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Marie Antoinette

Born in Vienna in 1755, Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth child of the Roman Emperor Francis I and grew up in an environment which mixed regal and judicial living (Marie Antoinette’s parents governed the basic changed in the European courts). She became Queen of France at the age of just fourteen, when she married Louis Auguste (King Louis XVI). This 18th century Archduchess of Austria was originally named ‘Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen’ at birth and met her untimely execution for treason in 1793.

Marie and Louis’ early marriage was somewhat unhappy and unconsummated due to Louis’ impotence. She became tiresome of the daily responsibilities that came with being a Queen i.e. Court rituals and etiquette. The Petit Trianon was an 18th century chateau with both Neoclassical and Rococo styles of architecture and it soon became a retreat and sanctuary for Marie Antoinette. She renovated the building with the aim of recreating her picturesque and peaceful childhood in Vienna, which she missed so much. Here she ignored her Imperial life, pretending to be a milk maid.

Born into a life of riches and royalty, Marie Antoinette was blissfully unaware of what was to become her ill-fated downfall at the hands of the French Revolution. She became infamous for her frivolous and expensive life of gambling, masquerade balls and night-time promenades. As a result there was a large amount of scandal surrounding her name, the most notable of which being the ‘Diamond Necklace Affair’ which implied that she took part in a fraudulent plan to steal a necklace from the crown jewellers.

Marie Antoinette gained a very unpopular reputation between French nobility and even the French public, worsened by the fact that France had been at war with Austria since the early 1700’s.

As the court hearing of the Diamond Necklace Affair ended and Marie Antoinette escaped imprisonment, she and Louis’ resolved their problems in the bedroom and she produced four children. As her social life settled, her bad reputation remained and in 1789 the French people rebelled against the monarchy in an attempt to gain more power - the French Revolution.

Marie Antoinette managed to convince King Louis’ to not give in and maintain royal control. This only increased her unpopularity amongst the public. In 1792 Marie’s husband Louis XVI was tried and executed for treason. After being separated from her son, daughter and sister-in-law Marie was put in a Concierge prison, where she would remain under close watch until her beheading in 1793.