She also wore flour on her wigs while many French people went without bread. Yet not all of the criticisms of the queen were warranted, or even true.
And in some ways, Marie Antoinette is still misunderstood. Here are five facts about the famous queen. Scholars have noted that since Louis XVI had no mistresses, Marie Antoinette was subject to an extra level of disparagement. But without a mistress to ridicule, political pornographers targeted the queen. Painting her as an immoral woman who slept with her brother-in-law—as some of the pornography alleged—was one way for revolutionaries to argue the monarchy was corrupt.
Versailles, for all its decadence, was a very dirty place, filled with animals and excrement. Instead of cleaning their shoes, the royals and aristocrats would throw them out every few days. This culture of waste and excess was something Marie Antoinette stepped into when she arrived in France. Thomas Jefferson supposedly said that if not for Marie Antoinette, there might have been no French Revolution. As stated before, Marie Antoinette adopted, rather than invented, the lavish lifestyle of Versailles.
In addition, France was already broke before she arrived. She was just an easy scapegoat. All rights reserved. Marie Antoinette is famous for her decadence. Or her supposed decadence, anyway. A highlight of the lavish festivities to mark the royal wedding was the inauguration of the Royal Opera.
The young Dauphine became the first lady at Court. The ageing King had in fact become very unpopular and his death on 10 May was looked on with relief throughout the kingdom.
Marie Antoinette became Queen when she was not yet twenty years old. Marie Antoinette enjoyed entertainment and was influential in choosing shows to be put on at Court. She encouraged artists and she loved court balls.
As was required by her position, she also entertained her circle in her apartments, where she was a keen player of billiards and cards, often playing to excess, both losing and winning large sums, to such an extent that the King became worried and banned some of the more risky games that were swallowing up entire fortunes.
Marie Antoinette was a musician, playing the harp and the harpsichord. She could also sing. The Queen also devoted a lot of time to fashion, much to the chagrin of her mother, who regularly lectured her on this subject. Surrounded by a circle of friends whom she had chosen herself although not always wisely , she preferred to remain in her Private Chambers , located behind her State Apartments and which she hoped to extend into the floor above, and in the Petit Trianon , built by Louis XV and given to her as a gift by Louis XVI on his accession.
In , after eight long years of marriage, she finally gave birth to her first child. The Queen was always an affectionate mother and was close to her children. Under the influence of her mother, Marie Antoinette made some clumsy attempts to get involved in politics, which were met with scorn by the Court. Although public opinion of her was initially very favourable, the Queen gradually became the target of pamphlets, libels and caricatures, which intensified after the Affair of the Diamond Necklace in , a swindle of which she was an innocent victim.
My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long. But little did the fallen queen know then that she would spend two-and-a-half months before her trial and execution in a noisy, mouldy dungeon that reeked of pipe smoke, rat urine, and poor sanitation. Remembered for: Being overthrown by French revolutionaries and being publicly guillotined after the abolition of the monarchy.
Her husband, King Louis XVI, had been executed earlier in the year and her youngest son, Louis Charles, had been taken from her a month earlier. Marie Antoinette was quickly escorted to a cell below the level of the prison courtyard. The brick-tiled floor was covered with muddy slime and water trickled down the walls due to the proximity to the Seine.
When the river was low, it was possible to see shreds of the old wallpaper — decorated, ironically, with the fleur-de-lis. The queen stared at the bare walls. When she found a nail, she hung her watch on it and then stretched out on her bed—a folding cot that was thought by some too good for the queen.
However, the current prison wardens, Toussaint and Marie Anne Richard, were known to be compassionate and showed their prisoners respect and consideration.
They took great risks to provide Marie Antoinette with small comforts: a pillow; a small table with two straw chairs; a small wooden box of powder and a tin pot of pomade. The queen and her wardens were under constant surveillance. Only a screen separated the queen from two guards who could be found drinking, smoking, and playing cards at any time of the day. When the queen implored Madame Richard for a fresh supply of clothing, the orders from the revolutionary government were so stern and strict that the apprehensive warden did not dare grant her wishes.
Curiously, the government officials complied and the queen received two new bonnets. He was a charming lad with fair hair and blue eyes but, when the queen saw him, she reportedly trembled with emotion and, taking him into her arms, covered him with kisses. She then burst into tears and spoke of her own son who was about the same age, but still imprisoned in the Temple prison.
She said she thought of him constantly day and night. This incident reportedly made the queen so distressed that she had to lie down.
Madame Richard confided to Rosalie, the prison maid, that she would take care never to bring her son into the prison again.
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