The Queen's Guard Room

In the Queen's Guard Room, members of an elite company of personal bodyguards stood watch day and night. The floor was fitted with wooden planking to better suit soldiers stationed there. During the French Revolution in 1789, a guard defending against the angry crowd that stormed Versailles was killed in this very room. His sacrifice allowed the queen to escape, though she was captured not long after and ultimately executed. This room can be seen as the place where that tragedy began. The revolutionary government that overthrew the monarchy and executed Marie Antoinette did not last long either — growing resentment toward its Reign of Terror paved the way for the rise of Napoleon.