Louise-Elisabeth, Marquise de Tourzel

Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ de Tourzel (Louise Élisabeth Félicité Françoise Armande Anne Marie Jeanne Joséphine de Croÿ de Tourzel) 11 June 1749 – 15 May 1832), the Marquise de Tourzel (later Duchess) was a and courtier to the royal court of King Louis XVI. She was the last governess to the royal children of Louis and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. Decades after the French Revolution, de Tourzel published widely read memoirs, which presented a unique perspective on the royal family.

Louise Élisabeth was born in Paris, into the illustrious Croÿ family during the reign of Louis XV. The Duchess's father was the Duke Louis Ferdinand Joseph of Havré and his mother the Princess Marie Louise of Montmorency-Luxembourg. She was married in 1766, at the age of seventeen, to the Marquis de Tourzel. They enjoyed a happy marriage for twenty years, in which Louise Élisabeth bore six children. Her husband was killed in a hunting accident in 1786. She was a staunch supporter of the House of Bourbon, and had this motto engraved on a ring she refused to part with: Lord, save the King, the Dauphin, and his sister!

In 1789, after the fall of the Bastille, many members of the Queen's intimate circle were forced to flee abroad. The Duchesse de Polignac, the queen's favourite and the governess to the royal children, was forced to emigrate to Switzerland.Marie Antoinette appointed Louise Élisabeth to the newly vacant post, with particular attention to be paid to the Dauphin, Louis-Charles. The Marquise was advised to curb the Dauphin's fear of loud noises, particularly the barking of the many dogs at Versailles.

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