had several sexual relationships beside the King, but this was not the case. There’s only
one affair of Marie’s that we know of; and that was the one with Axel von Fersen. He
was going to play a big part in her life, for a long time. Despite this, Marie Antoinette’s
relationship with Louis remained tolerant and they were friends all their life. During the
French revolution, when the royal family was threatened of being killed, Axel was the
one who planned their escape out of Paris. Sadly, he wasn’t able to save them. Instead
he had to return to Sweden.
Axel von Fersen had a very exciting life, filled with accomplishments, riches, women and
more. But instead of getting the heroic and honorary death that he deserved, he got a
very tragic ending to his life. In the year 1792 the Swedish king, Gustav the 3rd, was
murdered. The king was on a masquerade ball at the opera house in Stockholm when it
happened. The king had no heirs so he was replaced by Karl the 13th as king. But Karl
was old and did not have long left, and he was heirless as well. So the royal court
decided on a new heir, the choice fell on the prince of Denmark, Karl August.
Unfortunately his rule wouldn’t last very long; Karl August had a stroke only 20 days
after being named as the new king. This was not only a tragedy for the Swedish people
but also for von Fersen. A rumor was started that the death of the king was murder and
that the von Fersen family was guilty of this horrible crime. von Fersen had gotten the
task to accompany the royal funeral procession through Stockholm but it didn’t go as
planned. The people was not pleased with seeing von Fersen there, they were all quite
bitter and drunk so they decided to take action. They ripped him out of his carriage and
started to physically abuse him. The injuries done to him was so severe that he couldn’t
be saved. The worst part above it all was that the guards that were supposed to keep
order in the crowd just stood and watched it happen. It was not an ending this man
deserved and it was later proved that he was innocent.
Axel von Fersen, a Swedish man of great success and excitement in his life, was
incorrectly judged for a murder he didn’t commit. He also was a part of many battles
and wars, and making a significant mark in history. Despite that, he is most famous for
being the lover of Marie Antoinette. Perhaps a man of this caliber should have gotten
more recognition than that.