Editing Flight to Varennes (section)

== The flight attempt ==
Louis XVI committed himself and his family to a disastrous escape attempt from the capital to the eastern frontier on 21 June 1791. With the [[Louis XVII|Dauphin]]'s governess, the [[marquise de Tourzel]], taking on the role of a Russian baroness, the Queen and the King's sister [[Madame Élisabeth]] playing the roles of governess and nurse respectively, the King a valet, and the royal children her daughters, the royal family made their escape leaving the Tuileries Palace at about midnight.<ref>Richard Cavendish, page 8, "History Today", June 2016</ref> The escape was largely planned by the Queen's friend, the Swedish [[Axel von Fersen the Younger]], and the [[Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil|baron de Breteuil]], who had garnered support from [[Gustav III|Gustav III, King of Sweden]]. Fersen had urged the use of two light carriages that could have made the 200-mile journey to Montmédy relatively quickly. However, this would have involved the splitting up of the royal family, which Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette rejected, as they had promised to never separate. They decided on the use of a single heavy coach drawn by six horses.<ref name="auto">Richard Cavendish, p. 8, "History Today", June 2016</ref> 
[[File:Arrestation de Louis Capet à Varennes, 22 juin 1791, Musée de la Révolution française - Vizille.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The arrest of Louis XVI and his family. Stamp by [[Jean-Louis Prieur]] ([[Musée de la Révolution française]])]]