Tea at Trianon: World Leaders Meet at Notre Dame

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, December 9, 2024

World Leaders Meet at Notre Dame

The ceremony celebrating the reopening of Our Lady's Cathedral was the catalyst for a historical gathering. From Hello!:

Prince William arrived at the opening of Notre Dame cathedral on December 7, 2024, after a slight delay caused by Storm Darragh, where he was greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron, and shook hands with President-elect Donald Trump and outgoing first lady Dr Jill Biden. The Prince of Wales had been expected to meet privately with Trump and Dr Biden ahead of the ceremony, but Kensington Palace confirmed their meetings would take place after the ceremony, with William meeting Trump first in the Salon Jaune of the UK Ambassadors' Residence in Paris.
As Trump walked in, William shook his hand and Trump exclaimed: "Good man, this one," before telling the group of reporters that William was doing a "fantastic job". (Read more.)