The Rose of Versailles
I beg you! I am Boehmer, the jeweler!
When does Your Majesty plan on making the payments?!
The payments for the necklace you purchased from me!
I can't wait any longer!
Please make the payments immediately!
I'm on the verge of bankruptcy!
Please pay the 1,600,000 livres for the necklace!
Your Majesty, Queen Marie Antoinette!
Something concerning the Queen?
Just what is the matter?
Your Majesty!
His Majesty has asked you to come to the Palace of Versailles immediately.
Cardinal Rohan!
You are ordered to appear at the Palace of Versailles!
August 15, 1785,
marked the beginning of the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace",
the most infamous incident in French criminal history.
The Rose of Versailles
kusamurani namo shirezu
The flowers blooming in the wilderness...
kusamurani namo shirezu
The flowers blooming in the wilderness...
saiteiru hana naraba
...they are without names.
saiteiru hana naraba
...they are without names.
tada kaze o ukenagara
If they do nothing but sway...
tada kaze o ukenagara
If they do nothing but sway...
soyoide ireba ii keredo
...in the gentle breeze, that's fine, but...
soyoide ireba ii keredo
...in the gentle breeze, that's fine, but...
watashi wa bara no sadame ni umareta
I was born with the destiny of a rose.
watashi wa bara no sadame ni umareta
I was born with the destiny of a rose.
hanayakani hageshiku ikiro to umareta
Born to live in glory and passion.
hanayakani hageshiku ikiro to umareta
Born to live in glory and passion.
bara wa bara wa... kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity.
bara wa bara wa... kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity.
bara wa bara wa... utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret.
bara wa bara wa... utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret.
bara wa bara wa... kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity.
bara wa bara wa... kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity.
bara wa bara wa... utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret.
bara wa bara wa... utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret.
episode
"Cunningly
and Resiliently !"
Cardinal Rohan!
Y-Yes...
You are saying that I have asked a lady named Jeanne Valois,
to make you my guarantor and purchase that necklace?!
W-With all due respect, I am speaking the truth.
Be quiet! Be quiet, Rohan!
Not only that, you are saying I met you in secret,
at the Grove of Venus in the middle of the night of all things?!
On what basis are you telling these lies?!
What is this?!
P-Please allow me to present the l-love letters I received from Your Majesty,
and the contract of sale with your s-signature.
Cardinal.
Y-Yes...
This handwriting is different from that of the Queen's.
Also, everyone knows the Queen does not sign her name as Marie Antoinette de France.
I-It's a forgery then?!
Indeed, it's a forgery.
My King!
My Queen!
I beg you!
I, Rohan, will pay the 1,600,000 livres for the necklace no matter what!
S-So please forgive me!
I was deceived by Jeanne Valois and her husband Nicolas!
Please forgive me!
I beg you...
Well, my Queen?
Since it seems the Cardinal was deceived himself, why don't you forgive him?
No...
I'm certain this man, along with his cohorts, Jeanne and Nicolas,
plotted this to entrap me!
But he's apologized, so...
No...!
My Mother, Maria Theresa and I despised him to the point that we wouldn't speak with him.
This is his revenge...!
My Queen...
No, no, I won't forgive him!
Put him on trial for insulting me!
Put him on trial, so I can have my name and honor cleared!
Welcome.
Only 10 sous for the night.
Payment must be made upfront.
Only 10 sous for the night.
Payment must be made upfront.
Monsieur, the payment must be made upfront.
It's me, Nicole.
Not a customer.
That voice...!
Madame Jeanne Valois!
It's been a while.
Thank you for all that money last time.
About that... It's getting a little dangerous around me.
That means, if they find out you impersonated the Queen, you'll be in danger, as well.
Here, take this and leave Paris for a while.
There's about 100 livres in here.
U-Um...
Understand?
As soon as possible.
Jeanne Valois de la Motte!
You're under arrest on charges of forgery, theft and fraud!
Arrested and charged with forgery of official documents, theft, fraud...
...and insulting the royal family,
everyone involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, except for Nicolas,
would soon be put on trial.
What are you doing in my room, Rosalie?
It's all right.
You can play the piano whenever you'd like.
Um...!
I've been waiting for your return because there's something I wanted to ask you.
What is it?
Is the crime of insulting the royal family really serious?
Does it mean a life sentence or execution?
Jeanne...
Jeanne Valois... is my older sister, who I grew up with in the slums of Paris.
I never meant to hide it from you.
I just couldn't bring myself to tell you, considering what kind of person she is...
I see...
But the trial has yet to take place.
It's not certain that your sister is the culprit yet.
No, it's not that...!
I'm not asking you to help her in any way.
Knowing my sister, I wouldn't put it past her.
But, um...
Well...
If you have an opportunity to see my sister...
I'd like you to give this ring to her.
It's Mom's...
It's a keepsake of our mother...
I'm plenty happy already,
so I want my sister Jeanne to have it.
Done.
I'll be sure to give it to her.
Thank you so much...
Fellow citizens!
We mustn't view the upcoming trial as an ordinary case of fraud.
During the trial, our attention must be focused on what will be revealed...
...about the current culture of the royal family and upper nobility!
1,600,000 livres, an unfathomable amount of money to us commoners,
is the price of just one necklace!
Such extravagant items come and go at the Palace of Versailles regularly!
Not only that, Versailles squanders our tax money as though it's water!
Know this, fellow citizens!
Resentment towards Versailles is beginning to grow,
even among the judges of the High Court of Paris!
Let us hold hope!
That instead of the crime, Versailles itself will be put on trial!
Let us trust the wisdom of the High Court of Paris!
That's right!
It's exactly as Monsieur Robespierre says!
To Hell with the crime of insulting the royal family!
He's right!
We shouldn't let Versailles have their way any longer!
That's right!
It's from Rosalie.
She said it was a keepsake of your mother.
I don't know anyone named Rosalie.
Plus, I don't wear cheap trinkets. Thanks anyway.
How do you know it's cheap, when you haven't even looked at it?
I promised Rosalie I would give it to you.
The High Court of Paris
High Court of Paris
Even the royal household could not interfere with its internal proceedings.
Silence, silence!
I'll ask you one more time, Jeanne Valois de la Motte.
No matter how many times you ask, the answer is the same.
The one who stole the necklace is Cardinal Rohan.
I was simply following orders.
Are you going to keep insisting that you do not know the whereabouts of the necklace?
Perhaps Cardinal Rohan has already disposed of it somewhere?
Jeanne!
You scoundrel!
Please be quiet, Cardinal Rohan!
Where do you think we are?
This is a courtroom!
Then, if everything had been ordered by Cardinal Rohan,
how do you explain the forged letters with the Queen's signatures?
You hired Rétaux de Villette, a phony scrivener from Paris to write them, didn't you?
That is what Rétaux said in his confession.
My, I've never seen this boorish man before.
Lady Jeanne...
So you insist on knowing nothing...
Rosalie, look.
The ring.
Your sister is wearing the ring you gave to her.
Jeanne...
A little bit is enough. Give me strength, Mom.
I don't want become a loser over something like this.
I want to find a way out of this somehow.
Because...
I refuse to let anyone judge me, even God himself.
In that case, bring in the witness, Nicole d'Oliva.
It's the Queen!
It's Marie Antoinette!
You idiots. Look closely!
She looks like the Queen, but she's someone else!
The Queen wouldn't wear such ragged clothes.
I guess you're right.
But she sure looks like her...
Step out.
Nicole d'Oliva, well?
Is this the woman who took you to the Grove of Venus...
...and hired you to impersonate the Queen?
There's no mistaking it.
It's Madame Jeanne Valois.
You got me.
Well then, Jeanne Valois.
Explain to me why you disguised a prostitute from Paris as the Queen and took her to the Grove of Venus.
That's...
That's?
That's...
State your answer promptly!
The more you lie, the heavier your sentence shall be!
I understand... I will tell you everything.
I truly regret causing Cardinal Rohan such troubles.
The Cardinal was merely being deceived by my husband and I.
As a matter of fact, regarding this incident,
a person of high rank, far above Cardinal Rohan, had asked me to carry it out.
Therefore, we had no other option, but to go ahead with the scheme.
The person who asked us to do this, wanted to get that necklace no matter what.
She is a person who can hold her own, even with a 1,600,000 livres necklace around her neck.
She is the Queen of France, Her Majesty Marie Antoinette!
Madame Jeanne Valois de la Motte!
The Queen has said she has no knowledge of you or the necklace!
That's exactly why she decided to have this trial!
Why else?!
Stop telling such irresponsible lies!
If you continue to make such accusations without anything to support it,
not only will you be tried for insulting the royal family, but contempt of court, as well!
The jeweler's complaints were getting louder by the day,
so perhaps Her Majesty felt the situation was becoming a little too precarious for her?
She called for this trial, so she could place all the blame on me.
Show me the evidence first.
I hear Her Majesty has burned the bill from Boehmer, the jeweler.
I'm certain Her Majesty did that to destroy the evidence!
Wouldn't you think so, Your Honor?
She's right!
If she had nothing to hide, she wouldn't have burned the bill!
The Queen did it!
The Queen probably has the necklace!
That's right!
The real culprit is that Austrian woman!
The gallery must stay silent!
Cause another ruckus and I'll order the entire gallery to leave the court!
Madame la Motte.
Yes.
The Queen has said she does not know you, so are you suggesting she is lying?
That is correct.
Then state your relationship with the Queen, so that the court may become convinced.
Yes.
Her Majesty had loved me.
As in... a ''Lesbos'' fashion...
Well, you see... Her Majesty has a taste for women.
I was Her Majesty's lover.
Jeanne!
I've never heard of anything of the sort until now.
Do you have clear evidence to substantiate this claim, Madame de la Motte?
Yes.
I'm sure Your Honor is aware of Madame Polignac,
who is well known as Lady Antoinette's favorite?
She's also someone who is very dear to Lady Antoinette.
The most decisive evidence is the Royal Guards' Commander, Oscar François de Jarjayes.
She's my husband's, Nicolas' superior,
and though she dresses like a man, she's a genuine woman.
Her Majesty has her lover dress as a man and keeps her close as a companion.
Her Majesty Marie Antoinette is a great, great Queen.
All the luxuries and pleasures of this world are hers to keep, and hers alone.
How dare she...
Don't, Oscar!
Calm down!
This is a courtroom!
Your Honor!
I was merely a puppet following orders!
Judge the Queen before you judge me!
Marie Antoinette is the one who should be tried!
She's right!
The true mastermind is the Queen!
An adulterer and a lesbian!
The culprit has to be that Austrian whore!
Jeanne Valois!
I'm on your side!
The court is adjourned! The court is adjourned!
The court will be adjourned for a while!
I see.
What a spectacular trial, Monsieur Robespierre.
Indeed, the royal family couldn't have been more disgraced.
Come, let's leave here, Saint-Just.
Yes.
This young man is Saint-Just, during his youthful days as a law student.
This young revolutionist would later become Robespierre's closest confidant.
Also, the journalist who follows Robespierre like a shadow is Bernard Châtelet.
He, too, was a young man with a burning passion for the new era.
"The Affair of the Diamond Necklace" was the incident that clearly instilled resentment,
among the populace and particularly among the younger generation, towards the old regime.
This incident was the catalyst that eventually culminated into the French Revolution.
How could she say such awful things...
I'm sorry, Lady Oscar...
My sister said all those things because she was desperate to save herself...!
She's resilient... Such a resilient spirit.
Even while she stood at the edge of a cliff, she didn't reel back.
In fact, she even seemed composed.
Jeanne...
I've never seen a woman like her...
On Wednesday, May 31, 1786,
the High Court of Paris handed down the sentences on the necklace theft.
Captain Nicolas de la Motte.
Although on the run, he is hereby sentenced to the galleys for life, in absentia.
He is to be arrested immediately when found.
Rétaux de Villette.
You are hereby sentenced to exile from France for 35 years, after receiving 50 lashes.
Nicole d'Oliva. Not guilty.
Madame Jeanne Valois de la Motte.
You are hereby sentenced to life in prison after being branded on both shoulders with the letter V.
Cardinal Louis de Rohan.
On the charges of your involvement in the necklace theft and insulting the royal family...
Not guilty.
Your Honor, please answer my question!
What about the true mastermind?! The mastermind who gave me the order?!
Are you just going to punish me and look the other way?!
The High Court does not judge people on assumptions alone.
Even if, by chance, there is a true mastermind behind this case as you say...
Just as the royal household cannot interfere with the court,
neither can the court interfere with the royal household.
But that makes it sound as though I were the mastermind!
Labeled as a lesbian...?!
Labeled as the mastermind...?!
Not only that, Rohan was found innocent?!
What was the point of going ahead with the trial then?!
My poor Queen...
Madame Polignac...
Tell me...
What have I done to deserve all this...?
It makes me so angry...!
Your Majesty...
What an odd incident though.
To think that a member of the Royal Guards of all people, would cause such a misconduct.
Also, how could the Regiment Commander not have realized, that a subordinate was plotting to flee?
No, it's nothing, Your Majesty.
A month after the sentences had been handed down,
Jeanne's punishment was carried out while the people of Paris looked on.
A branding iron with the letter V, taken from the French word for thief.
Damn it!
Let me go! I'm innocent!
The Queen plotted everything!
She placed all the blame me!
Yet she's—!
Damn you to Hell, Marie Antoinette!
I'm innocent!
Damn it, what a hellcat! She bit my arm open!
Look, she fainted with her eyes open.
Take her to the prison inside Salpêtrière immediately.
Yes!
Jeanne's masterful lies gathered the support and sympathies from the whole country.
Every day, Salpêtrière where Jeanne was imprisoned,
was flooded with people who wished to get a glimpse of her.
How could this be happening?
I hear not only commoners, but even nobles are visiting to see Jeanne.
Yes.
Why would a noble with rank and title visit her?
I don't understand it.
I regret to inform you that those nobles are the ones who left the court,
after they were denied access to Your Majesty's villa.
But... for something so inconsequential as that...?
It sure was fun...
It's been so long, it gave me the chills...
I always wanted to pull a prank like that when I was a child...
...with everyone...
To be continued
ai ga kurushimi nara
If to love is to suffer,
ikura demo kurushimou
I shall suffer any amount,
sore ga kimi no kokoro ni
until someday
itsuka todoku made
it reaches your heart.
kimi wa hikari boku wa kage
You are the light, I am the shadow.
hanarenarenai futari no kizuna
We share a bond that can never be broken.
kurushimeba kurushimu hodo
As I suffer and suffer more,
ai wa ai wa fukamaru
my love, my love grows deeper.
Oscar is suspected of helping Jeanne with her prison escape.
''I must save Lady Oscar somehow,'' agonizes Rosalie.
Then one day, her loathsome mother visits and offers her a helping hand,
in exchange for her to join the Polignac family.
Next episode on The Rose of Versailles,
Next episode
Adieu, My Youth
See you next time