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WW2 letter discovered in Louis XV desk at Versailles

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WW2 letter discovered in Louis XV desk

3News NZ

Versailles Castle's main gate (AAP)

Versailles Castle's main gate (AAP)

For 67 years, a message from Nazi-occupied France remained hidden in a secret drawer of a desk that belonged to France's 18th century King Louis XV.

Restorers at the Chateau of Versailles recently discovered the letter, written by a World War II-era colleague who last restored the bronze-coated bureau.

The letter, released this week by the chateau, details restoration work on the desk during the war. The restorer says he wrote the note after he finished the work - just as Paris was being liberated from the Nazis in August 1944.

The letter was found in one of the desk's many small drawers, which can be opened only by a complex mechanical system of secret buttons and locks considered cutting-edge in its day.

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Comments

17/01/2012 2:21:01 p.m.

Ben wrote:

John, this desk sounds like a mate of a desk owned by Marie Antoinette which is now in the British Royal Collection. It is one of the most important pieces in the Royal Collection so a quick google should bring up some pics/video.

12/01/2012 11:33:45 a.m.

John wrote:

And where is the photo of the desk and the secret drawer ?

12/01/2012 8:25:52 a.m.

jat wrote:

AND THE LETTER SAID????????