James Purefoy warned after being left alone with Louis XV’s desk worth €50,000,000 while filming Marie Antoinette drama-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Getting the chance to wander around Versailles with no tourists was a chance to good to pass up for James Purefoy, who managed to sneak in some time alone with a valuable treasure owned by Louis XV while filming Marie Antoinette.

The actor stars as the French king, who was the grandfather-in-law of Marie, in the new series, which follows her arrival at the court.

Now James, 58, has revealed that he was able to spend a few minutes in a room that contained one of the King’s personal items as well.

‘I often get a bit ansty on set and Versailles was closed on Mondays when we were filming there so I would go wandering,’ he shared while appearing on This Morning on Tuesday.

‘I am a bit of a wanderer and they liked to attach an assistant director to me because I loved to have a nose around because who wouldn’t.

‘We were given free rein of the place.’

James Purefoy spent time filming at Versailles for his latest project (Picture: Ken McKay/ ITV/ Shutterstock)

On one of those days James was in his full costume and make-up when he found Louis’ office and asked if he could spend five minutes in there by himself.

Recalling being told by the crew member that he had to be extra careful to not ‘touch or scratch the desk’, James was also blown away finding out how much it was worth.

‘He told me it was the most valuable antique they had in all of Versailles and I said “how much” because I’m vulgar like that and I want to know,’ he said.

‘He said it was 50 million euros. That is how much his desk is valued at and he left me alone in that room.

‘I hope he doesn’t get fired now that I’ve said this on television.’

James plays King Louis XV in the new period drama Marie Antoinette (Picture: BBC / Capa Drama / Banijay Studios France / Les Gens / Canal+ / Caroline Dubois)

Getting permitted to spend a few minutes alone in the room dressed as the King , James said the experience was invaluable.

‘It’s a lovely thing as an actor to exist in a space and you can just get into the whole characterisation,’ he said.

Calling filming the series as an ‘exquisite experience’ to film, James also said it presented a story that we ‘might not have heard’ about the infamous Queen.

‘She was a young girl, just 14, when she arrived at French court and so many interesting things happened there,’ he explained.

‘When I read the script I thought that everyone who lived at Versaille were mad.

‘They weren’t like the Royals we have today who go to hospitals and open care homes or whatever it is, they just lived in Versailles (and didn’t provide support to their subjects).’

Embracing the chance to don the extravagant costumes on set, James also has plenty of dress-ups ready to go at home should the occasion arise.

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Earlier this year he told Metro.co.uk that as an actor he ‘tends to have quite a lot of stuff stashed away at home’ and used his box of items to dress up as Captain Hook for his daughter’s birthday party.

However, he took the task so seriously the group of toddlers were so scared, several burst into tears and asked to go home.

Marie Antoinette will start on Thursday December 29 at 9pm on BBC Two. This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.

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