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The Weirdest Rules of Royal French Etiquette

Weird History | January 7, 2026



Versailles etiquette was as complicated and ornate as the furniture and artwork filling the great chambers of the French royal palace. The smallest details of life at court, including personal hygiene, were dictated, regulated, and policed. But more often than not, court etiquette at Versailles was more bizarre than it was dignified.

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#etiquette #france #weirdhistory

Written by Weird History

Comments

This post currently has 44 comments.

  1. @Andreamus

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    I cannot stop obsessing over the complete disconnect between grandeur and basic hygiene in places like Versailles.
    How could a civilization capable of creating something so lavish, so architecturally intricate and aesthetically refined, simultaneously accept urine and feces—literally everywhere—as normal?

    Yes, microbiology hadn’t yet discovered the link between waste and disease, but come on
 The smell alone. The texture. The instinctive human (and animal!) repulsion. Even dogs and cats bury their waste—nature clearly encoded this behavior to protect life. So how could people in powdered wigs and embroidered silks just urinate indoors, behind curtains, on stairwells, in the gardens? Why build a palace fit for gods and then live in it like animals?

    There’s something surreal about the image of candlelit ballrooms filled with perfume and powdered faces while feces fester in corners just out of view. It’s not just about missing scientific insight—it’s about denying the most obvious cues of the senses.

    Beauty and rot, coexisting. Aesthetic ambition without basic decency.
    The opulence becomes grotesque when you remember the smell.

  2. @melisaprietoaboitiz7184

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    Charles II was not King Louis brother but cousin his brother was Phillipe, plus the Princess H'arcourt suffered from incontinence due to a bad childbirthing experience hence lack of bladder control. Plus check your facts

  3. @mrscarlier

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    Corsets are actually quite comfortable. The fancy dresses didn’t stretch, so having a nice smooth shape under perfectly fitting dresses was very nice. Heavy Skirts tied around the waist and evenly rested on the corset waist. Don’t knock corsets till you try one.

  4. @TobyOft

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    There’s a beautiful exhibition at the Met that focuses on Baroque French interior design. The parade bed, according to the identification card, existed for Nobles to meet newborns when the mother couldn’t get out of bed.

  5. @tommarinus9765

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    Is this the exemple for the convicted criminal who's living like a king in the USA? No, of course not, some education, intelligence en knowledge of history is needed for this.

  6. @stacymar684

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    I have always found it hilarious that when Versailles was under construction, the King insisted that the kitchens be placed well away from the dining hall so the he did not have to smell the odor of the food as it was being prepared.

    The result was that the walk from the kitchens to the dining hall was so long, that every dish was served cold by the time it arrived. What a dumb ass 😂

  7. @MonsieurChapeau

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    4:08 Louis the 14th made up all of these rituals to keep the nobles busy trying to keep up with him rather than plotting against him. Having them all at Versailles meant that he could monitor them on his terms and territory away from Paris. They were dependent on him and his favor entirely. He even had ALL letters going out of the palace secretly opened and read by an army of spies before they were sent out of the Palace. Lucy Worsley and Helen Castor do a great episode on this for the BBC (I watched it on YouTube).

  8. @wholeNwon

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    First, you misspelled VersailleS. Second, you can't possibly think that Louis XIV and Charles II were "brothers". But I might have misunderstood you.

  9. @josselyneabati8073

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    ComplĂštement idiot et inexact!
    Il faut revoir votre histoire de France cher ami , vous racontez ve que vous voulez ,les Français de l'epoque se lavaient ,il y avait des salles de bains a Versailles auant que d'appartements pour les nobles et bien sur ,ded lieux d'aisance a l'extĂ©rieur pour les visiteurs courtisans …les anglais et les amĂ©ricains n'ont pas inventĂ© la propretĂ© non plus ! Vous Ă©tiez encore dans des baraques sans aucun confort a cette pĂ©riode ! Tout cela est une invention pour nuire Ă  l'histoire d'un pays qui lui a des racines ! 😊

  10. @elfeling7187

    January 7, 2026 at 11:59 pm

    3'15: What on earth is Napoléon I doing amongst kings? He never was king!
    As for Charles II of England, he most certainly was not Louis XIV's brother but his first cousin as Charles II's mother, Henriette-Marie de France, who was Louis XIV's aunt (sister of Louis XIII)…

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