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An allegorical depiction of France being presented with Louis Charles, the duc de Normandie.

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It took me 10 years but I tracked down that delightfully odd morphed portrait that uses the princesse de Lamballe's portrait as a base online and bought it! I originally saw it in Toronto at a museum gift shop in 2014. It's from Ibride.

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“Certain historians, who have expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the child born on March 27, 1785, referred to the Journal of Louis XVI which wrote on that date: as well as my son. “My son” simply means the Dauphin, the one who is to succeed him. After the death of this elder, Louis XVI will say “my son” of this second boy, who in turn became Dauphin.”

— Évelyne Lever, Lettres secrètes de la reine et du comte de Fersen; regarding the mis-use of the Journal of Louis XVI in attempting to claim that Louis-Charles was fathered by Axel von Fersen

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The birth of the Queen’s third child took place at seven-thirty in the morning on Easter Sunday, 27 March 1785. The Queen had been so large that Calonne, as the appropriate minister, was said to have prepared two blue ribbons of the Order of the Saint Espirit for twin princes. But it was in fact a single healty boy, who was named Louis Charles at his instant baptism half an hour later and was equally immediately created Duc de Normandie. Since the godmother was to be Queen Maria Carolina, the name Charles, the French version of Carlous, was a tribute to Marie Antoinette’s favourite sister, and to the shared childhood of Charlotte and Antoine.

Marie Antoinette, The Journey - Antonia Fraser

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An illustration of Marie Antoinette breaking up a fight between Louis Auguste (future Louis XVI) and Louis Stanislas (the comte de Provence) over a broken porcelain object. This illustration, from Era Magazine, was based on a real incident.

In June of 1772, ambassador Mercy wrote to Maria Theresa:

"M. le comte de Provence had an object made from beautifully worked porcelain on the fireplace in his room, and when M. le dauphin was in his room, he usually picked it up and looked at it. This seemed to worry M. le comte de Provence and, just as Mme la dauphine was teasing him about this, at that very moment, M. le dauphin dropped it and it smashed to pieces. M. le comte de Provence, in his immediate reaction of anger, went up to M. le dauphin; they grappled with one another and punched one another. Mme la dauphin, who was very embarrassed at this behavior, had the presence of mind to separate them. Reconciliation followed immediately; no one witnessed the quarrel and nothing happened as a result."

Translation: Margaret Macleod, There Were Three of Us in the Relationship. Image from my collection.

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Louis Charles de France was born on this day, March 27th, in 1785. He was the second son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and was known as the duc de Normandie until the death of his elder brother in 1789, at which time he became the dauphin of France. He was much beloved by his parents, and was affectionately known as chou d’amour by his mother.

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Costume Parisien Fashion Plate, 1803

From Paris Musees, les Musees de la Ville de Paris

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On this day in history, March 22nd, in 1761, Louis Joseph Xavier, Duke of Burgundy, died at the Palace of Versailles. He was the 4th child and eldest surviving son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Josepha of Saxony. His health had begun to deteriorate the previous year, after being pushed from a wooden toy horse by a playmate. He was eventually operated on in 1760, and he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone. He died not long after, at the age of nine.

With his death, and his father’s four years later, his younger brother, the Duc de Berry, became Dauphin and would eventually succeed their grandfather as Louis XVI.

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Fersen in season 2 looks so bad. I'm sorry to the actor. They just made him look so unkempt. I don't know what they were thinking with the mustache... well, no. I get they're going for some sort of like... "manly soldier man~~~" in contrast to the fussy courtiers.

But Fersen was one of them!

He could be vain. He preened. He knew that the uniform made him look handsome--he bragged, just a few years after Marie Antoinette died, about wearing it because women found him handsome in it.

But the whole "Axel Fersen was the Masculine Manly Man she fell in love with, compared to those dandy French courtiers" is soooo overdone in Marie Antoinette media.

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every time new Marie Antoinette media comes out, I'm reminded that the only version of Axel Fersen who has the right to exist is the TOHO musical version.

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When these private papers and historical relics come up I get so excited, because more and more, they're confirming things we find in the "narratives" of various people associated with the royal family's imprisonment. So something goes from "He said it, can we trust it?" to "He said it--here's what she copied out."

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Verses from Voltaire's "Zaïre," copied out by Marie-Thérèse during her captivity in the Temple.

The verses she copied included laments about imprisonment, and a quote where the king reminds his daughter that in her flows "the blood of twenty kings... the blood of martyrs."

The existence of this manuscript confirms the words of Gomin, who said he once walked into her room to find her copying verses from a volume of Voltaire's plays. Via Alde, where it is set to be auctioned.

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my new pin inspired by "The Swing" is here and I'm loving it!! It's from NoddiArt and AFAIK is sold out.

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there's too much cute Rose of Versailles merch coming out

my desire to collect can't handle it

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Prepare yourself. New trailer for latest episode of Season 2 of Marie Antoinette heavily implies the paternity of Louis Charles is not the King’s. Louis himself even expresses surprise over yet another pregnancy: “again?” I can’t anymore. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Oh, I've already been spoiled, the show has Charles not be Louis' child. I skimmed bits of episode 4 and want to take back my time because what they're doing with Louis & MA is just the worst.

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Marie Antoinette throwing out her fanfiction lemons

I needed to gif Marie Antoinette (in the Canal+ series) angrily throwing her bowl of lemons in the trash. She uses the lemons specifically to write fantasy letters to Fersen that she never sends but instead rubs on herself to have sex dreams. At one point she gets mad then tosses them out.

smaller version 'cause this one's probably compressed idk

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there's a part on Marie Antoinette season 2 episode 1 where she storms into her private room where she writes her Fersen fanfiction letters in lemon juice, grabs her bowl of lemons, and throws them in the trash in a fit of anger.

Absolutely hilarious nonsense, and I need to gif it soon.