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Yeah, it's all sad. I read that the family were led into a basement room, and that they went willingly and had no idea that they were going to be killed, despite having been imprisoned in their home for some time beforehand. It took several shots to kill all the Romanovs--some of the meant-to-be fatal shots were deflected from the women by their jewellery, and the dog Anastasia was holding also prevented the girl from dying instantly. (The princesses' dogs were also killed in the Romanov Assasination.) :-(

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I'm also perversely fond of Marie Antoinette's sad story, both because of the story itself and the fact that Marie Antoinette was born on November 2nd, the same as me. But you just have to feel for a woman who lost her baby (Sophie Beatrice), then was imprisoned in awful conditions and separated from her family and children, and then guillotined. And for all of that, her last words were an apology to her executioner!

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The guillotine was actually invented by a doctor with the surname of Guillotine. He was actually opposed to the death penalty, but he felt that, if it had to be practiced, it might was well be humanely done, and so he designed his namesake to ensure a quick, painless, error-free death for the condemned.

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Miranda