THE LAST HOURS OF AN UNFORTUNATE QUEEN.
It is the morning of the executic*n of Marie Antoinette. Once the “fair. Austrian," the gay, light-hearted, and light-headed “bergere” of the Trianon pastorals, her hair is now grey, her cheeks pale and furrowed. Henri Sanson, the guillotine man, makes his appearance in her cell in the Conciergerie prison. “He was a young man at that time, and immensely tall," relates Lariviere, the turnkey in the Conciergerie. “He came up to the Queen and said, ‘Hold out your hands.' Her Majesty recoiled a step or two, and answered in a troubled voice, ‘Are my hands to be bound ? Louise XVl’s were not bound.' The judges said to Sanson, ‘Do your duty.' " “Oh, my God !" cried the Queen distractedly. “As she spoke Henri roughly seized her poor hands and bound them tightly behind her back. I saw the Queen raise her eyes to heaven with a sigh, but though her tears were ready to flow she restrained them. “When her hands were bound Sanson removed her cap and cut off her hair. “Her Majesty perhaps thought they were going to kill her on the spot, for she turned round with a look of deep emotion and saw the executioner taking possession of her hair and putting it in his pocket to carry away. . . ."—Prom “The Last of Marie Antoinette," by G. Lenoire.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NORAG19080720.2.65
Bibliographic details
Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 48, 20 July 1908, Page 8
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228THE LAST HOURS OF AN UNFORTUNATE QUEEN. Northland Age, Volume IV, Issue 48, 20 July 1908, Page 8
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