Contact
Hello!
I’m a pretty easy going, affable sort and try my best to reply to any and all comments and emails so don’t be scared to contact me, even if it is just to say hello! I’m currently pretty bogged down with editing and writing my books so DON’T PANIC or think I am all up myself if I don’t reply straight away – I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can!
You can email me with any queries about book reviews, interesting PR type things, historical queries and all that sort of malarkey at madame@versailles.org.uk.
You can also follow me on Twitter.
I also have a Facebook fan page for this blog, which you can ‘like’ or whatever it is the cool kids are doing, in order to get regular updates about this blog and, enticingly, other extra stuff.
Thanks! xx
Hello Melanie:
I came upon your blog quite by accident and have been fascinated ever since.
I really enjoy the art that you put up and, of course, your novels. I think my most favorite posts are “Victorian Style from Heavy Red” and “Lush and Lulu”. They seem to awaken a side of me that would truly love to be a little bit of a Bad Girl, even at my age. I am a follower and always look forward to reading your next post.
It also inspires me when I am creating something for my shop. With everything so seasonal or bright colored, I like to occasionally come up with something in red and black and somewhat off the beaten path.
Until the next post, I shall remain your biggest fan.
Jill of Jillys Stuff
Hello! :)
Aww, thank you! I am so thrilled that you like my blog so much – I’m really proud of it but also worry that maybe it’s not that great! ;)
I think I need to check your shop out! Thank you so much for your comment – it’s really cheered me up! :)
xxx
Dear Melanie,
I am writing to congratulate you with your blog. It is absolutely beautiful and very interesting to read. I would be delighted if you would consider a link exchange with my blog.
Best regards,
Nora.
the-black-wardrobe.blogspot.com
Hello!
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but have been ill!
What a lovely blog! Gorgeous photos and full of all the sorts of things that I love to read about!
Have added a link to my blog with pleasure.
Thanks
Melanie xxxx
Hello,
I also discovered your blog by accident and I find it quite interesting.
I love to read about the Victorian era in England. Lately though, I have been fascinating with the restoration period and the court of Charles II. I am hoping that you can answer my question since no one else I know can oblige. In my readings of the merry court of Charles II, Samuel Pepys and others elaborate on the beauty of Frances Stuart (La Belle Stuart). I was quite shocked when I saw her effigy in Westminister. I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but even with a stretch of the imaginatiion could my husband nor I find anything attractive in Stuart’s effigy. The pictures of Frances Stuart by Peter Lely are very different from what she actually looked like. The effigy in Westminister Abbey is considered to be a true likeness of her.
What was the standard of beauty during the Restoration period?
Thank you:)
Thank you!
The Restoration is a fascinating period! I think Frances probably was very attractive in real life, but may have lost her looks later on. The standard of beauty was not quite the same as ours – they liked slightly plump women with big eyes and fair hair. :)
madame , Hello like you have heard time and time again I came across your site by accident. My daugher (who is 10) have really enjoyed your postings. My daughter has become interested in reading about these characters just thru your pictures. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Hello! Aw, thank you so much for the lovely comment! I hope that I haven’t posted anything that isn’t okay for your daughter to read – I try to remember that people of all ages are reading this! :)
Thanks so much! :)
xxxx
Dear Madame,
I stumbled across this site, and found it so interesting. The blog posts are long but fun, and I love the pictures. I think you do a marvelous job of keeping your blog organized and pretty. I knew this would be my favorite blog when I saw the floral patterns and pictures. I hope you have many more things to share through this blog. Have you ever watched the Marie Antoinette movie with Kristen Dunst? I got obsessed with Marie Antoinette with that. Have you also heard of the Christian Louboutin Marie Antoinette shoes? I think you might like them. I am ten and adore your blog! Can you check out my blog, http://www.friendsini.blogspot.com ? It probably isn’t as awesome as yours, but I hope you do!
Happy Blogging!
Isobel
Hello Isobel!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I really love my blog and really hope that other people are enjoying reading it as much as I do, writing it! :)
Ooh, that’s one of my favourite films – isn’t it gorgeous?! I’d kill for a pair of the Marie Antoinette Louboutins – they are so beautiful! :)
Aww, I love your blog – it’s so much fun and is all sparky and interesting! Please keep it going! It’s really fabulous! I adore Glee too! ;)
Melanie xxx
Am I crazy or did I read a post a week or so ago about a young woman from the French Revolution? Maybe someone related to Lucie de La Tour du Pin? I was really excited, because it was someone about whom I know nothing. You said you were going to write a book about her someday. When I went back to read it more closely and leave a comment, the post was gone. Am I crazy? (Well, probably, but am I crazy about this particular thing?)
Oh no, not crazy at all – I reposted some old posts on Facebook/Twitter as I was having a break from writing new material. Do you mean the one about the Princesse de Monaco?
There’s a link here – http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2010/05/16/francoise-therese-de-choiseul-stainville-princesse-joseph-de-monaco. :)
x
That’s the one! I’m so glad it’s still there. I need to print it out, so can read it enough to remember it all. You really have a wide range of knowledge and I especially love when you post about 18th century France.
Thank you very much!
Aww, glad to be able to help and thank you for reading! xxx
I am seriously in need of dates on images of fashionable women 1760-1785. In particularly I would like the dates on those by Carrougis Louis Carmontelle.
AND if you don’t mind I would love to know where you get these imges from.
Thank you.
Are you referring to pictures on a particular post?
We’re staying at the New Park Manor Hotel in the New Forest in a couple of days, and as we have our children with us, I think we’ll be in the Barbara Villiers Suite. Could you provide any Barbara Villiers stories I could regale a pair of boys (11 &13) and my lovely wife with please? I adore the art work on your blog by the way – puts Cath Kidston in perspective. All the best
Paul
Hello! Thanks so much! :)
Ooh, well, a lot of the stories about dear old Babs Villiers weren’t really suitable for young ears as she was a bit of a fright all things considered. She had a horrible temper and slept around a fair bit. She came from an old royalist family and hooked up with Charles II while he was in exile from England – he was probably immensely grateful to her for her attentions as he was penniless at the time and couldn’t get any of the rich European princesses to marry him. That probably explains why he put up later on with her cheating on him and tantrums as he had an immense soft spot for people who stayed close when he was a dispossessed king.
Pepys’ diary may have some interesting snippets too – http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/1062.php. I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that she did something very horrible with a royal corpse in Westminister Abbey but can’t recall what. Possibly best left to the imagination really!
Hope you have a lovely time! :)
Hi, I adore your site! I’m trying find someone who sells gambling chips, dice, etc such as the pieces shown in the 2006 film “Marie Antoinette”? Also, do you know what kind of games they were playing during the birthday party scene?
Girlfran-
I somehow found your blog and I read it every.single.day
Oh, and I’m a 24 yr old guy living in Texas, ha!
Keep it up*~*~~*~
xxo
Love this blog but curious as to how you manage to get all the artwork permissions.
I use photographs that I have taken myself, photographs that are in the public domain or have actual permission to use them. If something has a ‘DON’T USE THIS’ copyright next to it then I don’t use it.
Thank you.
If we met, I think I would like you very much.
The blog is fun, informative and beautifully put together.
Congratulations.
Once you see my website you may decide that you don’t want to tell…… but you will see why I ask.
I have the devil of a time finding high resolution images to facilitate my portraits.
I am even willing to pay (can’t afford much though) for the privilege and convenience of finding fine paintings in the public domain in some kind of quantity.
mmmmmm, and I have to say I like this typeface too!
please let me know if you can help.
Meanwhile, great blog!
thanks.
V
Thank you for the feature of the Gunning Sisters. They were my gggg aunts. It’s fun to read about them.
I would like it if each of their pictures indicated which sister each was.
I had never seen some of them. Do you know which one the gray hair one is?
Oh how fabulous. :)
I don’t put information about pictures as I think it breaks up the flow of the post – I know, I know. It’s annoying of me. :)
The one with powdered hair, in a blue dress was Maria Gunning painted by La Tour while on honeymoon in Paris.
How do I subscribe to this wonderful treasure?
I’m completely addicted to your blog!!
I found it completely by accident when I was looking for pictures for my history homework. I by mistake spent all evening reading it, meaning I was to be found making my tudor Vogue at 2am-ish!
Being a bit of a tudor addict (embarrassing considering I’m only 13!) I absolutely love ‘Marry Me’ by Emilie Autumn!! I’m repeatedly listening to it as I write!! Do you know if she has a music videoto go with it?? Or anymore songs about the tudors??
Thankyou xx
Hello there! Thanks for the lovely comment! :)
How did the homework project go? I was totally obsessed with the Tudors at that age too – I started very young thanks to history geek grandparents bringing me up and telling me tales about the Tower of London and so on.
Isn’t it a great song – it really made me think of the Catherine in The Tudors! I don’t think there is a video to go with it, but there’s a song called ‘Lady Anne’ which is about Anne Boleyn, I think. :)
xxx
looking for the prints of famous paintings with cat faces instead sincerely Pat Harding
I am wondering if you have any information on what Elisabeth wore to the gallows, and what happened to what she was wearing. Might you have any idea where or what organization might have record of this, or if the clothing still exists, where might it be? I am in the u.s., and information is scant here. Someone suggested the best resources would be in France. Do you have a suggestion? I hold something purported to be a piece of dress of Elisabeth, probably from her execution day. Thanks for any and all help.
Hello,
Great blog, can ou help me? I am looking for an image of the Duchess d’Anguolemes wedding dress. Its one of the first famous dresses to be made on machine lace. Do you have an image, or even better do you know if the dress is still in existence?
Thanks
Christine
I stumbled on your site through twitter .IT IS so beautiful!
I also thought that you might enjoy the book Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley. You can find her on twitter. There is a great book trailer on u tube as well. Adriane
thank you for the beautiful time spent on your site.
Thanks so much – I will have a look for it! :)
http://eddy-piron.publibook.com. I wrote a book about Mary Stuart.
OKay. I seriously don’t know who you are until I stumbled across this amazing blog of yours. How can I even had never read your books?! I’m an avid reader of historicals fiction and romance and now I just knew about you. I’m so gonna buy The Secret Diary of a Princess and finish reading ALL of your posts here. ;) Yes, I mean it. haha. Just wanna say this coz it’s not everyday I got to write or say something to an author. :D
Aw, thanks so much and thanks for the lovely comment! :)
Dear Madame,
Please can you tell me who the girl with the white hat and white dress is in the portrait on your side bar (above your twitter link/image with Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette).
Her image especially caught my attention… I have googled and googled, but to no avail.
Thanks for your lovely blog! And thank you in advance for your kind answer.
bisous
Hello and thanks for your lovely comment! The painting is of the Comtesse de Cluzel by the artist Danloux. It’s gorgeous isn’t it?
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I think it may be the most beautiful 18th century portrait I’ve ever seen. Somehow I feel like I’d be able to pick the sitter out in a crowd if she were alive today. Perhaps it’s just appealing to my 21st sentry eye as although the 18th is “my time” I often find portraits that were/are considered outstanding to be quite unaffecting and impersonal. The rendering and styling is beautiful and “perfect”, with the same unnatural airbrushed quality of contemporary magazine covers, but somehow at the same time so honest & human… I almost wondered if it was rather from a modern painter adopting the rococo style.
Anyway I saw it and oddly had an overwhelming hope that the girl had survived The Terror. Little news found of Comtess Cluzel, but it appears she lived until 76 years (and two husbands no less), which is a little bit of a relief (or maybe more – hehh). Strange for me to feel that way I guess.
Thank you
Bisous
Weirdly, I meant to add that to my knowledge she wasn’t guillotined as I thought you’d appreciate that. Glad you found that out. :)
…sold to some lucky buyer Sotheby’s NYC – c. £81K. Hrumph. I hope who ever has it, has it on a wall in a nice place and is enjoying it. : )
Where can I buy dresses like the ones you exhibit on this site?
I really want to buy your ook ” the secret diary of a princess” But i don’t have a kindle :(
I absolutely love this site, it’s my way of unwinding and learning something new at the same time. I do have a question though, I have been looking for new books to read, and looked into some reading lists… which were actually pretty boring and the topics or theme of the book is pretty boring. Do you have an recommendations on great books to read on some one like Queen Victoria? or any royal woman in history. Watching Soffia Coppla’s Marie Antoinette had me curious about the court life and the life of a royal :)
Hello,
I just finished reading a great book entitled Louis XVII written by Beauchesne. It breaks my heart knowing that the last Dauphin of France was treated in such a deplorable manner. I do not understand why it was that no one came to this childs rescue. I understand the fear for their very own lives that Gomin, Lasne & Laurent must have had. I also realize that the Temple prison was heavily guarded, but with the great wealth of his relatives you would have thought that guards could have been bribed to help in the escape? Why did Marie Antoinette’s relatives and her brother in-laws not help in some way?
Thank you in advance for your insight.
Laura
Good luck on your publishing ventures! I just listed my first eBook after finally getting tired of the agent/editor cycle. I used to write print books (Regencies) until publishers decided no one was interested in the 19th Century. Ha!
This site is so elegant and dishy! I will be a frequent visitor!
Mary Chase Comstock
Hi,
have only just found this site whilest looking into my mothers side of the family who are Filleuls,from Jersey,so not sure if they’d be any relation to Madam G.very interesting site
Hello: Please continue sending me yours comments, I am not sure I think I delete something,so please keep me post it.
xoxo….:)
Hello I love your blog, always reading your postings, very interesting the posting of Mary Queen of Scots….xoxo….:)
Hi Madame–
Love your blog! I’m looking for more info on the Pinchin Street torso murder and related murders. So far it seems the Casebook Jack the Ripper site has the best info. Have you come across anything in your own research? Thanks!
Hello there,
I have done quite a bit of research on the torso murders in the past (I was obsessed when I was a little girl and later moved close to Pinchin Street, which used to freak me out a bit!) but haven’t really got anything new to add. Maybe I should do a post on it at some point – I was going to a couple of weeks ago but it’s just so grotesque. :(
Thanks!
Yes, they are grotesque and morbid. But they do make for a good whodunnit.
Dearest Madame Guillotine,
My name is Eric Carswell, I live in the middle of nowhere town USA. Well it has a name Morganton! And it is in North Carolina. I just recently started reading your blog. Because of you I bought the card of Madame de Pompadour that was included in an earlier blog!! It was gorgeous! I also bought your book Secret Diary of a Princess I read the whole thing in Two days!? Well within 18 hours of starting and finishing with a short nap in between. Anyways, I have fallen in love with both your blog and your book and I am excstaticly awaiting the premiere of part II. Please do continue with your blog and thank you for writing about everything you do write about. I love everything of the 18th century and it is increasingly difficult to find an I treating and rather personal perspective of the what I like to call “My Belle Epoque”!! Never stop writing and never let anyone stop you from doing what is very obviously something you love and very passionate about.
Hoping All is Well
Eric Carswell
Dear Madame–
I found the information I was looking for on the Casebook: Jack the Ripper site, which I know you have referenced previously, so thanks!
If you want to know, I do intend on reading and reviewing all three of your novels over this next spring/summer for the blog that I write for, so I will send you links to those once they come up.
Thanks–
Linotte
Oh that’s great! That site is an excellent resource – I’ve been hanging about on there pretty much since it started and am amazed by how it continues to grow and inform. :)
Oh that is so kind of you! Thanks so much! I really hope you like them! :)
Dearest Madame Guillotine,
My name is Eric Carswell, I live in the middle of nowhere town USA. Well it has a name Morganton! And it is in North Carolina. I just recently started reading your blog. Because of you I bought the card of Madame de Pompadour that was included in an earlier blog!! It was gorgeous! I also bought your book Secret Diary of a Princess I read the whole thing in Two days!? Well within 18 hours of starting and finishing with a short nap in between. Anyways, I have fallen in love with both your blog and your book and I am excstaticly awaiting the premiere of part II. Please do continue with your blog and thank you for writing about everything you do write about. I love everything of the 18th century and it is increasingly difficult to find an I treating and rather personal perspective of the what I like to call “My Belle Epoque”!! Never stop writing and never let anyone stop you from doing what is very obviously something you love and very passionate about.
Hoping All is Well
Eric Carswell
I came across you by accident and what a find! I absolutely love this blog and plan to buy your books now too.. keep up the great work! Annelise
So, I was looking at ebay’s offer on demitasse cups by L. Bernardaud Limoge France designed for Queen Elizabeth’s April 1957 visit to France. Then, I dug around for more info on the visit, the china designed for this visit, and saw her gorgeous gown on your blog! Well, the blog caught my interest and here I am….after a half hour of reading on your site. I just love it! Look forward to reading more!!
Nice blog, I shall read more
I just had a Muller Rice Strawberry, does that count as cake, or shall I be …
Hi there!
I’ve nominated you for The Versatile Bloggers Award! Congrats!
You can read more here: https://somersaultingthroughlife.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/who-would-have-known/
or here http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/
Thanks for running such an inspiring blog.
Happy blogging!
Somersaulting Through Life.
Madame–
Here is the link to the review I did of “Before the Storm” for the blog I write for. I hope you enjoy it!
http://persephonemagazine.com/2012/04/before-the-storm-by-melanie-clegg/
Linotte
That’s amazing! Thank you so much! :D
I’ve got the TVTIMES ROYAL WEDDING SOUVENIR 29 JULY 1981 INCLUDING VARIOUS WOMANS OWN MAGAZINES DATED FROM THE 80′S INCLUDING THE ONE MENTIONED ABOVE.
Salutations.
I think you would enjoy reading about Lady Sarah Bunbury here – http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/redgravehistory/holt/stowmarket_election.htm – and about life at Redgrave Hall – http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/redgravehistory/wilson/life_at_the_hall.htm – and Thomas Holt’s final days – http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/redgravehistory/holt/tholtbiogr.htm.
I remain, etc,
Tim Holt-Wilson
Hi, could you send me the family tree you have traced for Ivy. My dad was her son. thanks( I get get any info and have tried.)
Dear Madame–
I feel so uncomfortable writing about this, but I poked around Casebook: JTR and my curious little nose thought it would be cool to take a look at the enhanced Mary Kelly scene pics. Bad idea! I had nightmares for 2 nights.
Being a Ripperologist, did you deal with this at first? I have a friend who worked on the sets for the “From Hell” movie and she’d had no issues with it. Maybe it’s because it makes it real for me, that these women were real people and not just names, and deserved sympathy? Or maybe I am overimaginative?
I just hope I don’t sound like a nutjob!
I think most Ripperologists dislike it at first but then either become used to it or just not look at the pictures any more. I’m one of the latter – I’ve seen them countless times now and go out of my way to avoid them. I feel uncomfortable, to be honest, viewing them as it feels too intimate in a way…