but the mob still managed to break into the palace to search for the Queen – who only narrowly escaped by fleeing to the King’s secure apartments through a secret passageway. Two of her bodyguards were not so lucky; their severed heads impaled on pikes served as a clear statement of the mob’s intent. The women then assembled in the palace courtyard and demanded to see the Queen. She eventually emerged, along with her two children whom she cunningly used as a human shield – but the crowd demanded the Queen face them alone. For ten excruciating minutes, Marie Antoinette stood on the balcony with her head bowed while the angry throng below screamed and pointed their muskets at her. Remarkably, they did not kill her. Instead, something far more
