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I'm reading Antonia Fraser's biography on Marie Antoinette, and she mentions an occasion where Louis XVI almost died in an accident. The passage goes

"On 26 March the King himself was nearly killed taking the air on the leads of the roof of Versailles, when a ladder on which he was leaning gave way; he was only saved from plunging to his death by the prompt action of a workman."

She even mentions the what if possibilities and a theory in an annotation:

"For connoisseurs of the 'What-might-have-been' (or Counterfactual) school of history, it is interesting to speculate on the possible results of Louis XVI's death in March 1789. He would have left a young child as his heir. and at this stage Marie Antoinette's strong claim to act as Regent, according to precedent, might have been allowed. It is at least possible that things would have gone better." [emphasis mine]


Also interesting is that at this point Louis Joseph, the first son and a very sickly child, would have been Louis XVII, but there's probably nothing that would have prevented his death in June of 1789 and Louis Charles (OTL Louis XVII) would have taken the throne at age 4 (as Charles X?). This is before the Estates-General meets.

I thought it'd be an interesting scenario to bring up. My immediate thoughts and questions are: Does Marie Antoinette really have enough backing at this point to become Regent? Could the Duke of Orleans take over as Regent (he does seem to be the most politically savvy out of the lot)? How does the Revolution continue with a very controllable and mold-able king?
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