The Last Summer

The summer of 1789 began with political maneuvering as the three estates struggled over voting procedures. Marie Antoinette watched with growing alarm as the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly. When Louis XVI seemed inclined to compromise, she urged firmness. This resistance, based more on instinct than political calculation, would later be used as evidence of her counter-revolutionary plotting.

The death of the Dauphin Louis-Joseph on June 4, 1789, shattered Marie Antoinette personally even as political crisis engulfed the monarchy. The seven-year-old had suffered from tuberculosis of the spine, dying in agony despite the best medical care available. The queen's grief was profound, but she was allowed little time to mourn. Protocol demanded she appear in public, where her tears were interpreted as weakness or manipulation rather than maternal anguish.

The crisis accelerated through June. When Louis XVI dismissed Necker on July 11, Paris exploded. Marie Antoinette found herself at the center of panicked councils as ministers urged flight and others counseled resistance. She reportedly urged the king to stand firm, earning her the lasting enmity of reformists who blamed her for the bloodshed that followed.

July 14, 1789—the fall of the Bastille—marked the point of no return. When news reached Versailles, Marie Antoinette allegedly advised Louis XVI to retreat to Metz with loyal troops. The king's refusal to either fight or flee decisively left the royal family in an increasingly untenable position. The queen began burning her private correspondence, understanding that revolution had truly begun.

The night of August 4, when the National Assembly abolished feudalism, found Marie Antoinette sleepless and anxious. She understood that the world she had known was ending. Her letter to Madame de Polignac, urging her to flee France for her safety, shows a woman facing reality with clear eyes: "Adieu, dearest of friends. How terrible this word is, but it is necessary. Farewell."