Affair of the diamond necklace

The Affair of the diamond necklace was a mysterious incident in the 1780s at the court of Louis XVI of France involving the queen Marie Antoinette. It concerned an unsavoury episode in which the wife of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, whose reputation was already tarnished by gossip and scandal, was implicated in a crime by contemporary public opinion. The Affair was historically significant as one of the events that led to the French populace's disillusionment with the monarchy, which eventually culminated in the French Revolution.

The Scandal

Public opinion was much excited by this trial. Most historians come to the conclusion that Marie Antoinette was relatively blameless in the matter, that Rohan was an innocent dupe, and that the Lamottes deceived both for their own ends. This was also broadly the finding of the Paris Parlement, although they did not comment on the actions of the Queen.

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Many people in France persisted in the belief that the queen had used the countess as an instrument to satisfy her hatred of the cardinal de Rohan. Various circumstances fortified this belief, which contributed to render Marie Antoinette very unpopular -- her disappointment at Rohan's acquittal, the fact that he was deprived of his charges and exiled to the abbey of la Chaise-Dieu. The comtesse de Lamotte escaped from the Salpetriêre, which incited suspicion she was aided by the Court. The Parlement's acquittal of Rohan also pointed to an assumption that Antoinette was somehow in the wrong.

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The Countess de Lamotte took refuge in London and published Mémoires in which she accused the queen.

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