There is not enough furniture for every palace; and Chateau Versailles is a priority; if a provincial museum has any of our stuff, they have to fork it over! As far as the furniture that you see here today, we call it VDK: Van Der Kemp was the Chateau curator after WWII and it is to his public relations efforts that we owe what we own today. Some of the furniture was donated; other pieces we pillaged, like those armchairs cut out of one solid piece of oak, they came from Rambouillet. The Big Trianon had to give up its dressers, because authentic Louis XIV furniture is so rare; so, what you see at the Big Trianaon came from other places; for there is not enough for everybody; and this is why we have the Big Trianon decorated in the style of the First Empire, the Napoleon’s furniture. The bed I am showing you was ordered by Napoleon for Tuileries Palace, and that is where Louis XVIII found it when the monarchy was finally restored. Louis XVIII died in this bed. It’s a little strange, you may think, he was not exactly Napoleon’s best friend; but I imagine even for Louis XVIII dying in this bed must have felt pretty grand.
Versailles Gossip 