A portrait of the imprisoned Marie Antoinette in widow’s garb by Alexandre Kucharski.

‘La Conciergerie’ by y.caradec on Flickr

The Scarlet Pimpernel - 1982 Signet Classic film cover edition

The farewell of Louis XVI and his family. 1802 engraving.

Often by his naïveté, the gaiety of his nature, and his little rogueries [Louis-Charles] made his parents forget for a moment their cruel situation. But he felt it himself; although so young, he knew he was in a prison and watched by enemies. His behaviour and his talk acquired that reserve which instinct, in presence of a danger inspires perhaps at any age. Never did I hear him mention the Tuileries, or Versailles, or any subject that might remind the queen or the king of painful memories. When he saw some municipal kinder than his colleagues on guard, he would run to his mother and say with an expression of great satisfaction: “Mamma, it is Monsieur Such-a-one to-day!”

—Journal of the Tower of the Temple by Cléry.

French flight, or, The grand monarque and the rights of kings supported in a sublime and beautiful manner.

Political satire: Burke as Mercury carrying on his shoulders Marie Antoinette who in turn carries Louis XVI

The Sieve of the Revolution

Across the courtyard we went, stumbling over the uneven cobblestones, and through a low wicket gate in the flank of the Tower. A twisting staircase made of thick slabs of stone rose up into the darkness above us. A guard bearing a torch climbed up first to light our way. Noticing Maman’s terrified expression, the Marsellleis soldiers standing watch over us mocked us with the words of an old song: “Madame ascends her tower, not knowing when she’ll descend!” …

I lay awake for a long time beside my mother in the hot, stuffy darkness. What did it all mean? Would Papa no longer be King of France at all?

What did people do with a king they no longer wanted?

—The Princess in the Tower by Sharon Stewart

Image: The royal family being transferred to the Temple in 1792, detail from an engraving.