21st June 1791: Louis XVI’s attempts to escape from Paris in the Flight to Varennes

King Louis XVI of France and his family were caught attempting to escape Paris during the Flight to Varennes. By the summer of 1791 the royal family had been living in the Tuileries in the heart of Paris for almost two years. They had been forced to move there from the lavish Palace of Versailles after the October Days of 1789, and felt as if they were prisoners as a result of their rapidly declining power. The startling pace of change was viewed with alarm by the other monarchies of Europe,...