France

Marie Antoinette's travel bag fetches nearly £40,000 at Paris auction

Embroidered serviette used during coronation also went for several times its estimate

A travel bag belonging to Marie Antoinette has sold for more than five times its estimate in an auction of royal memorabilia near her one-time home in Versailles.

A large embroidered serviette used during the coronation of the Austrian-born monarch – who was executed during the French Revolution – also went for several times its estimate.

The Osenat auction house said there had been fierce bidding late on Sunday “both in the room, over the telephone and on the internet” for Marie Antoinette’s belongings.

The leather travel bag with the studded “Queen’s room number 10” inscription went for €43,750 (£39,120), having had an estimate of between €8,000 and €10,000.

The damask serviette, embroidered with the fleur-de-lis insignia and leaf crowns with a bouquet of roses at its centre, went for €14,500.

A lock of hair from her husband, Louis XVI, who was also executed, went for €4,000. The couple are still regarded as martyr saints to French monarchists, with the king’s hair kept inside a medallion of rock crystal in the shape of a heart.