The Ghosts of Trianon

On August 10, 1901, two English academics, Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, claimed to have experienced a time slip at the Palace of Versailles. They reported seeing people in 18th-century dress, including a woman they believed was Marie Antoinette.

The Experience

While visiting the Petit Trianon, the women became lost and noticed a feeling of depression settling over them. They encountered people in old-fashioned clothing who gave them directions, saw a woman sketching near the temple, and felt an otherworldly atmosphere.

Neither woman mentioned the strange experience to the other until a week later, when they compared notes and realized they had both experienced unusual phenomena.

Investigation

The women conducted extensive research into the grounds as they had appeared in 1789. They claimed to have seen buildings and features that no longer existed but had been present during Marie Antoinette’s time.

They published their account in 1911 as “An Adventure” under pseudonyms.

Skeptical Explanations

Skeptics have proposed:

• A fancy dress party or historical reenactment
• Normal confusion enhanced by later research
• False memories constructed after the fact
• A collaborative elaboration between the two women

Assessment

The Trianon case remains a classic of time-slip literature. Whether a genuine glimpse of the past, a shared delusion, or an elaborate hoax, it has inspired generations of visitors to Versailles to hope for their own glimpse of history.