Tea at Trianon: From Sir Loyal Heart to His Queen

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

Monday, November 6, 2023

From Sir Loyal Heart to His Queen

From Vintage News:

In addition to being crafted at a quality one would expect a royal or noble to wear, the pendant also contains many indicators that it might be connected to King Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon. It displays symbols from both houses, a pomegranate bush for the queen, and the well-known Tudor rose for the king. In addition, on the backside of the heart are the initials “H” and “K.” The back also reads “TOVS IORS.” This is said to be a linguistic pun commonly used during the period that combined English and French words – “all yours” and “toujours.” Despite the evidence indicating a connection with Henry and his wife, researchers working on the necklace haven’t been able to find any firm evidence collaborating the theory that this was a royal necklace. (Read more.)