Louise-Elisabeth, Marquise de Tourzel
Louise-Félicité-Joséphine de Croŷ d'Havré, Marquise (later duchesse) de Tourzel (
1749 -
1832 was a French noblewoman and courtier. She was the last governess to the royal children of
Louis XVI of France and
Marie Antoinette.
Louise-Félicité was born into the illustrious
Croÿ family in the reign of
Louis XV. She was married in
1766, at the age of seventeen, to the Marquis de Tourzel. They enjoyed a happy marriage for twenty years, in which Louise-Félicité bore six children. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident in
1786. The entire Tourzel family was devoted supporters of the French Monarchy, their personal motto being
Faithful to God and to the King.In
1789, after the
fall of the Bastille, many members of the Queen's intimate circle were forced to flee abroad.
Yolande, duchesse de Polignac, the queen's favourite companion and governess to the royal children, was forced to emigrate to
Switzerland.
Marie Antoinette appointed Louise-Félicité-Elisabeth de Tourzel to the vacant post of Royal Governess, with particular care for the Dauphin,
Louis-Charles. The Marquise was advised to curb the Dauphin's fear of loud noises, particularly the barking of the many dogs at
Versailles.
From this intimate position, the Marquise de Tourzel was able to watch the disintegration of the French Monarchy. She was placed under house arrest with the Royal Family in
Paris in October, 1789. Her loyalty was strong, and she refused to leave them. She even accompanied them on their dangerous attempt to flee Paris for a royalist stronghold in
Montmédy. This attempt failed, and the entire party was dragged back to
Paris by republicans.
After the abolition of the Monarchy in
1792, Tourzel was separated from the Royal Family and imprisoned in La Force. Also imprisoned at the same time were Tourzel's daughter, Pauline and Marie Antoinette's most loyal friend, the
Princesse de Lamballe. Shortly after their imprisonment, the three women found themselves victims of the September Massacres, when thousands of prisoners were massacred by republicans. Tourzel and her daughter were smuggled out of the prison by a mysterious gentleman, but Lamballe was not so lucky. She was repeatedly raped and then savagely murdered.
In January 1793,
Louis XVI was executed. In October, Queen Marie Antoinette was also sent to the
guillotine. Tourzel was devastated by their deaths, and she was equally shocked to hear of the death of little
Louis-Charles in
1795. Several times over the coming decades, Tourzel was accosted by various men pretending to be "
Louis XVII of France".
After the Restoration of the French Monarchy in
1814, Tourzel was made a duchess by a grateful
King Charles X. She later published her memoirs, which are an invaluable historical account of the final days of the royal household. Her daughter, Pauline, became a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette's only surviving child,
the Princess Royal.
The Marquise has featured in several novels about the French Royal family, including
Trianon,
Madame Royale,
Flaunting, Extravagant Queen and
Louis XVI by
Alexandre Dumas.
The character of the Marquise de Tourzel appeared in the 1955 French film
Marie Antoinette. More recently, she was portrayed on the Northern Irish stage in a monarchist production based on the life of
Louis XVII. The author explains his motivation at http://www.angelfire.com/in3/theodore/opinion/articles/russell.html
