pot de chambre (pl. pots de chambre) small open carriage; literally, chamber pot.

putain prost.i.tute, wh.o.r.e.

Quatorze fourteenth as in Louis XIV. See also Roi Soleil.

rapprochement reconciliation.

raz de Saint Maur a black non-reflective fabric favored for mourning.

Reine Queen.

rien nothing.

Roi King.

Roi Soleil Sun King, Louis XIV, who was the longest reigning and most powerful of the French kings.

Rose et Colas a comic opera by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny.

Sabot Perdu The Lost Clog by Pierre-Antoine-Augustin de Piis.

Sa figure et son ... description of Axel de Fersen: His face and looks suit him perfectly as a romantic hero, but not from a French novel.

Saint-Cloud the Chateau de Saint-Cloud was about 5km west of Paris overlooking the Seine. Louis XVI bought it from the Orleans for 6,000,000 livres in 1785 for Marie-Antoinette, who was convinced that the air of Saint-Cloud would be good for her children. She then set about transforming her new private home.

Sainte Ampoule the Holy Ampoule was a gla.s.s vial holding the anointing oil for the coronation of the French kings.

salon exhibition, hall, room, show.

Salon de Remise naturalization hall where Marie Antoinette gave up her Austrian ways and became a French citizen.

sans culottes literally without knee-breeches, a name the insurgent crowd in the streets of Paris gave to itself during the French Revolution, because they usually wore pantaloons (full-length trousers) instead of the chic knee-length culotte of the n.o.bles.

serieuse serious.

soiree an evening party.

sous-officers sub-officers; NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers).

tendresse tenderness.

the trendy English tea.

tire en jambe strike or pull the leg.

toilette the process of dressing or grooming.

trebuchet bird trap.

Trianon set in the grounds of Versailles, a palace with its own park which includes the Pet.i.t Trianon.

Tuileries a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine near the present day-Louvre. It was the usual Paris residence of most French monarchs.

valet de chambre (pl. valets des chambres) man-servant.

Varennes about 190km north-east of Paris, the village where the royals were captured during their flight to safety, 50km short of the heavily fortified royalist citadel of Montmedy.

Versailles village some 20km from Paris, and now within Paris. Most famous for its Palace, set in large grounds, Versailles became the home of the French n.o.bility and the location of the royal court - thus becoming the center of French government. Louis XIV himself lived there, and symbolically the central room of the long extensive symmetrical range of buildings was the King's Bedchamber (La Chambre du Roi).

Veuille Dieu ... May G.o.d almighty protect one so dear. It would be too much to lose her.

veto power (used by an officer of the state, for example) to unilaterally stop an official action, especially the enactment of legislation. a bas le veto: down with the veto.

Vie Privee d'Antoinette Private Life of Antoinette, mostly fiction.

Vie Scandaleuse de Marie Antoinette a libelous series of pamphlets, The Scandalous life of Marie Antoinette sold in the streets. Much of the content was false.

vive live or long live as in vive le Roi: long live the King.

Vivre libre ou mourir live free or die.

voleuse swindler (female).

Volo et ita promitto And so I promise.

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About the Author.