All language subtitles for Secrets.d.Historie.Louis.XVI.l.inconnu.de.Versailles.eng

Secrets of History

Louis XVI,
Versailles' unknown man

"The king is dead.
Long live the Nation",

cried out the crowd in
the Place de la Révolution,

our present-day
Place de la Concorde in Paris,

on 21 January 1793

when the guillotine blade

cut off the head of Louis XVI,
king of France when he was 39.

The execution of Louis XVI has
never ceased to prey on

the mind of our national history.

And still today, bringing it up

can give rise to heated discussion.

But behind the stories
hides a man

whose personality is revealed
to be much richer and more

complex than the caricatures
have wanted to show us.

Often overshadowed

by the legendary figure of his wife,
Queen Marie-Antoinette,

Louis XVI has been criticised,

firstly for being king.

In favour of a certain evolution
of the monarchy,

categorically refusing

to fire on the revolutionary crowd,

his timorous nature
and his frequent indecision

at the time of unprecedented
political upheaval

would be fatal for him.

One of history's ironies

is that it was Louis XVI who
supported and promoted

the birth of
the United States of America,

the greatest democracy in the world.

I invite you to discover Louis XVI,
Versailles' unknown man.

Louis XVI is the story
of a little prince

who wasn't intended to rule.

But the deaths of his father
and elder brother made him

heir to the crown of Louis XV.

Throughout his life, Louis XVI
was to be haunted by

the idea that he was occupying
a position which wasn't his.

Married at the age of 15
for diplomatic reasons

to the little archduchess of
Austria, Marie-Antoinette,

and despite problems
in his marriage,

Louis XVI remained
faithful his wife,

even when the queen became
infatuated with Comte Fersen.

Louis XVI really was
a lovely, kind man,

even if he was cuckolded.

The king kept away from
the frivolity of the Court,

and really loved the technological
progress of his time.

He oversaw the building of
a great harbour in Cherbourg

and showed a keen interest in
the expedition of La Pérouse,

whose aim was to explore,

and find out about the flora,
fauna, and sea routes.

Becoming king aged 20,

without any training
in politics or economics,

the young king inherited
an almost bankrupt country.

Imagine today someone with

a school-leaving certificate,

being told, "Take over
from François Hollande."

It was like that for Louis XVI.

However, Louis XVI displayed
a desire to reform the kingdom.

But as he hesitated when
opposed by the privileged,

he failed time after time.

If he had had the political
genius of his ancestor, Henri IV,

he would have sided with the people
against the aristocracy.

But he was unable to do this.

Cornered, deposed,

then imprisoned with his family
in the Temple prison,

the king was an impotent witness
to the death of the monarchy.

The National Archives

have this exceptional document

that I'd like to share with you.
Look.

"The National Convention
unanimously decrees that

"royalty is abolished in France."

The historic political
trial of Louis XVI

took place amid
extremely high tension.

We're in an arena, in a circus.

Those hesitating to strike down
a tyrant are not Republicans.

The symbolic target
of an ancestral regime,

swept away by the wind
of new ideas,

Secrets of History
tells you about

Louis XVI's turbulent fate.

At the gates of Paris
is the Basilica of Saint Denis,

first built on a Roman cemetery,
it became the royal burial place

after the burial
of the first king of the Franks,

the famous King Dagobert.

During the rule of the Terror,
in summer 1793,

the National Convention proclaimed:

"We must attack the ashes
of tyrants, and so

"destroy the royal tombs of France."

The tombs of
42 kings and 32 queens

were desecrated here,

the bodies exhumed,
thrown into a communal grave,

then covered with quicklime
to make them disappear.

Luckily, Alexandre Lenoir,

a curator appointed by
the National Convention,

protected the most precious

tombs and funeral monuments
from being vandalised.

When Louis XVIII acceded
to the throne of the Bourbons,

which he restored after
the fall of Napoleon in 1815,

he asked Alexandre Lenoir

to put back into the basilica
what he had been able to save

of the royal burial place.

It was also Louis XVIII who
commissioned this cenotaph

in memory of his brother and
sister-in-law, who had been

guillotined 20 years earlier.

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

appear frozen in marble
in a position of prayer.

The queen - look -

is leaning over as if she had
to atone for her sins.

Whilst the king is holds himself
very straight in his royal regalia,

his look almost lost in thought,
impenetrable,

like several of his contemporaries
said of him.

Impenetrable, because
he was pathologically shy,

but cultivated and intelligent.

Such was the deep-seated nature
of this misunderstood king.

On 21 January 1793,

the blade of the revolutionary
guillotine fell on Louis XVI,

33rd king of France
of the Capetian dynasty.

The monarchy died on 21 January

at 10.22 in the morning.

A great historical line that had
begun with the baptism of Clovis

came to an end there.

It was the man,
the king of the French

and the king of France,
who died then.

And it was the Nation which
would rule from then on.

Sacrificed on the altar of
the Nation, Louis XVI became

a myth, martyr for some
and a tyrant for others.

The fact that Louis XVI was
the king of the Revolution

has not really helped us to

understand who he was.

He has often been badly treated
by history and caricatured.

Pamphlets called him the "big pig",

the "stupid lazy boozer",

or"Louis Capet,
the dreadful tyrant".

He was a king,
the monarchy was bad,

do the king had to be

a tyrant.

In the end, it was not based
on any objective fact.

The excesses of revolutionary
imagery for a long time

helped to mask the real
personality of this king,

who was not known well.

He was intelligent.

He wasn't the stupid lump
who used to file locks

in his workshop,
as he is often depicted.

He was perceptive, and had
good powers of judgement.

Louis XVI was an intellectual.

He was very cultivated.
He read a lot.

He spoke several languages
perfectly.

He was interested in science,
geography,

the navy, and that's very
characteristic of Louis XVI.

Although a scholarly king,

Louis XVI was regarded as
an unassuming king.

Let us say that he didn't have
an out-going personality.

He didn't really like speaking,

saying nothing if necessary.

People chattered at the Court.

Marie-Antoinette, of course,
never stopped talking.

He was in the background.

He was a real Goliath.

He was a giant, 1.93 m. tall,
which was rare at that time.

The great Louis XIV
was only 1.68 m. tall.

But it is said that he waddled.

He always looked a bit cramped.

For most of the time,
he disconcerted

the people he met

because he had felt ill at ease

since his childhood.

He owed this lack of self-confidence
to the series of dramas

which painfully marked his youth.

Called "Louis-Auguste" when
he was born on 23 August 1754,

at the Court of his grandfather,
King Louis XV,

this prince was not meant to rule.

His father, the Dauphin
Louis Ferdinand,

and his mother,
Maria Josepha of Saxony,

already had an older son,

the Duke of Burgundy.

Louis Auguste was given
the title of Duke of Berry.

More children soon made
the family bigger.

After him were born
2 other little brothers,

the Count of Provence
and the Count of Artois,

and 2 girls,

Princess Clotilde
and Princess Elisabeth.

The parents,

Dauphin Louis Ferdinand
and Maria Josepha of Saxony,

were a very close, austere,
and pious couple.

Louis Ferdinand was certainly
a deeply religious person.

He was someone who was

opposed to the behaviour of
his father, Louis XV.

In Versailles' splendour,

Louis XV loved to indulge in
all kinds of sensual pleasure.

The Dauphin kept his family
away from the debauched Court.

He was a man who withdrew
into himself, read and thought

and lot, and whose wish was

to establish a monarchy that
was Christian, just, balanced,

but authoritarian.

The couple instilled
into their children

the values of an absolute monarchy.

Far from being
his parents' favourite,

Louis-Auguste grew up
in the shadow of his brother,

the Duke of Burgundy.

And the parents only had eyes
for their eldest son,

the Duke of Burgundy.

The Duke was handsome,

he was intelligent, and

as a child he was extremely
good at witty conversation.

The Duke of Berry appeared
very dull to them

when compared with him.

The future Louis XVI
was a little bit,

not exactly the ugly duckling,
but there was a bit of that in it.

He was the only blonde child,

the only one who was quiet,
while the others were restless.

But it was a family drama that

would disrupt the life of
the unloved Louis-Auguste.

On Easter Day 1761,

the Duke of Burgundy,
who was admired by everyone,

died at the age of 9 from
tuberculosis of the bones.

Very distressed,

Louis-Auguste understood,
with some dread,

that one day he would
reign over France.

He was entrusted to a tutor,

the Duc de La Vanguyon,

who was rather narrow-minded,

and this Duc de La Vauguyon
liked nothing better than

to sing the praises

and virtues of his late brother,
the Duke of Burgundy.

What was going to stick

in the mind of the young
future Louis XVI

was that he was unworthy

and that he would never be
as good as his elder brother.

All his life, Louis XVI would
seem to be haunted

by this idea that he was in
a position which was not his.

Only 4 years
after his brother's death,

Louis-Auguste came face
to face with death again.

His father, the Dauphin,

died in turn
from tuberculosis.

Louis XV was grief-stricken
by this death.

Poor France.

An old, tired king

and a new Dauphin who was
only 11 years old.

This period

was one filled with royal deaths

since his mother then died,

and so little Louis,

at the age of 13,

had seen almost all his family
die in less than 6 years,

that is, his brother,
his father, and his mother.

Despite this, the new Dauphin
continued his studies.

He was a cultured boy,

who had the education of what
was called an "honest man".

He learned a bit about law,
he knew about history,

and he was very keen
on geography.

Conscientious
and hard-working in his studies,

the dauphin, however, lacked
certain training.

Louis XV never thought of
training him to be a king.

Louis didn't learn anything
about weapons handling,

military campaigns,
or military history.

And as regards
financial knowledge too,

there were big gaps,
serious gaps,

in this education.

The image of a paternal
monarchy had been imposed

on him, preventing him from
understanding the real world.

Kept away from the kingdom's
affairs by his grandfather,

the ageing Louis XV did think
about arranging a marriage.

This was a major problem
for the kingdom's diplomacy,

and it was his new ally
on the European stage,

the all-powerful Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria,

who offered Louis XV
one of her daughters.

Maria Theresa considered it to
be the best marriage that one

of her daughters could make.

Becoming queen of France was
absolutely extraordinary.

There were plenty of archduchesses

as the Empress Maria Theresa
had 16 children.

She had one

who was about the same age
as the Dauphin,

the Archduchess Maria Antonia,
the later "Marie-Antoinette".

Archduchess Antonia was

a year younger than the Dauphin.

She was a
charming teenager.

She had lots of charm.

Intellectually, her education
had been neglected.

They tried to quickly give her
a veneer of education.

There was a French abbot who
was asked to instil in her

some elementary knowledge
of the history of France.

The wedding took place
in Vienna on 19 April 1770,

and it was a proxy wedding.

That's to say that it was in fact
Marie-Antoinette's brother

who played the part of the husband.

The day after this strange
husband-less ceremony,

Marie-Antoinette left
her family and Vienna,

which she would never see again.

On 14 May, Marie-Antoinette
arrived in Compiègne Forest,

where she met for
the first time Louis XV

and the shy Dauphin,

who did not seem at ease
with his very young wife.

I'm happy to know you

and I hope that our marriage
will bring peace

between France and Austria.

It was a marriage of 2 children.

Marie-Antoinette was 14
and the Dauphin just 15.

For Louis XVI,
the image of a woman

was either the image

of a mother who was
extremely devout,

or the image of the great pervert,

the Comtesse du Barry,

who lead his grandfather along
in their life of debauchery.

It was in the royal chapel
of Versailles that

the shy couple received
the wedding blessing on 16 May.

That evening, Louis XV
invited the wedding guests

to the chateau's new opera house,

which had been specially built
for the wedding.

In the morning of 16 May 1770,

right up to the last minute,
almost up to the time Louis XVI

entered the opera house,
work had been going on there.

Since the reign of Louis XIV,
several theatres

had been designed without
coming to anything,

until Louis XV tasked
his famous architect, Gabriel,

with the construction of
this lavish royal opera house.

The theatre could seat
1,400 people.

A record at the time.

The stage was 700 m² in area.

Until the opening of
the Palais Garnier in 1875,

the royal opera house remained
the largest stage in France.

The most surprising feature
of this multipurpose theatre

was the ability to be modified
by using sophisticated

machinery in the basement.

We are here in a place that
is rarely visited

and especially difficult to get to
as the ceiling is low,

but which is the heart
of the operation, the jack room.

Here, I'm touching
a 18th-century machinery.

The machinery could work
again if wanted.

You only have to force
a little bit

to see that it's moving, that
the rack has started to work.

The process was simple.
You had 9 people who gradually,

and at the same speed,
raised the jacks,

which raised the wooden floor.

By the use of 60 jacks
under the floor, Sire,

this will be raised to
the same height as the stage.

The theatre can thus seat
your 3,000 guests, Sire.

Your table of 22 places, Sire,
where the royal family will sit,

will be on the stage.

Plan of the wedding day supper

This table with about 20
guests, including Louis XV,

the newly-married couple
and the royal family,

was surrounded, afterwards,

by rows of spectators,
ambassadors, prestigious guests,

and all the Court, who crammed
into the rows of seats.

In fact, it was actually a theatre

for the watching of
the royal family's meal.

During the meal,
Louis XV said to his grandson,

"Don't eat too much",
because the future Louis XVI

was a great guzzler.

He had a Pantagruelian appetite.

Louis XVI replied, "I sleep
better when I've eaten well."

It wasn't the sort of thing
to say on his wedding night.

Nothing happened
during this wedding night.

In the next few days

there were lots of festivities.

On 30 May, the festivities
continued in Paris.

Marie-Antoinette
was enjoying attending

an enormous firework display.

But an accidental fire
caused the crowd to move.

Over 130 people were killed.

The young couple

were deeply distressed,

and the Dauphin decided to
pay out of his own pocket

the 6,000 pounds that Louis XV
gave him every month

to help the victims.

The press of the period saw
a bad omen in this catastrophe,

but for the time being,
the Dauphin and Marie-Antoinette

formed a charming
and very popular young couple.

Louis-Auguste,
Dauphin of France,

and his young wife,
Marie-Antoinette,

moved around in the sumptuous
interiors inherited from Louis XIV,

like here, the War Room,

dominated by this bas relief by
Coysevox, depicting the Sun King.

Louis XV's court
saw in this young couple

the promise of a bright future

where the Comtesse du Barry,
once turned out,

would stop imposing
her diktats and licentiousness;

she who illegitimately ruled
the heart of King Louis XV

and therefore France.

So as to publicly humiliate

the "king's whore",
as some people called her,

Marie-Antoinette refused to speak

to this Jeanne Bécu.

But Maria Theresa of Austria,
who knew a lot about

the subtlety of relationships
at Court,

advised her daughter

to speak to Louis XV's mistress,

who was her ally.

And it was here,

in the Hall of Mirrors, that
the reconciliation was orchestrated.

One day, Marie-Antoinette

bumped into Du Barry
and spoke cryptically to her.

"There are a lot of people today
at Versailles", she said to her.

From then on was experienced
both the best and the worst...

From 1769,

it was here, in the old
appartments of his mother,

Maria Josepha of Saxony,
that Louis-Auguste

lived as Dauphin of France.

It is likely that the young man
- who was not yet 20 -

spent the 4 best years
of his life here.

However, in Spring 1774,

a worried Louis-Auguste was

with his dying
grandfather, King Louis XV,

who was dying of smallpox.

And on 10 May at 3.30 pm,

the chamberlain entered
this Bull's Eye Room

and announced,

"The king is dead.
Long live the king."

At the other end of Versailles,

Louis-Auguste heard the news
rumbling through to him.

Devastated, he said to himself,

"What a burden! And nobody
has taught me anything."

"It seems that all the world
is falling onto me."

And Marie-Antoinette added,

"My God, protect us.
We are too young to reign."

Thus began
the reign of King Louis XVI

and Queen Marie-Antoinette.

At the start of the reign,

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
earned the people's affection.

Wherever they went,

the crowd cheered them.

The young couple
was extremely popular.

Both of them were charming,

and after a long reign

that had been criticised,

where the debauchery of Louis XV
had been much reviled,

it was like the coming
of purity, youth

and something new.

They carried a lot of hopes.

Louis XVI had had a humanist
and religious education.

He proved to be a kindly,

charitable king, concerned
about his people's welfare.

Louis XVI was made to be
supportive of his people.

"I love my people."

They went to visit poor people.

That hadn't been seen for years.

Louis XIV and Louis XV
had not done it.

Determined to protect his subjects,
Louis XVI promoted

the first vaccinations.

Louis XV died of smallpox,

a disease which caused
many deaths in France.

In June 1774,
the young king

took the risk of being inoculated.

The decision was taken to

vaccinate the princes,

the king and his 2 brothers.

It was a revolutionary decision.

Sire, your concern for the health
of your subjects is a credit to you,

but if you escaped smallpox,

why risk catching it?

- Mustn't I give an example?
- Not if it concerns your life,

for a simple medical experiment.

As the 3 brothers were
inoculated at the same time,

what if all 3 had died?

Who would the crown have gone to?

It was also the image
of a king who risked his life

for progress.

It was the monarchy which
set an example for the people,

and many were saved

by this vaccination, which
then spread across France.

Despite a high temperature
that horrified the Court,

Louis' inoculation was a success.

And less than a month
after his convalescence,

on 11 June 1775,

Louis XVI was crowned
in Reims Cathedral.

In the French monarchy,
the king was God's lieutenant

on Earth, and he had to be

crowned so that he really did

receive from the Holy Ghost
all the favour that

he had the right to expect.

It was that which made him
the king of France.

The coronation was also, for him,

the opportunity to leave Versailles

to go and meet his people

and receive this consecration.

The couple entered Reims

in a ceremonial coach
covered with gold,

specially made for the coronation.

Made in the 19th century to
be the same as Louis XVI's,

at Versailles' Coach Museum,

you can admire Charles X's
coronation coach.

We are in front of
the great coronation coach,

which is an impressive work of art,

among the three largest coaches
in the world, and which

enables us to be reminded of
Louis XVI's coronation coach.

Alas, this no longer exists

because it was destroyed
during the Revolution.

This coach was almost
a travelling throne.

These were not vehicles
for travelling,

but vehicles to show off the king.

Splendour and pomp was
suitable for the coronation,

but at Versailles, Louis XVI
and Marie-Antoinette

avoided court life.

The king had a duty to
his people and to his Court,

and neither Louis XVI nor
Marie-Antoinette were

inclined to accept this life of
always being on show.

Paradoxically, they had not
been prepared for life at Court,

to make their appearances.

They had not had dancing or
singing lessons.

The reserved the king divided
his time between his private rooms

and hunting.

Marie-Antoinette found
refuge at the Petit Trianon.

The Petit Trianon
was a really lovely gift

that Louis XVI had given her
after his coronation

because he had understood

that the queen was
finding it very difficult

to fit into the French Court.

She was a bit like him.

From time to time she liked
to live away from everybody.

Marie-Antoinette relished
a simple country life.

She indulged in her passions
of music and theatre.

In her little kingdom,

the young Austrian
did as she liked.

She said, "I'm no longer queen.
I am really me at the Trianon."

The Trianon, which
was to be her private estate.

She loved to enjoy herself
with a small group of others,

which obviously separated
her from the Court,

and which increased

the resentment of other courtiers.

At the Petit Trianon,
far from the courtiers,

the queen was surrounded by
a circle of very close friends.

The estate fuelled all
kinds of fantasies.

People talked about Marie-
Antoinette having affairs.

According to
The Portfolio of an Aristocrat,

she had 150 lovers.

Coigny, Vaudreuil,
everybody's there.

It was written that she was
very greedy.

It's virtually certain that
she did not have any lovers,

but she did love to flirt.

People talked about her having
lots of lovers and mistresses.

There was gossip about a rather
crazy friendship she had

with Madame de Polignac,
but this was not lesbianism.

It was like a schoolgirl friendship.

They confided in each other,
and walked arm in arm

in the park,

and this turned into
a Sapphic relationship

in the pamphlets.

People have talked about lovers,
and now mistresses.

They are seeking to get at you
through me.

The propagators of libel
could not get at Louis XVI

as they knew of no amorous escapade.

Louis XVI was one of the rare
kings, along with Saint Louis,

who never cheated on his wife.
He didn't have a mistress.

Louis XVI's parents
had brought up the child

to think that sexuality was
a terrible thing.

And that women were sinful.

Although the king's fidelity
was never questioned,

Marie-Antoinette

had a secret passion for
Count Axel de Fersen.

The handsome Swedish officer
and the queen met

at a costume ball at the opera
in 1774, the coronation year.

The queen was seduced
the second their eyes met.

Marie-Antoinette

was really in love
once in her life,

but in love for good.

All the women were
swooning over him,

with his dark, brooding good
looks and great elegance.

He was everything that
Louis XVI was not.

It was a story that was
going to last for years.

Even when Fersen went away
because the king of Sweden

sent him off on a campaign,

they stayed in touch.

There was a wonderful
correspondence between

Fersen and Marie-Antoinette,

who used pseudonyms.

He was called "Rignon",
she was called "Joséphine", etc.

Until the day when a courtier
brought the king letters from

Fersen to Marie-Antoinette.

Louis XVI looked at them

with tears in his eyes,

and Marie-Antoinette
saw him and said to him,

"Just say the word and
I'll never see him again."

"See him if he's a friend and
he does you good", said Louis XVI,

who really was
an extremely kind and lovely man,

even if he was cuckolded.

Even if, as the years went by,
the gossip

would wound Louis XVI
so much that he cried,

as time went by,

Marie-Antoinette's heart
would be torn in two.

A heart which had taken its time
to beat for the king.

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
were married since 5 years,

and the marriage still had not
been consummated.

Married too young, the couple
hadn't managed to develop

a real loving relationship.

At night, the king remained
petrified in front of his wife.

The sexual adventures
of his grandfather

had traumatised the king.

To that was added
the physiological problem

A problem of short frenum.

And when it's short, when
there's an erection, it tightens

and prevents the sex act.

"It prevents".
What we mean is

that it makes it painful.

All that was needed was
a small operation,

called a "Jewish operation"
to fix it,

but he was scared stiff

when he saw the barber-surgeons
with their instruments.

The king and queen's problems
was talked about everywhere.

Pamphlets grew in number.

The Court was worried about
the situation dragging on.

The king's problem was
tarnishing his credibility.

In the end, this physically
impotent king

was also politically impotent.

It was wondered if a sterile king
was a king who could govern,

and for Austria,

if Marie-Antoinette didn't give
a Dauphin to the Crown,

which was her only role,

she could be taken back
to the frontier.

Empress Maria Theresa got
involved with the affair.

In 1777, Marie-Antoinette's mother
sent her son,

Joseph II, to France to find
a solution to the situation.

In a letter in Vienna's archives,

Joseph told his brother,
Leopold, what happened,

or rather what didn't happen
in the marriage bed.

He said, "In the marriage bed,

"he has very hard erections.

"He introduces his member
and stays there without moving

"for two minutes,

"pulls it out, without ever
coming, still with a hard-on,

"bids her good evening,
and goes to sleep."

And finally, by dint of perseverance,

Marie-Antoinette fell pregnant.

After 7 years of waiting,
the queen told the king

with humour and mischievousness.

One day in summer 1778, she went up
to the king, looking offended,

and said, "Sire, I must
tell you that one of your subjects

"is giving me kicks in my stomach."

It was like this that Louis XVI

knew he was to be a father.

To Louis XVI's great happiness,

Marie-Antoinette gave him 4 children.

Marie-Thérèse was born in 1778,

then the first Dauphin,
Louis-Joseph,

a second son,
Louis-Charles,

and finally Sophie-Béatrice,
who only lived a few months.

He was a caring, kind,
and gentle father.

He adored his children

and wife. His children were
his "little darlings".

A love which would be
tested to the full.

In 1787, the royal family
had terrible news.

Louis-Joseph, the heir to the throne,
who was 5 years old,

suffered from a fatal disease.

To help ease Louis-Joseph's pain,

the couple gave a specially-made
present to the Dauphin.

It is quite a moving object

as we know
that little Louis-Joseph

was ill.
He had tuberculosis of the bones,

and in his final years,
he could hardly walk,

and got around in a wheelchair

or, increasingly frequently,
in this small coach.

This small coach isn't a toy at all,

but an exact miniature replica
of a large coach.

And when it's opened, you see

that there are adjustable
windows, using straps,

small adjustable blinds,
and just like in a real coach,

on each side there is a double step

to enable you to get inside.

And when you go inside,
you see that there is a small box,

a sort of period glove box,

into which the prince
could put his snacks.

When he grew up, he could
put his feet in it.

Caring and affectionate
with their children,

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI

revealed a family life that
was new to the French court.

Marie-Antoinette was the first
"queen mum" in history

who played with her children.

Louis XVI was very close
to his children as well.

It is said that he went to

cuddle and caress them
in their cradles.

By his involvement
in their education as well,

he was, in his own way
a modern father,

"a new father",
as could be said today.

If Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
are mocked

for their lack of regular
carnal relations,

it is here that a few rare times
Marie-Antoinette spent

some intimate moments
with her husband.

Enough for her to give
birth in public to 4 children

in her bedchamber, where we
find the same gilded balustrade

as in the king's bedchamber,

symbolising the separation
between the profane on this side

and the monarchs' sacred bodies.

Going to live in the ceremonial
bedchamber of the queen

when she came to Versailles,

Marie-Antoinette did not change
anything in the decoration

of this magnificent room
of her illustrious predecessors.

The ceiling dates from Maria
Theresa, Louis XIV's wife.

The panelling and grisaille
paintings were put up

in the time of Louis XV's wife,
Marie Leszczynska.

Look at the fireplace, which
Louis XVI's wife had made.

Here she is portrayed in a bust.

It was also Marie-Antoinette
who commissioned the portraits

of her mother and brother,
above the mirrors.

We know about Marie-Antoinette's
marked taste

for refined decoration.

I'd like to show you
one particular room that

Louis XVI had built.

You can get to
the king's appartments

by this service balcony
in the Cour des Cerfs.

I'd like to show you

the room
of the Wardrobe of Louis XVI,

a real masterpiece of
Versailles' royal art, which is

unknown to the general public

because of the smallness of
the room and its preciosity, which

mean it cannot be visited by
the millions of visitors every year

of the chateau of Versailles.

Truly exceptional because
of its extreme refinement,

this room is a small study. Look.

Behind this panel has been kept

a discreet lavatory
for the king.

The king's serious
and industrious character

is shown by this collection

of carved panelling
in a neoclassical style

which depicts the great
responsibilities of government,

such as agriculture,
commerce, and war,

as well as the king's main
areas of interest.

You have here the navy.

Look at the navigational
instruments.

Here, there's a ship.

Further on, you have science,
which is symbolised by

a globe, a barometer,
and a book of algebra.

In the late 18th century, you will

see that the rapid development
of technical progress

fascinated Louis XVI,

who was revealed to be a very
capable king in many fields.

Louis XVI was enlightened.

Louis XVI was open

to progress, to technology,
to the Enlightenment.

With Louis XVI,

Versailles became a centre
for scientific experimentation.

On 14 September 1783,

a huge crowd gathered in the
chateau's forecourt.

Louis XVI and his family

attended the 1st flight of
the hot-air balloon launched

by Étienne de Montgolfier.

So as not to put the lives
of its inventors in danger,

the king demanded that
the passengers should be animals.

It was a strange crew.

A cock, a sheep, and a duck.

If we're not careful, it will be us
that'll be going up in these things.

You have to imagine

this magnificent hot-air balloon,

blue and yellow,
with the coat of arms of France,

and thus of the king,

which gradually took flight

and then landed further away
in Vaucresson Forest.

It was a very important
historical moment

which corresponds to a passion,
an extraordinary craze,

that can be well understood,

for this conquest of the skies.

The conquest of the skies
filled the king with wonder,

and naval expeditions
and travel stories

had captivated Louis XVI
since his adolescence.

Oddly enough, Louis XVI
was an "armchair traveller".

Louis XVI spent his leisure time

reading books about exploration.

Louis XVI was interested in
the exploration of new lands.

In 1785, the sailor king

launched one of the greatest
expeditions of his time.

He chose the navigator,
Jean-François de La Pérouse,

to sail round the world.

It was in this room,
in this library of Louis XVI,

that the king
and La Pérouse prepared

this expedition, which he was
going to follow on this globe.

He gave further information,

"You must explore this island,
and then this. Then, go there..."

You feel he was an enthusiastic
office sailor, obviously.

On 1 August 1785,

225 people,
including 17 scientists,

embarked on the Astrolabe
and Boussole,

the expedition's ships.

The aim was not to conquer
new lands,

but to explore and find out

about the flora and fauna,

and to get to know the sea routes.

At every port of call,

La Pérouse sent an account
of his voyage and discoveries,

day after day.

This precious account is

today kept at the Service
Historique de la Défense

at the chateau of Vincennes.

"400 or 500 Indians were
waiting for us on the shore.

"They were unarmed.
Some were covered

"in white or yellow material.

"But most of them were naked.

"Several were tattooed and had
their faces painted in red.

"Their shouts and their faces
expressed joy.

"They came to us to take our hands
and help us get down."

But La Pérouse and his crew
met a tragic end.

In spring 1788, after

3 years of the expedition,

the expedition's 2 ships were
wrecked in Vanikoro,

in the southern Pacific.

For years, the king was

obsessed with La Pérouse's
mysterious disappearance.

Right to the end, right up to the
moment he went to the scaffold,

he would ask,
"Have you got any news?"

The king's passion for the sea
went back to his childhood.

Louis XVI had a talent for
cartography from a young age.

In the chateau of Versailles,
in the Dauphin's study,

can be seen a globe
that is extraordinary

This globe was

ordered by Louis XVI for his son,

the first Dauphin,

who was only 5 when
Louis XVI ordered it.

The father was most probably
more interested than the son.

This globe really is extraordinary

because it shows not only the earth

and the vault of heaven, depicted
in the inside of the dome,

but particularly,
and this is extraordinary,

for the first time

the depth of the seas
is represented.

As a well-informed naval expert,

in 1779,

Louis XVI established
a military naval base

in Cherbourg, facing the enemy
English coast.

It was a huge building project

as this sea wall
had to be built with 90 cones,

cones of a diameter of45m at
the bottom, and 20m high.

It was like a 5-storey block
of flats, so was colossal.

On 20 June 1786,

King Louis XVI came to see
for himself how work on

the harbour was progressing.

Apart from his coronation in Reims,

this visit to Cherbourg
was the only journey he made

in France during his reign.

Louis XVI was delighted by
the cheering crowds when travelling

through Normandy.

We were only waiting
for your Majesty

to proceed to the submersion
of the 9th cone.

When he arrived,
wearing his red clothes,

which he was going to
stain with tar,

he felt very much at ease,

and everybody was astounded
with his knowledge.

He had read so many books
about the sea that when

he went on board a ship
he was interested in everything.

He was a great sailor king.

He was perfectly happy
in the middle of simple people.

He would say, "I'm going to
set off on new journeys."

But he never did.

The love of my people has
rung in the bottom of my heart

and makes me the happiest
king in the world.

Get out of Versailles more often.

It's a long time since
I've seen you so happy.

The Toile de Jouy museum
has a delightful reminder

of the visit
of Louis XVI to Cherbourg,

like an early form of comic strip.

This material enjoyed huge
success in the 18th century,

but the Louis XVI decorative
style was more simple.

Expertise and
the quality of the materials

reached levels of a rare excellence,

as Jacques Garcia explains to us

in his Château
du Champ de Bataille.

The significance of
Louis XVI-style is

its perfection of execution.

That is to say that
it was a time in France

when we had the greatest craftsmen.

We had the greatest artists,

the best cabinetmakers,
the best carpenters,

the best gilders,
the best silk makers.

Here were the absolute
quintessence of expertise.

Artistically speaking,

we owned the world
for 150 years.

This table,
once owned by the king,

is a perfect example of
Louis XVI-style.

It is a piece of furniture that was
ordered by the Garde-Meuble.

The king deserved more expense.

Instead of mahogany
beading, here,

the beading is bronze.

Instead of an iron mechanism,

the rack mechanism is bronze,

which was obviously
a lot more expensive.

Here, you have the drawers.

A drawer is always
in simple wood.

But here, not at all.
All this is in silver

and the drawers are made of ebony,

which, of course, cost
a real fortune.

The most expensive features
are not visible.

If Louis XVI-style marked
something new in decorative arts,

as regards architecture,

the chateau of Versailles did
not undergo many changes.

However,
just like his predecessors,

Louis XVI also wanted to
leave his mark.

In 1783, the king decided

to reconstruct the town side
of the chateau's facade.

So he launched
an architecture competition.

We are at the heart

of the chateau of Versailles'
Graphic Arts Room,

in a place where there is
absolutely no admittance.

It is here that we keep
our most fragile documents:

engravings, prints,
drawings, and pastels.

Among the projects suggested
to Louis XVI,

Pierre-Adrien Pâris,

architect and draftsman
to the king,

submitted a plan which,
to say the least, was daring.

When you see the project here,

you don't recognise
the chateau of Versailles.

There's nothing left
of the Louis XIV period.

The Royal Chapel can't be seen.

You don't see
the Ministers' Wings anymore.

There's an absolutely
enormous monument

which finishes

with a kind of colonnade,
like at St Peter's in Rome.

What you see above all
is a rather high building,

based on the canons
of classical architecture.

We have something that's
extremely monumental,

extremely imposing,
and perhaps also a bit cold.

We don't know what it
would have been like

if it had been built.

Because of lack of money,

the chateau's embellishment
project came to nothing.

As he could not carry out
this work, in 1783,

the king acquired
the chateau of Rambouillet,

his favourite hunting estate.

As the perfect heir
of the Bourbon kings,

Louis XVI had gone hunting
since the age of 15.

Louis XVI was a great
hunter, and he wanted

to go hunting every day.

He got ready for the hunt,
that is hunting with hounds,

exactly as though he was
getting ready for a battle.

He knew in advance where
to go and what to hunt.

Forward!

A skilful rider, a good shot,

when hunting, the king showed
another side of himself.

Louis XVI expressed himself
a lot when hunting

and in the hunt drew on
much of the energy

and violence within him.

It's true that it was
a very manly activity.

When he was not hunting,

the king spent some time
in his private rooms

where he cultivated
his talents for mechanics.

It was traditional
for the princes of France

to do a manual activity.

Whilst Louis XV turned ivory,

Louis XVI loved the art of
clock and lock-making.

He loved seeing
how things worked.

He could reassemble
complicated locks,

which are works of art.

It wasn't shoddy work,

but he had to pit himself
against fire and iron,

and that suited all the strength
that he had in him.

François Gamain,
the king's locksmith,

helped Louis XVI to become
expert in lock making.

The king made
with his own hands

a finely worked lock.

A rare jewel that is
intimate and very moving.

What is special about this lock

is that Louis XVI made it
for his sister,

Marie-Clotilde, who was going
to marry the king of Sardinia.

So in principle,

this piece would have been
given for the wedding.

So you can see perfectly

the arms of France,
the 3 fleurs-de-lis,

the coat of arms
of Princess Marie-Clotilde,

the coat of arms of her husband,
the king of Sardinia.

And what is wonderful is
that it still works.

A lovely detail:

on the key, King Louis XVI
carved a fleur-de-lis,

on the end of the key.

Mechanical progress found
new applications.

On 2 March 1792,

Louis XVI received Dr Guillotin

to speak to him about
his invention,

the guillotine.

Louis XVI simply said,

"I do not disprove of
this technique",

since it was a humanitarian
technique for killing,

without the terrible torture

that was being beheaded
with an axe,

when some victims

only died after 20 or 30 blows.

11 months after approving
the use of the guillotine,

Louis XVI would be
its most famous victim.

King Louis XVI

most certainly owed
his passion for science

to his grandfather, Louis XV.

Look at this extraordinary clock

in the king's apartments
at Versailles, which was

made for Louis XV, who was
very keen on astronomy,

and which was used to set,
for the first time,

an official time in the kingdom.

Imagine here the evening of
New Year's Eve

with all the royal family assembled
to see in the New Year.

In fact, the clock shows

the time, the day of the week,
the month, the year,

and even the phases of the moon.

In the globe,
you can see the planets

revolving around the sun.

There's no doubt that Louis
XVI particularly admired

this clockmaking masterpiece

every time that he went to
his apartments.

The library of Louis XVI was
certainly his favourite room.

The king was known to be
a great reader.

On this oval table

can be admired
a series of figurines

in Sèvres biscuit
from the famous factory.

You'll recognise here
Molière, Corneille,

Racine, and Montesquieu.

King Louis XVI bought 24

and he liked to give them
to his important guests.

In the 19th century,

Napoleon, attracted by this idea,
continued to order them.

Today, the big collectors

snap them up at auction.

I'd like to show you another library,

a lot more intimate,
of King Louis XVI. Follow me.

This little room under
the roof of the chateau,

in the silence of the night,

is part of the king's
private apartments.

It was the first building project
begun by Louis XVI

when he came to the throne,

proof of his desire to cut himself
off from the grand official rooms

to read or to work,
even at night.

Very few people came here,
apart from the king,

who loved to study the large maps

which he could easily unfold
on this impressive table,

specially designed for this use.

Seized during the Revolution

and kept by the Institut de France,

the table has only recently been
given back to the chateau.

It is so big that when
it came back here,

it had to be completely taken apart

in order to be able to put it back
together again in the room.

Serious and hard-working,

and really concerned about
his people's welfare,

Louis XVI was determined to put
right the situation of a kingdom

that had been put into debt
by his predecessors' rashness.

But the volcano of his throne

was rumbling dangerously.

When Louis XVI came to
the throne, he inherited

a prosperous kingdom,

with a growing population.

The monarchy was poor.

The very young king found
a state in deficit.

His financial controller,
Abbé Terray,

advised him to go bankrupt,

that is, the cancellation of
the national debt accumulated

in the previous reign.

But Louis XVI refused.

It was a mistake.

He was to drag on
this financial crisis

for the whole of his reign,
to end up at the final catastrophe.

This catastrophe which
threatened Louis XVI,

was the explosion of
a society marked by feudalism.

When Louis XVI came to
the throne, France

was a basically rural country,

since 80% of the population
lived in the country.

French society was organised
into orders,

into 3 orders:

the clergy, the aristocracy,
and the Third Estate -

peasants, workers,
and the middle class.

The first 2 orders were
the privileged orders.

These privileges were
financial privileges.

Exemption from taxation

as the clergy
served the king through prayer

and the aristocracy
served him with the sword.

The Third Estate served him

through work, and it was
this work which was taxed.

This tax ate up about 57%

of the Third Estate's income.

Among the taxes paid by
the Third Estate,

the tithe went to the clergy.

In this Catholic state, of which
Louis XVI was the sacred agent,

the rich clergy had
exceptional power.

A distinction must be made
between the high clergy

and the low clergy -
the country priests.

The priest was in contact
with the people,

but he was quite poor.

The nobility was also divided
into several ranks.

There was a distinction between
the high nobility,

who lived at the Court,
and who provided the intendants,

and then the provincial nobility,
which was out of the way

and which didn't benefit from
the king's generosity.

This provincial nobility lived

in contact with the peasants.

They were often difficult to
tell apart from their clothes.

This society was dying out.

A nobility which no longer
defended its country

as the young nobles

no longer knew how to fight,

and a high clergy which was far
removed from prayer.

Louis said, "it would be good if
the archbishop believed in God."

And then a Third Estate which
was starting to become very diverse,

with this peasantry
and this middle class

which was growing
increasingly important.

Louis XVI inherited a kingdom
that wasn't easy to manage.

Louis XVI wasn't even 20,
with no experience of power.

Quite quickly, the king gave
the impression of indecision.

It was hard for him to fill the role.

Imagine today

saying to someone with
a school-leaving certificate,

"Put yourself in the place
of François Hollande."

That was Louis XVI.

The young king quickly
turned to Turgot, who was

experienced, and who was
to help him run the country.

I can't leave Versailles without
being distressed by what I see.

The good and happiness
of my people, M. Turgot.

The good of my people.

I want this goal to guide
the whole of your actions.

It is a heavy task, Sire.

Louis XVI's first actions

were intended to strengthen
"social justice",

an expression he invented.

Louis XVI improved the hospitals

and also the state of the prisons.

He supported legal
reform which abolished

the use of torture, especially

that before the execution of
those condemned to death.

He gave civil status rights
to Protestants.

Protestants had not had these as
they were the Catholic Church's.

They had no proof

of their marriage,
of the legitimacy of children, etc.

That was important.

There was already a project
to ensure Jews had a status.

The Revolution would do it,

but Louis XVI had initiated it.

He took part in the founding of
the world's first children's

hospital, known today

as the Hospital for Sick Children.

Despite these reforms tinged
with humanism,

Louis XVI faced
a calamitous economic situation,

and his minister, Turgot,
set out his programme.

There would be no bankruptcy,
which would lose savers

the money entrusted to the State,

nor increases in taxation,

which would hit the poorest,
nor borrowing,

which would be a burden
for the future.

Turgot's watchword was
"to reduce spending".

Several times during
his reign, Louis XVI

cut down the Court's spending.

The minister also took steps
to free up the economy,

tied up by the professions.

But opposition to this grew.

And there were

the first strikes in our history

under Louis XVI.

Reforms couldn't succeed

because it was extremely
difficult to reform the State

without interfering with
certain interests,

and the coalition of these interests

gave rise to the fall of Turgot
in 1776.

In 1777, a year after
Turgot's departure,

one decision was to make
the situation a lot worse.

Louis XVI supported La Fayette
and involved France

in the United States
War of Independence.

Louis XVI had no sympathy

for the American colonists

rebelling against England.

Not at all.

They were republicans,

and Louis XVI did not like
republicans.

But Vergennes,

his minister for Foreign Affairs,

considered that France needed

revenge against England.

The English,
after the Seven Years War,

had captured all our colonies,
all our foreign territories.

We had nothing. The English
had seized it all.

The British fleet was defeated

and that led to the creation of

the United States of America.

As regards French prestige,
it really was

an important expedition

which even today

affects the relationship
between the USA and France.

Helping the creation of the
world's largest democracy

remained one of Louis XVI's
main feats of arms.

But this involvement was to be
the start of the king's fall.

Louis XVI had not realised

that the Americans were going
to invent a new kind of society,

a new kind of political system.

Many young French aristocrats
went off to fight

and came back full of new ideas.

The most famous was,
of course, La Fayette.

And the breath of America
also blew on France.

I don't think that Louis XVI
imagined that, somewhere,

a small worm had been put
into the fruit of the monarchy

by acting in this way.

After the war, loans
had to be paid back.

The amount of debt was huge.

In fact, the American war would
be the French monarchy's grave.

Louis XVI appointed
Charles-Alexandre de Calonne

to the position of Controller
General of Finance.

Calonne put forward a solution.

The rich had to be made to pay.

Tax exemptions had to be limited.

- There is too much abuse.
- The nobility will oppose you.

Louis XVI was to hit the wall
of the privileged classes,

the high nobility, the clergy,

who refused to pay extra taxes.

Let's make Louis understand
that we'll never accept

that the nobility and common
people are equal.

When the opposition became
too great, he backed down.

It's something we understand
very well today.

We've know that for
dozens of years.

The nobility seemed to him to be
the throne's main support.

So to break with the nobility,
to fight against it,

and to possibly sacrifice it
in the interest of the State

was something that
he couldn't bring himself to do.

The required fiscal reform
turned out to be impossible,

and the king appeared to be
a weak man.

He was called "M. Soft".

But the queen became
the subject of vicious attacks.

At this time, it was thought

Marie-Antoinette was adding
to the deficit of the State.

She was called "Mme Deficit".

She only thought about

frivolous living and spending.
She loved jewels.

She loved hairdos and dresses.

Her spending was not huge.

Marie-Antoinette was not
any more expensive than

Louis XV's mistresses

or the expenditure of Louis XIV.

It is estimated that her share
of Court expenditure

in the total State budget
was between 5% and 10%.

Of course, this represents
very large amounts of money,

but it does not explain
the whole of the deficit.

In actual fact, it was
the crushing weight of the debt

which really suffocated
the kingdom's economy.

But it was a huge scandal

which would tarnish the image
the image of the monarchy:

the queen's necklace affair.

It was an affair no playwright
would have dared to invent.

All the links of the story are
worthy of a play.

The leading actress of this
affair was Jeanne de la Motte,

who thought up the swindle.

The first act was played out
during the meeting

with the Cardinal de Rohan,
who became her lover.

He could not manage to get
into the ruling circle

and he dreamed of
becoming Prime Minister.

She had persuaded him

that she was a close friend
of Marie-Antoinette.

She suggested to him that

he should go via her intermediary

to gain the queen's confidence.

But in actual fact, she was
setting up a scheme

to get money
from the cardinal.

A magnificent necklace was
the subject of the deception.

It was an exceptional
2,840-carat piece of jewellery

which had been created
by 2 jewellers,

Bœhmer and Bassange,

who had made it from
the purest stones,

and who had been wanting to
sell this necklace for years.

Mme de la Motte told Rohan that
the queen needed help to buy it.

The dishonest adventuress

even showed him false letters
from Marie-Antoinette,

assuring the cardinal that
she'd pay him back.

Duped, the cardinal bought
the necklace in the queen's name

for Mme de la Motte, who fled
with this precious booty

and resold the diamonds.

When the jeweller came to
claim the money due to him,

the queen, who had never got
or ordered the necklace,

was completely dumbfounded.

Majesty.

I have come about our business.

What are you talking about?

I don't understand.

Instead of burying the story,
Louis XVI had the cardinal

arrested at the Court.

To clear his wife's honour,
he requested a public trial.

The cardinal would have usually
been condemned in advance.

He was considered to be guilty.

But the Parliament went
against Louis XVI's wishes

and exonerated the cardinal.

The pamphlet of the queen!
The pamphlet of the queen!

The story of the necklace here!

Although Marie-Antoinette
was completely innocent,

she became the most detested
person in the kingdom.

The pamphleteers
had a field day, writing

how she had got the necklace

and had then sold it.

There was the most incredible
gossip about this affair.

Give the order and we shall
stop these publications

and punish the guilty.
- No.

I don't want anyone to be
prosecuted in my name.

In the reign of Louis XVI,

royal authority
was not oppressive.

The Bastille was not packed
full of prisoners.

In the late 1780s, Louis XVI

had his back to the wall.

The king became depressed.

He lost confidence in himself.

He had not managed
to reform the country.

It was deplorable.
France was almost bankrupt.

Society was boiling over.

Louis XVI had to get France
out of this crisis.

In a political impasse, and

faced with the kingdom's
deficit gap, in late 1788,

Louis XVI convoked the clergy,
the nobility, and the Third Estate

to a special meeting
in order to find solutions.

On 5 May, the Estate General's
opening session took place

in the Salle des Menus Plaisirs,
which is no longer there.

But thanks to
this 19th century painting,

we can imagine the scene.

At the top on the left, the king
is on his throne, with his family.

At the bottom on the left are
the 291 deputies of the clergy.

At the top are
the 270 deputies of the nobility.

In the painting's foreground

are depicted the 578 deputies
of the Third Estate,

who were more numerous
than the other 2 orders

because Louis XVI had granted
the doubling of its numbers

so as to have a fairer
representation of the people.

Louis XVI opened the session
with a very short speech.

Then the minister, Necker
spoke for over 2 hours.

At the end of this speech,
there was great disappointment

among the deputies
of the Third Estate.

They were expecting a proposal
for full institutional reform,

but Necker was proposing
only fiscal reform,

and so increased taxes.

From the next day, 6 May,

the deputies of the Third Estate
took the name of "Commune".

A few days later, the royal family
went to the chateau of Marly

to be with the Dauphin,
who was seriously ill.

Confronted with the political
agitation shaking France,

in private Louis XVI

was facing the worst
tragedy for a father.

In spring 1789, Louis XVI
and Marie-Antoinette

stayed at the bedside of
Louis-Joseph, their eldest son,

who had tuberculosis of the bones.

The disease had deformed
the Dauphin's spine.

He had to wear a corset
in order to correct it.

The Dauphin was living
the final days of his short life,

which had been marked
a lot of suffering.

From this pretty silk suit

which gives the impression
of a gentle way of life,

you have to imagine
this strange position of the legs,

which is not really noble,

as you'd imagine a Dauphin.

He is a bit lop-sided,
in a strange position bizarre,

as he was in a metal structure
under this lovely silk suit.

It expresses the pain
and misfortunes of this family.

You have here a second article

in this chair, which is a chair
for a disabled person,

but which has been disguised
as a lovely, amusing object

with a dolphin at the back,

shells, and handles
for turning left and right.

It is a lovely object,
but it is an object of pain.

Louis-Joseph died on 4 June 1789.

This family tragedy

gave rise to terrible political
repercussions.

It was a tragic time for
the queen and king.

They were modern parents.
They were parents who grieved.

She was a mother

who got a grip of herself,
and who appeared to everybody...

as cold.

She was the cold Austrian,
but inside she was crying.

It was heartbreaking for Louis XVI,
who had to stay dignified

and presentable, who could not
show how distressed he was,

as the deputies were going to
process in front of him.

He had to stay strong.

The pain of the parents was
terrible at that time.

Meanwhile, the deputies were
discussing behind closed doors.

They were there, in Versailles.

They wondered what they were
doing as the king wasn't there.

Then something happened
to spark off events.

The astronomer, Bailly,

the Third Estate's president
at the Estates General,

kept on demanding
to meet the king.

The exhausted Louis XVI said,

"Isn't there a father
among these people?

"They are not taking
my suffering into account."

It is tragic as the king was
on the same wavelength as the

people of the Third Estate,

and could have reached agreement.

Faced with the king's silence,

the Third Estate became
the National Assembly.

The deputies met in
the Salle du Jeu de Paume

to take the famous oath.

The deputy, Bailly, took
the initiative in making this oath

and the deputies swore
not to separate

as long as there was no new
Constitution, that is to say,

a text which redefined the
the procedures for the exercise

of power to limit
the king's authority

and to give deputies
a legislative function.

The painter, David, wanted to
depict the passion and fervour

which characterised that day

since you see members of the
public observing the scene,

and the wind blowing shows

the spirit of liberty blowing
into the Salle du Jeu de Paume

where the deputies,
the Nation's representatives,

personify this new stage
in France's history.

On 23 June, Louis XVI
reacted with a speech that

left no ambiguity
about the sharing of power.

I declare...

null, illegal,

and unconstitutional,

the decisions of the so-called
National Assembly.

I am the sole guarantor of
my people's good.

Things were getting heated.

In Paris, Camille Desmoulins
harangued the crowd

and called the people to take up
arms against the government.

To arms!

To arms!

On 14 July,
the Bastille was taken.

That day,
Louis XVI went hunting,

and returned empty-handed.

History will always remember
one unfortunate word

of 4 letters,

written in his diary.

In the evening of 14 July 1789,

he wrote "Rien", "Nothing",

although the Revolution had
just broken out in Paris.

This "nothing" was terrible
because it would be repeated

time after time to show a king
who did not want reform,

who did not want to hear
or understand anything.

He does have an excuse
as the events in Paris

were only known later
at Versailles.

Sire?

- What's the matter?
- The Bastille has been taken.

Is it a revolt?

No, Sire. It is a revolution.

Louis XVI took note of
the people's dissension.

Although his entourage
urged him to flee,

the king decided
to stay at Versailles.

As a sign of appeasement,

he ordered the troops
to withdraw from Paris.

He must be commended for that.

Throughout this revolutionary period,

he never gave any order
for the shedding of blood.

We cannot imagine that Louis XVI
could bear the Bastille's

taking by the "populace".

He could have called
in the army, the cavalry.

I dare not think about the
subsequent repression.

He claimed to be the father of
his people. A father doesn't kill

his children. A father does
not send them to war.

On 17 July, Louis XVI went
to the Hôtel de Ville in Paris

to meet the insurrectionary council.

You had to get on
with the Revolution.

It is what he was trying to do
in a spirit of reconciliation.

To show his good will,

the king even agreed to wear
the tricolour cockade,

whose colours of blue and red
symbolised the city of Paris,

and the white, the monarchy.

But this understanding was
not to last long.

First article.

"Men are born free and remain

"free and equal in rights.

"Social distinctions can be
based only

"on public utility."

Another page of history was
written in August 1789

with the Declaration
of the Rights of Man.

Privileges were abolished.

It was the end of the feudal
system, of the society of orders,

and the establishment
of equality in taxation.

Louis XVI accepted
decrees, which he signed.

But the economic crisis was
hitting Paris,

the nerve centre of
revolutionary dissension.

Paris was a cauldron

which was boiling both
politically and socially.

Paris was suffering.

The 1789 harvest was good,

but there was not enough
wheat to be able to feed

the people while waiting for
this harvest to arrive.

There was talk of a plot that

the king wanted to use hunger
to quell the Revolution.

One event was going to
spark things off.

A banquet was organised
in early October

in honour of the troops
from Flanders.

This was at Versailles

in the Royal Opera House.

Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette,
and the Dauphin

put in an appearance
at the end of the banquet

when everybody was
getting a bit lively.

Obviously, their appearance was
greeted with great cheering.

Songs praising the king
and queen were sung,

and white cockades, the symbol
of the monarchy, proudly worn.

Long live the king and queen!

This event, which was

a blunder on the part of
Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette,

was to be exploited.

Rumours began the next day.

The king was preparing
the counter-revolution.

On 5 October, 6-7,000 women

marched on Versailles.

They were angry with
Marie-Antoinette, who,

in their eyes, symbolised
all the monarchy's excesses.

A screaming armed mob

got into the chateau,

killed several guards,
who tried to bar their way,

and rushed on, looking for
the queen's apartments.

The queen was suddenly woken up
by the shouts and screams,

and taking her children,

rushed to her husband.

The queen was extremely upset.

She was terrified
because the mob

was screaming outside
in the Cour de Marbre.

Gunshots exploded
and plaster fell.

Anything could have happened.
The king could have been shot.

We are here on the balcony
of the king's bedchamber,

overlooking the Cour de Marbre.

You have to imagine a screaming mob

in this courtyard, shouting

"Death to the queen".

The queen appeared on the balcony
with her children.

- No children!
- No children!

She sent the children away.

Long live the queen!

The king gave a little speech
on the balcony,

saying that, yes,

he wanted to please his people,
that he was going to Paris.

Long live the king!

The king was loved now
because he was defeated.

The crowd had triumphed.

The journey from Versailles to Paris

was an absolutely
terrible experience

for this family, who were
insulted, and to whom were

shown, stuck on pikes,
the heads of the guards

who had been killed during
the assault on the chateau.

They were taken to the Tuileries,
and from then on

were increasingly overtaken
by events.

Louis XVI was
a prisoner of the Revolution.

Certainly, for the people,
he was still a respected king,

but his real power continued
to decrease.

Louis XVI was bewildered.
They forced measures on him

that he signed,
that he signed, that he signed.

He would soon be signing
blank law parchments,

without even looking at
what these laws contained.

Basically, it was not him
who was signing.

He had been changed into
a signing machine.

He was forced to accept
the civil constitution of the clergy.

This reform forced
priests to swear loyalty

to the revolutionary State.

For a strong believer
like Louis XVI,

it was the last straw.

The queen, who feared for
her and her children's lives,

had been urging her husband
to flee Paris for months.

The king eventually gave in

and agreed to leave for
the east of France.

No doubt because by that time,

Louis XVI was very, very
psychologically weak.

The idea was to go as far
as Montmédy,

and there to get support from
a small group of loyal troops

so as to possibly consider
marching on Paris.

They considered everything.

One of the plans, the best one,

was to be led by
Baron de Breteuil,

who was a former minister and
an agent of Marie-Antoinette,

and Count Fersen,
the queen's sweetheart.

Fersen was very clumsy
in organising the escape.

Because he wanted to
please the queen

and did not want her
to be uncomfortable,

he brought her a large camper
van, if I can call it that.

An enormous coach,

coloured green and yellow,
that is to say, very discreet,

with a bar, a cellar,
things to eat, legs of meat.

It was absolutely dreadful.

The travellers left Paris
without mishap.

But quickly the royal family
was to be unlucky,

and also pay for a certain
amount of insouciance.

The royal family had not left
Paris for a long time.

It was therefore the first time
that it could breathe.

It had a new identity.

It was exhilarating to leave

Paris, to see the countryside,
and to go through villages.

In these coaching inns,

the king made himself known,
especially at the inn at Chatry.

You? Here? Sire!

It's an honour to have you
in my inn.

The news went from inn
to inn, even getting ahead

of the royal coach.

The king's coach was stopped
in Varennes in the Argonne,

a small village in Lorraine.

Its flight only lasted 24 hours.

But this episode totally changed
the king's image and situation.

Something happened

that went well beyond politics

and that affected what was
sacred in the person of the king.

Varennes was a desertion.

Like leaving your post, it was
a flight, a desertion.

By leaving the Tuileries,

the king himself had
basically relinquished

his crown and his legitimacy.

A few months later,

the king's fate was sealed
once and for all.

On 10 August 1792, the mob
invaded the Tuileries palace.

While 600 Swiss Guards,
servants, and members

of the royal entourage
were being slaughtered,

the king and his family took refuge
in the National Assembly.

The royal family was
crouched down, hiding

in the logographer's room,

which was behind
the president's chair.

It was present at Louis XVI's
provisional suspension

and at the declaration
of his internment.

It was the end of one of the
oldest monarchies in Europe.

From then on,

France no longer had a king.

The deposed king

was transferred to the Temple
prison with his family.

During this unprecedented
crisis in France,

Louis XVI seems to have
put up with events

without ever managing to
take back control.

The king voiced his feelings

on the Revolution
in a still controversial text.

This document was the letter
to all of the French people

that Louis XVI left on the day
before his flight to Varennes.

We understand through the letter

that he agreed to relinquish
the absolute monarchy

as it existed before 1789.

He agreed to the abolition of
the orders, the recognition

of an egalitarian society,

but he refused to accept that
things should go too far

in the power that the Revolution
gave to the Assembly.

Louis XVI, ready to become
a constitutional monarch?

There is not total agreement.

I don't think
that he could imagine

that absolute monarchy
would cease to exist and that

he would be no more than
the constitutional monarch.

Not because he had
the character of a despot.

Not at all.

It was because of his education

and the constant reference to
the Louis XIV-style monarchy.

But to reign like Louis XIV,

he needed the strength
and strong will of Louis XIV.

This was not so in his case.

After 10 August 1792,

tension throughout the kingdom
was extremely high.

The imprisoned royal family
were in the Temple prison,

while foreign armies
invaded France in order

to bring help to the monarchy.

Feelings in the National Convention,

which now ran the country,
were running high.

Marat called for the killing of
the enemies of the Revolution.

Death to the prince!

On 2 September, the sans-culottes
overran Paris' prisons

and violently killed
hundreds of prisoners

suspected of taking part in
the counter-revolution.

Summary executions
went on for 8 days.

More than 1,300 people

were brutally killed
in prisons, hospitals,

and some of the capital's abbeys.

The Revolution entered
a new stage,

that of the Terror.

From his Temple prison,
on 21 September, Louis XVI

learnt of the Prussian army's
defeat at the battle of Valmy.

All his hopes of liberation

by foreign forces disappeared.

The National Convention proclaimed
the abolition of the monarchy.

The National Archives
have this document

that I'd like to share.
Look. You can read,

"The National Convention
unanimously agrees

"that royalty
is abolished in France."

It is dated 22 September 1792,

the first year
of the French Republic.

What is funny is
seeing that on this document,

you have 3 fleurs-de-lis,
which represent royalty,

and this inscription:
"The French Nation".

It' is a transfer of sovereignty
from the king to the people.

In his cell,

Louis XVI was only the ghost
of a defunct monarchy.

For over a month

the royal family had been
imprisoned in the Temple.

Louis XVI gradually changed.

He no longer had to take
any decisions.

Nothing was expected of him.

He was liberated.
He was serene.

Marie-Antoinette admired him.

She believed in him because
he was the family's father.

For them, the family
was the sole refuge from

the dread of the Revolution.

The king lived in a bedroom
upstairs, and the queen

was on the floor below.

She was with her sister-in-law,
Elisabeth,

her daughter, Madame Royale,
and the Dauphin.

Very quickly, the family's
life became organised

behind the bars of the prison.

Some private collectors have
agreed to share with us a few

souvenirs of the daily life of
the imprisoned royal family.

Just this once, we have brought
together very moving objects

which marked the story

and the final days of the king
in the Temple prison.

We know that during his time
in the prison, Louis XVI

read a lot of books,
and especially this book.

The title may make you smile,

The History of revolutions

in the government
of the Roman republic.

We know, of course,

that Marie-Antoinette kept
busy by doing embroidery,

especially this piece of tapestry,
embroidered in her last 2 years

with Madame Elisabeth.

We tend to forget about
Madame Elisabeth, who

was Louis XVI's young sister.

She played an important role
in the prison,

from both a material
and morale point of view

as she contributed to
the group's general equilibrium.

We know that Madame
Elisabeth was very close

to her niece, Madame Royale.

The king was responsible for
the Dauphin's education.

This document is extremely
important historically.

One of the lessons given
by Louis XVI to his son

has come down to us.

Very concerned about
his son's spelling,

he read with interest

and corrected the text
written by his son.

You can see him at that moment

perfectly.

"Polongne" should be "Pologne",

and so he has crossed out the "n".

There was a separation at that
time between "en" and "tant",

as well as "ils redoutait".
He altered them,

so all the annotations in
another colour of ink

are those of the hand
of King Louis XVI.

My compliments, Charles.

Do you know that you
have beautiful handwriting?

You're also reading.

But the tranquillity of the
prisoners of the Temple

was brutally broken.

During the September

massacres, the Princess de
Lamballe, a very close friend

of the queen, was lynched,
mutilated, and decapitated.

Her corpse was dragged
through the streets of Paris.

Under the windows of this

small tower of the Temple

was paraded the head of the princess,

the queen's friend.

Eh, Austrian woman!
Do you recognise Lamballe?

Even the city authorities who
had no affection for the king,

feared that the royal family
would have their throats cut.

The tension increased further
when the Convention

discovered, in the king's
Tuileries apartments,

a secret cache hidden
in an iron cupboard.

They said that they had found
piles of letters involving

treachery, the king's treachery.

There was actually nothing

compromising.
A lot of fuss about very little.

The conditions in prison
became increasingly harder.

When their meal was served,

the bread was cut up as well
as the meat

to see that there could be
any secret message.

In this climate of defiance,

the deposed king was visited
by the mayor of Paris.

The Convention has decided to
summon you before a court.

I see.

Before the trial,

you will not communicate
with your family.

It was the most important trial
in the history of France.

Historically and politically.
Why?

The king was to be judged.

But the king,

in an absolute monarchy,

was a sacred monarch

and he had all the powers,
including legal.

This meant that
he could judge anybody

and any matter.

And he, who was
inviolable and sacred

was the accused.

It was a very special trial,

not in front of
professional judges

but in front of the new deputies
of the National Assembly,

in front of the Convention.

That meant that the judges
were politically motivated.

Because of that it was...

almost deceptive in nature.

If they had wanted to at least
give a semblance of respecting

proprieties, they would have
created a special court,

not one the members of the
Convention judged themselves.

He agreed to be judged
because he thought that

he would be able to express
a certain number of ideas,

taking stock of the situation.

He had initiated procedures

which had aimed at gradually
changing France,

and he found it rather
ungrateful, rather unfair,

that he was being made
to stand trial

to answer, in a way, for what
his predecessors had done.

To give the appearance of
a fair trial,

the Convention agreed that
Louis Capet, as it called him,

should be able to
choose his lawyers.

Louis XVI called on the
eminent lawyers, François

Tronchet and Raymond de Sèze.

A defence lawyer, Guillaume
de Lamoignon de Malesherbes,

spontaneously and gallantly
offered his services.

It is often forgotten that
Louis XVI was still young.

And Malesherbes was a father.

Louis XVI trusted his
brilliant and very

experienced former minister,

who had come to help him
at this painful time, when

so many nobles of the Court
turned their backs on the king,

starting with his own brothers.

Provence had never once
helped Louis XVI.

He had not helped him.

As for Artois, he had emigrated

after the fall of the Bastille.
He had not hung around.

The trial opened on 10 December.

From the start, Malesherbes

shocked Treilhard, the
president of the Convention.

He was very haughty towards
the members of the Convention,

and said "Sire, Sire, Sire"

to his famous client,
whom he was assisting.

That was a very bad thing to do.

It was Treilhard, the president,
who said to Malesherbes,

"What makes you so bold
as to pronounce here

"names that
the Convention has banned?"

Malesherbes replied,

"Contempt of you and death."

It had been said by a Roman.

"Contempt of you and death."

The king was quickly confronted
with his charges.

The National Convention

is charged with announcing the
crimes of Louis Capet:

attempting to corrupt deputies,
beginning with Mirabeau,

the escape attempt,

the Champ de Mars massacre.

There was everything.
There were as many items

relating to the Revolution

as there were items relating to
the rule of Louis XVI.

It was the turn of Raymond

de Sèze to launch
into the perilous exercise

of defending Louis XVI.

When De Sèze in his speech
for the defence said,

"I look around myself,
I look for the judges,

"and I can only see accusers",

a superb phrase. He was right.

They were only accusers.
He was judged by his accusers.

We are not in a courtroom
in front of 3 judges,

with the crowd behind us.

We are surrounded by
hundreds of judges

above whom sit the public,
shouting and screaming.

You are in an arena.
You are in a circus.

It's easy to imagine De Sèze,
fervently wanting to convince.

He spoke for over 2 hours.

The debates were almost over.

Louis XVI was anxious to

speak for the very last time
before the Convention.

I declare...

that I have a clear conscience.

But what wounds my heart...

more than anything is...

to have...

been accused of having spilled
the blood of the people.

On 15 January,
the deputies, one by one,

and in a highly-charged atmosphere,

went up to publicly announce
their verdict.

Declared guilty by a majority

of conspiracy against
public liberty

and of the violation of
the safety of the State.

The sentence is to be voted.

The majority is 361 votes.

The outcome of this trial
was still very uncertain.

If you hesitate to get rid of
a tyrant, you are not republicans.

I am voting for death.

The sentence of death won,
by a very slim majority.

I have a document concerning
the judgement of Louis XVI.

It's very interesting.

All the deputies are
listed by department.

And for the Île-de-France
and Paris, we have

all the voters, beginning

with Robespierre and Danton.

And we have at the very end

a very famous and important
person, Philippe Égalité.

Louis XVI's own first cousin
was very clear.

He voted for the king's death

to find favour with the people.
The sentence was death.

Condemned to death by
his own cousin, in his

cell at the Temple,
Louis XVI awaited the verdict.

It was a terrible thing when
you knew the legal system

and when you lived...

at the time of the guillotine.

Malesherbes went to tell the
king that he was condemned.

And he could not speak.

What that could mean
could easily be deduced.

Certain that he would not
come through alive,

Louis XVI had even written
his will

on the day before
his trial started.

"I recommend to my son,

"if he has the misfortune to
become king, to consider that

"he has a duty for his fellow
citizens' happiness."

It is easily explained
by the circumstances.

In his situation, he felt
unfortunate to be a monarch

since it was what was going to
lead him to the scaffold.

And then he used the term
of "fellow citizens".

That is to say that despite

the will, despite this wish

to bring back
the monarchy of his fathers,

there are, all the same, terms
of revolutionary modernity.

So there's the definite feeling
- and this is very important -

that Louis XVI wasn't clinging

onto the Ancien Régime.

He was able, even at the most
tragic times,

to accept a certain evolution
of the monarchy.

On 20 January,

the king told his family that

he had been condemned to death

that that he was going to be
executed the next morning.

The king made his son promise

never to try to avenge his death.

Louis XVI died convinced

that he had done
everything in his power

to reform his country and
to be a good king of France.

He died at peace.

On 21 January, at 9 am,

Louis XVI left his cell, not
seeing see his family again

to spare them the final
heartbreaking farewell.

When he left the Temple,

the king gave Cléry,
his valet,

his wedding ring, which was
to be given to the queen,

and he said to Cléry,

"Tell her how much it grieves me
to leave this ring."

Over 80,000 people had
gathered along the route

that Louis XVI took
to the guillotine.

It was terribly cold.

The king arrived

in a closed carriage.

He climbed the scaffold steps,

and escaped the executioners
to speak to the crowd.

I die innocent of all the crimes
of which I am accused.

I pardon those who are
guilty of my death.

Santerre ordered the drums
to be beaten

so that the king's voice would
be drowned by the noise.

May the blood you are going to

spill never fall again on France.

The executioners then took hold
of the king, pushed him onto

the plank, which tipped over.

After the execution, Marat said,

"The king's body is a corpse."
This word is important.

"Corpse" meant

that the king's sacred body,
and so divine right monarchy

was reduced to nothing
with this execution.

It was the sign...

that the people were now sovereign.

When the blade fell,

21 cannon shots were fired.

It was at that moment
that the queen knew

that her husband was dead.

She curtsied to her son,
saluting him

as King Louis XVII.

A few months later, it was
Marie-Antoinette's turn

to be judged, and then to be
taken to her execution

in an ox cart, dressed
in a simple chemise,

and insulted by the crowd.

They were vile
towards Marie-Antoinette.

Whatever the accusations
and grievances,

and the very serious mistakes
of Marie-Antoinette,

she could have been executed
without enduring all that.

In spring 1794,

Madame Elisabeth,
Louis XVI's brave sister,

was, in turn, taken to the scaffold,

for no real political purpose.

Little Marie-Thérèse
remained alone in her prison

and her brother,
little King Louis XVII,

was also imprisoned not far
away, but she couldn't see him.

This child was completely
abandoned to his fate.

Isolated and the victim
of squalid conditions in prison,

little Louis died at
the age of 10 years old

in his cell in June 1794.

Only Marie-Thérèse,
Louis XVI's daughter,

was freed and exiled in 1795.

In the 8th arrondissement of Paris,

the expiatory chapel
was built on the place where

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
were buried,

the day after their executions.

We are at the moment

in the nave
of this expiatory chapel built

by Louis XVIII to the memory

of his brother, Louis XVI.

Your attention is particularly

drawn to this monumental
sculpture by Joseph Bosio,

depicting Louis XVI,
supported by an angel.

This echoes the last words
that Louis XVI heard,

those of his confessor,

who said to him, "Son of
St Louis, ascend to heaven."

On 21 January 1815, Louis XVIII
organised the transfer

of the remains of Louis XVI
and Marie-Antoinette to

the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

Louis XVI leaves behind the image
of a good man who was

well-balanced and moderate.

It can be said that Louis XVI

tried to get along
with the Revolution, but that

the Revolution did not want to.

In this respect, Louis XVI
is the victim, or the symbol,

of this Revolution.

It is what the word implies.

They wanted to mark it
with the blood of the king.

Louis XVI, alone, embodies

the end of monarchical
government in France.

Of course, 2 empires and
3 kings were to follow him

before the Republic was adopted
for good in 1873.

But Louis XVI remains,
in our collective consciousness,

the king condemned to death
so the Republic could be born.

Of his son, the young
and short-lived Louis XVII,

who died in the Temple prison,

only his heart remains in this urn

within the Bourbon chapel

in this crypt
in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

A few metres away,
Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

rest in the burial place
of the kings and queens of France,

these representatives of
a monarchy which shaped France

and our common history
for over 100 years.

Beyond the simplistic clichés,
I hope that you have gained

a better understanding
of the complex personality

of Louis XVI, the man and king.

Thank you for watching.

I'll be seeing you again
before too long

for another programme
in Secrets of history.

Subtitles: Eclair Group