Mémoires de Madame la Duchesse de Tourzel, tome second

A vivid, first‑hand chronicle unfolds as the Duchess of Tourzel, the trusted governess of the royal children, recounts the turbulent early years of the French Revolution. Her memoirs capture the charged atmosphere of the 1791 legislative assembly, where deputies swore allegiance to the newly proclaimed Constitution amid grand ceremonies, and where the king’s modest yet determined speeches aimed to restore order and protect the nation’s finances, education, and religious liberty.

Beyond the political debates, she offers intimate glimpses of court life—how the young princes and princesses were cared for, the anxieties that shadowed each royal appearance, and the subtle tensions between tradition and revolutionary fervor. Her observations blend meticulous detail with personal feeling, presenting a rare window into a world where power, ceremony, and family intersected on the brink of historic change. Listeners will be drawn into the Duchess’s poised yet vulnerable perspective, feeling the pulse of a nation in flux through her eloquent, observant eye.