Tea at Trianon: The Coronation of Charles X at Rheims, 1825

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Coronation of Charles X at Rheims, 1825

The Last Coronation, June 1825

Here are some pictures of the last royal French coronation.


Coronation of Charles X

Charles X

The Last Dauphine

Entry of Charles X

During his triumphal entry, the King touched many hearts when he rode out of the procession and over to a window of the Tuileries, where two small, blond figures were jumping up and down, calling, “Bon-Papa! Bon-Papa!” Charles X, already famous for his hospitality, began to hold glittering receptions at the Tuileries, replete with pastries and ices and he melted many hearts with the gentle tones of his “Bon soir.” Thérèse, the tall, cool Dauphine at his side, in jeweled coronet and a cloud of white plumes, either offended by her frigid manner, or elicited tears by those who saw in her person the chaste austerity of Saint Radegonde and other holy Frankish queens of old. ~from Madame Royale by Elena Maria Vidal

More on the controversial reign of Charles X, HERE. Share