Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 - 16 October 1793), was Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria. She was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife Empress Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XVI, and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution, and is interred with her husband in the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris.

Life as Dauphine

Since they were not having sexual intercourse, Louis and Marie Antoinette remained childless for the first few years of their marriage. Spiteful gossips blamed Marie Antoinette for her childlessness and some people even asserted that she should be divorced and sent back to Austria. The young dauphine's position was not helped by the fact that she had earned the enmity of the King's mistress, Madame du Barry. Du Barry had begun life as Jeanne Bécu, a common prostitute before she had been noticed by Louis XV and become his paramour. Marie Antoinette felt it was beneath her dignity as a Habsburg princess to talk to a lady with such a past. Du Barry therefore set about to make Marie Antoinette's life as miserable as possible. She began turning the king against his granddaughter-in-law and once tipped a bucket of dirty water on Antoinette's head as she walked underneath her window.

Related Topics:
Sexual intercourse - Austria - Dauphine - The King's - Madame du Barry - Prostitute - Habsburg princess

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Marie Antoinette's daily routine was even more depressing. When she awoke in the morning, she was assisted out of bed and dressed by the various high-ranking noblewomen who were her ladies-in-waiting. Her dinner was also in public, which she ate with her husband. Anyone who was decently dressed was permitted to come and watch the royals eating their dinner. Louis-Auguste ate enormous amounts of food, whilst Marie Antoinette ate almost nothing when she was in public. Marie-Antoinette loathed this spectacle and she complained bitterly to her mother, "I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world!"

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Homesick and melancholy, Marie Antoinette especially missed the companionship she had enjoyed with her sister, Maria Carolina. She found a substitute for this with the gentle Princesse Thérèse de Lamballe. The Princesse de Lamballe was wealthy and kind-natured; she was also absolutely devoted to Marie Antoinette. Not long after meeting Thérèse, Marie Antoinette formed a deep attachment to the beautiful and ambitious aristocrat, Gabrielle, Comtesse de Polignac. She was also on excellent terms with her husband's youngest brother Charles, the Comte d'Artois.

Related Topics:
Princesse Thérèse de Lamballe - Gabrielle, Comtesse de Polignac - Charles, the Comte d'Artois

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Marie Antoinette refused to involve herself in politics, possibly because she lacked any real knowledge or interest in them. She was being spied upon by her mother's ambassador, Comte Mercy d'Argenteau, who reported with great frustration that she was doing nothing to further Austria's influence in France.

Related Topics:
Austria - France

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Louis-Auguste and Marie Antoinette's life changed suddenly at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of 10th May 1774 when King Louis XV died of smallpox. The courtiers rushed over to Marie Antoinette's apartments to swear allegiance to their new king, Louis XVI, and his Austrian wife, Marie Antoinette. The new king and queen fell on their knees in prayer, with Louis saying "Dear God, guide and protect us. We are too young to reign." Marie-Antoinette wiped away her tears and stood with her husband to greet the courtiers who had come to pledge their loyalty to the new king and queen.

Related Topics:
1774 - Louis XV - Smallpox - Louis XVI

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