Duchess Sophie Charlotte was a relative of King Louis Philippe of France. On 4 May 1897, she was presiding over a charity bazaar in Paris when the hall accidentally caught fire. Flames spread to the paper decorations and flimsy walls of the booths and in seconds the place was an inferno.
In the hideous panic that followed many women and children were trampled underfoot as they rushed for the exits, while workmen from a nearby site performed incredible acts of heroism, rushing into the blaze to carry out the trapped women. Some rescuers reached the duchess, who had remained seated behind her booth. Rejecting their offer of help, she said, "Because of my title, I was the first to enter here. I shall be the last to go out." She stayed and was burned to death, along with more than 120 others.