23:08]
Peter Frankenburn
Meanwhile, in our fictionalised film version of this, it's 7:00 in the morning in Paris. The King's servants enter the bedroom to draw back the curtains and the bed is empty. The dolphin's bed is empty too. The Queen's servant has been told to wake a half an hour later than usual. At quarter to eight, the servants enter the Queen's room. She's gone. The news roars around Paris. The King has fled. The Queen has gone. By 11 o'clock in the morning, an angry mob has gathered outside the Tuileries. Around 8 o'clock, the royals reach Saint Menehoull. It's literally in the middle of nowhere. They stop to refuel, hoping that no one notices. 21 June 1791. Saint Bedehud staging post, France. Jean Baptiste Drouet looks with frustration at the cards in his hand, then at the smirk on his opponent's face. As the town's postmaster. Gambling is Drouet's preferred method of passing long hours. Much better, he thinks, than indulging in the endless gossip of the locals. As he ponders his next move, an old man is loudly regaling the room with a story about a mysterious carriage turning Heads. As it travels eastwards. Drouet Coccineer. They reckon it's 20ft long and all decked out in white and gold, the old man says, and whoever it is, they're certainly in a hurry. When his opponent also turns to listen to the story, Drouet slips two new cards from the deck and is delighted that he now has a royal flush. He lays it out before him with a flourish. Ignoring the man's protestations, Drouet scoops up his winnings and heads outside for a victory smoke. Out on the post's veranda, he starts. A little large gilded carriage is being supplied with fresh horses from the stables. It is unmistakably the one from the story. Since the Revolution, aristocrats have been fleeing the country en masse. Droe knows information about such fugitives could be lucrative. Crossing the courtyard, he curses as the carriage suddenly takes off, the driver ignoring his calls. But as. As it speeds past him, a face appears at the window. In the dim light, Drouet takes in the occupant's plump jowls and large, sloping forehead. And there is something about the eyes that looks familiar. With a tingle of excitement, he pulls his winnings from his pocket and holds the assignat bearing the King's image up to the light. His hands tremble as the identity of the passenger becomes clear. Racing to the stables, he shouts, bring me a horse. Alert the guard. The king is escaping.
- [25:57]
Afwa Hirsch
Whether it's through bad luck or bad planning, the chase is on. Can they stay ahead of Drouet? If they stay ahead, reach Mormody, then they can change the course of French history. So, just to flesh out what happened after that, the coach does get away from the staging post. By 11pm on 21 June, 1791, it lumbers into the small town of Verraine en Argonne. And at this point, the escape plan is falling to pieces.
- [26:50]
Peter Frankenburn
Peter, I mean, it's a disaster. They've no idea if there are fresh horses and where they are. Royal aides are reduced to knocking on doors to ask if anybody has seen the horses or has one they could use or borrow. Not long afterwards, Drouet arrives and sounds the alarm. Deputies and the assembly arrive to escort them back to Paris. But. But hang on. There's one more chance. Word arrives that a party of royalist cavalry are on the way. If they can just delay their departure.
- [27:18]
Afwa Hirsch
One of the Queen's waiting women feigns illness. They do anything they can to play for time, but at 7:30am it's too late. They're bundled back into the carriage. 90 minutes after that, the royal soldiers finally arrive, galloping into Varennes. The cavalry have arrived too late.
- [27:41]
Peter Frankenburn
This is one of those kind of pivotal moments where, you know, sliding doors or if things had gone in a different way, might the King have got away? Might he have staged a counter revolution? No Napoleon? No. Attack on Moscow in 1812, no Putin. That's the kind of direct line, probably.
- [27:57]
Afwa Hirsch
Even if just the Duc de Choiseul had kept his cool and waited another couple of hours at 31, a man.
- [28:02]
Peter Frankenburn
Of that age should know to stick and wait for a friend.
- [28:06]
Afwa Hirsch
If they had have chosen a different carriage and not the Bellin, which was.
- [28:09]
Peter Frankenburn
So I'm not going to say who was responsible for that, but it was a very noble gesture.
- [28:13]
Afwa Hirsch
Mean well.
- [28:14]
Peter Frankenburn
He did mean well.
- [28:15]
Afwa Hirsch
It's interesting that you're thinking about these big historical events that happened in the hundred years following the revolution, but I'm thinking about Marie Antoinette's life. If that escape plan had worked, that would have saved her and her husband and the children.
- [28:31]
Peter Frankenburn
I guess that's probably right. It depends what would have happened, whether they'd have got out of the country and where to. I'd have thought that the King would have felt that it was his responsibility to come back to Paris and try to rally people around him. And it might have all ended up the same way. Anyway.
- [28:44]
Afwa Hirsch
What's crazy for me about their escape attempt is that actually the really difficult things went fine. Smuggling themselves out of the palace, staging this really daring in the middle of the night dash from this heavily guarded, fortified Tuileries. They managed that fine. It was the things that should have been easy, like just meeting your guy at the staging post, swapping the horses. Those were the things that went wrong.
- [29:07]
Peter Frankenburn
As it happened. That failed attempt is a kind of nail in the coffin. The British Ambassador, in fact warns that if the assembly release Marie Antoinette, she'll be physically torn to pieces and she's personally starting to suffer. She's thin and frail and obviously extremely stressed and disturbed. It's hugely stressful, the idea of living in fear of your life. And I think that this is the reality for making a toilet in for her husband.
- [29:33]
Afwa Hirsch
At the moment, this is the worst case scenario. They had initially stayed because they didn't want to convey the weakness of looking like they were running away. Or they could have fled and got to definite safety, but instead they chose the worst of all worlds. They tried to escape, conveying that sense of weakness and cowardice. They got caught, so now are at the Mercy of the people who already reviled them. And you can just imagine that journey back to Paris, Peter, after they tried to escape. It takes four days. It's baking hot. It's the middle of summer. They're crammed into this carriage along with some of the national assembly and revolutionaries who are escorting them. Crowds line the route to watch them in their shame and failure to escape. They're going at a snail's pace. And the whole while, there is nothing to distract them from the fate that awaits them back in Paris, where they're going to be more unpopular than ever.
- [30:27]
Peter Frankenburn
So even though there's huge unpopularity that the King has, where he's being called Louis the False or the Fat pig, even in September 1791, just three months after the failed escape, the King agrees to a new constitution with him at the head, where he's returned to power. He's able to pick ministers and veto laws. So the revolution that we think of in France, this is two years after the storming of the Bastille, and he's still there, still in power. Marie Antoinette now does the thing that probably is the single most damaging thing to her reputation in France, which is she starts to write to royals around Europe, asking for help and asking for military intervention to protect and defend her. And that, I think, is absolutely critical. I mean, it's borderline treason, asking for intervention from outside and particularly to foreign troops. And in the way that she might be trying to save her own position, she ends up sealing the fate of her family and children.
- [31:18]
Afwa Hirsch
But it's really unfortunate because it also plays into the actual unfair smear campaigns against her in her previous years, that all along she was really a spy, she was really allied to Austria, she was not really loyal to France. She's now confirming those worst fears by appealing to Austria, asking them to send in troops to overthrow the government of France. And again, everything is against her. Had it been a few years earlier, and it would have been her brother who loved her, or even her younger brother who succeeded Joseph, who she wasn't close to, she might have had a chance of getting help from Austria. But actually, now her brother has died and it's her nephew who is in power in Austria, and he's got no allegiance to her whatsoever and actually has very different priorities than going against France. She also tries the King of Sweden, another ally, but he's been assassinated and his successor is not interested in helping her either.
- [32:15]
Peter Frankenburn
And that all goes worse because in 1792, Austria and France go to war with each other. Partly that's because the French revolutionaries want to spread their ideas too beyond borders. But there's this long running mistrust and rivalry with Austria that predates Marie Antoinette's marriage. But that was the problem that the marriage was supposed to try to solve. Also doesn't help that Louis is behaving as though he's both stupid and tone deaf. So he starts to veto bills that are being brought by the national assembly and he's turning down the much more hard line Girondins group that now hold power. So by standing in front of them, he's asking for trouble. And of course, as you've said Athwa, the person who gets the blame is Marie Antoinette. She now gets nicknamed Madame Vito. But that combination of now warfare of Austria being not just a rival but an actually military adversary means that the poison in the air in Paris now becomes inescapable for Louis and his wife. So in June, on the anniversary of the flight to Varennes or attempted escape, an armed mob invades the Tuileries and they surround Louis, making him wear a red revolutionary cap. And Marie Antoinette is hurried off into hiding.
- [33:23]
Afwa Hirsch
Then Prussia joins the war against France and invades and begins to advance on Paris, raising the hope that maybe this could be a foreign invasion that would save the royals, but of course only hardening revolutionary opinion against any perception of royals that are allied to foreign powers and want to undo the progress the.
- [33:44]
Peter Frankenburn
Revolution has made in the National Assembly. The French are very worried that the Prussians might advance on Paris, might inflict damage on the capital. But also when the so called Brunswick Manifesto is passed, named after the Prussian commander which says that there'll be terrible revenge if a single hair on a royal head is damaged. That makes it look like the royal family are puppets of outside agents and anti French. Things go from bad to worse.
- [34:09]
Afwa Hirsch
On 10 August, the mob is back. 10,000 people swarm into the palace of the Tuileries. The guards are massacred, torn to bits. These are the guards that have got to know the royal family, in some cases protected them for years, so they're known and loved people. Now their heads and other body parts are being paraded on pikes. Courtiers are thrown from windows and are butchered. Nobody is immune from seeing this and Marie Antoinette is tearful and trembling and the royals flee through the garden into the neighbouring assembly where they throw themselves at the Assembly's mercy.
- [34:46]
Peter Frankenburn
And the assembly decides that there will be an elected national convention that will settle the fate of the monarchy, not about the fate of the King and the Queen. But about what should happen with the institution of the monarchy. And in the meantime, the royals are imprisoned in Le Temple, a medieval tower in the Marais. And they're closely guarded and it's not a prison. Louis still gets his favorite champagne. But how the mighty are fallen. Marie Antoinette is still less and less at ease, and the stress is really telling on her physicality.
- [35:15]
Afwa Hirsch
It does speak to, as you said, the extent of their fall from grace. Marie Antoinette was the symbol of beauty and style in the whole of Europe. She is now basically a prisoner wracked with anxiety, who has aged way before her time. And I think that is a real symbol of the trauma that the family are going through and the fear, quite justified fear they have for their lives. Even at this point, their close attendants are taken away and imprisoned, including Marie Antoinette, oldest friend in France. The Princess de Lamballe, who has remained faithfully at her side through this whole period, is now separated from her.
- [35:50]
Peter Frankenburn
That's right. At the beginning of September, in one of the revolution's most shocking atrocities, the September massacres start to unfurl. That's partly to do with rumors that an Austrian and Prussian army are coming to support the monarchy, but also all the pent up hostility, aggression, grievances that have been building for the last couple of years. And on the 2nd of September, the mob of sans culottes are mostly with pikes and sabers, led by hardline activists, start to attack the prisons and start to kill the inmates.
- [36:26]
Afwa Hirsch
September 3, 1792, Tempte, Paris. In a cramped, airless room, Marie Antoinette considers her next move. Move. Finally, she pushes her backgammon piece across the board, looking for the King's reaction. She's comforted to see him dozing peacefully in his chair. Leaving the chamber, she descends the flight of rough stone steps to the Dauphin's room. In his short life, Louis Charles has suffered so many indignities not befitting of a royal son. But he seems cheerful enough, which gives her joy. Earlier, when the cries from the mob outside had woken him, she'd soothed him back to sleep. In those moments, she's almost glad to have dozens of guards manning the gates of their prison again. Shouts drift up from the street below. The crowd is getting bigger. Then, through a low window, Marie Antoinette sees something swoop by. An object swaying in the air. When it passes glasses again, her guts clench. It's a pike. And there's something on it. It looks like a lump of meat. A second pike swings into view, trailing a bloody scrap of fabric, like a flag from the Room above, she hears her husband's chair clatter to the floor. He cries out, dear God, have mercy. She stopped, starts to climb the stairs, but he calls to her, Stay where you are. Don't come in here. Then Marie Antoinette hears the chant. La Lamballe. La Lamballe. She's filled with dread. Two weeks ago, her loyal Princess de Lamballe was taken by the Commune for interrogation. She prayed for her safe return. Ignoring her husband's instruction to stay downstairs, Marie Antoinette stumbled into the room as a third pike flashes into view. In a split second, it's gone, but she can guess what it is. She faints to the floor, an image of bloodied blonde tresses imprinted forever on her mind.
- [38:34]
Peter Frankenburn
She's quite sanguine. Princess de Lamballe, when she is executed, her final words following her trial were, I have nothing to reply. Dying a little earlier or later is a matter of indifference to me. I prepared to make the sacrifice of my life, which is pretty calm. We're not quite sure exactly how she was killed. There's been lots of speculation, but probably Princess was killed by a hammer blow to her head, decapitated. Then her innards were taken out and her head mounted on a pike. And the mob's plan apparently had been to try to make Marie Antoinette kiss the lips of her alleged former lesbian lover one last time. But they were prevented from doing that.
- [39:11]
Afwa Hirsch
The level of violence is just terrifying. And it's when people begin to really revelation in the violent killing and disembowelment of people that, you know, norms and mores have completely broken down because this is what was happening to all kinds of people in France. But for it to happen to somebody who was once a princess of the blood, the most elevated elite royals in the country, really shows that no one is safe. And that's exactly why the innards and the head of the Princess de Lamballe were being paraded around, to send that message that nobody is exempt from this revolution and nobody is protected by their privilege. Marie Antoinette received that message exactly as it was intended. It was meant to terrify, intimidate her and warn her that her body was not safe and neither was that of her husband or children. And on a human level, that is a really hard thing to imagine going through.
- [40:09]
Peter Frankenburn
I couldn't agree more. But events are now moving quickly. On 21st September 1792, the monarchy is formally abolished. France is now a republic. The king becomes known as Louis Capet and his wife, Marie Antoinette Capet. The Capets are the first royal dynasty of France. But of Course, caput in Latin means head, so the beheading of the guillotine, obviously is being hinted at by that. But then Louis in the meantime has become obsessed with King Charles I, the English king who's decapitated in the middle of the 17th century. But it's still not clear exactly what's going to happen to either him or to his family. In December, he's told he's going to be tried for treason. And on the 20th of December 1792, the trial begins. Just less than a month later, on the 15th of January 1793, he's found guilty. 693 deputies vote that he had conspired against the state. 23 abstain, but not a single one vote in his favour.
- [41:08]
Afwa Hirsch
That doesn't mean that his fate is sealed, however, because the punishment is still under debate. There's a case that he should be exiled. Some people think he should be imprisoned, some think he should be condemned to death, but with a delay, so that if the war ends and he's no longer seen as such a threat to the revolution, he could be freed. It's by a majority of one that he is sentenced to death.
- [41:33]
Peter Frankenburn
Death he's not told until the 20th of January, where it's announced that tomorrow you go to the guillotine. He's told he can't see his family. And then at 7pm There's a change of heart. Marie Antoinette and the children have heard the news on the streets from outside temple. They've not seen Louis for six weeks and he weeps when he sees them. Marie Antoinette pleads for them to spend the night together, but Louis refuses because he wants to prepare himself.
- [42:03]
Afwa Hirsch
He's a religious man and for him, the way he's coping with this sentence, with this destiny, is to try and prepare himself spiritually, according to the traditional Catholic beliefs that he's clung onto. Because even the church during this period has become divided among those who support the revolution and those who support the ancien regime. A jailer later describes the parting scene between Marie Antoinette and her husband. The Dauphin holds his parents hands, kissing them and crying. Elizabeth clutches her brother, Marie Therese shrieks aloud and Marie Antoinette presses herself against the king. Louis persuades them it's time to leave.
- [42:45]
Peter Frankenburn
I'm not saying goodbye, he says. Be sure that I shall see you again at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Why not 7? Replies Marie Antoinette. 7 o'clock then. Do you promise? She says. I promise, says Louis.
- [43:00]
Afwa Hirsch
And so in the morning, the family wait for that promise to be kept. They wait to see him. They wait and wait. Soon after half past ten, they hear the sound of drumming, followed by cheers. And it can only mean one thing. He has already been executed.
- [43:18]
Peter Frankenburn
Marie Antoinette can't speak. The children cry. His sister Elizabeth says, the monsters. They are satisfied now.
- [43:31]
Afwa Hirsch
Except, of course, they're not. There is more that they want. That's next time on Legacy.
- [43:48]
Peter Frankenburn
Foreign.
- [43:54]
Afwa Hirsch
Legacy on the Wondery app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge seasons early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wonder app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondery.com survey from wandering goal hanger this is the third episode in our series about Marriott unto Annette.
- [44:31]
Peter Frankenburn
A quick note about our dialogue we can't know everything that was said or done behind closed doors, particularly when we go far back in history, but I'll see. Scenes are written using the best available sources, so even if a scene or conversation has been recreated for dramatic effect, it's still based on biographical research.
- [44:49]
Afwa Hirsch
We've used many sources for this series, including Marie Antoinette, the Journey by Antonia Fraser, the French Revolution, Daily Life by James M. Anderson, the palace of Versailles and Life in Revolutionary France, edited by Mette Harder and Jennifer Nairy Hoyer. Legacy is hosted by me, Afwa Hirsch.
- [45:09]
Peter Frankenburn
And me Peter Frankenpen.
- [45:11]
Afwa Hirsch
Scene writing by Jack McKay for Goal Hanger.
- [45:14]
Peter Frankenburn
Our series producers are Jane Morgan and Anoushka Lewis. Robin Scott Elliott is associate producer. Our production managers are Izzy Reid and Alex Hack Roberts. The executive producers are Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport.
- [45:28]
Afwa Hirsch
Legacy is sound engineered and designed by Alex Porthyan Felix.
- [45:31]
Peter Frankenburn
Music supervision is Scott Velasquez for Frit? N Sink.
- [45:35]
Afwa Hirsch
Our producer for Wondery is Emanuela Quenorte Francis and our managing producer is Rachel Sibley.
- [45:40]
Peter Frankenburn
Executive producers for Wondery are Estelle Doyle, Chris Bourne, Morgan Jones and Marshall Louis.