18th Cent. Marie Antoinette, Queen Consort of France and Navarre.

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria 

Archduchess Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna of Austria was born about 20.30 in the evening, on 2 November 1755, at the Hofburg Palace, in Wien, Austria. She was the fifteenth child, the eleventh and last daughter of Maria Theresia, Holy Roman Empress (13 May 1717 - 29 November 1780) and Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor (8 December 1708 - 18 August 1765). Her maternal grandparents were Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empress (28 August 1691 - 21 December 1750) and Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1 October 1685 - 20 October 1740). Her paternal grandparents were Elisabeth Charlotte of Orléans, Duchesse Consort de Lorraine et Bar (13 September 1676 - 23 December 1744) and Léopold Joseph, Duc de Lorraine et Bar. Maria Antonia's parents were married on 12 February 1736. Her siblings included: Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (5 February 1737 - 6 June 1740), Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria (6 October 1738 - 19 November 1789) Archduchess Maria Karolina of Austria (12 January 1740 - 25 January 1741), Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (13 March 1741 - 20 February 1790), Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (13 May 1742 - 24 June 1798), Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria (13 August 1743 - 22 September 1808), Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria (1 February 1745 - 18 January 1761), Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (26 February 1746 - 9 June 1804), Archduchess Maria Johanna Gabriela of Austria (4 February 1750 - 23 December 1762), Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria (19 March 1751 - 15 October 1767), Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria (13 August 1752 - 7 September 1814), Archduke Ferdinand of Austria (1 June 1754 - 24 December 1806) and Archduke Maximilian Franz of Austria (8 December 1756 - 27 July 1801). According to the Memoirs of Court Chamberlain, Count Khevenhuller, "Her Majesty has been very happily delivered of a small, but completely healthy Archduchess." She was christened Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna at noon, on 3 November 1755, in the Church of the Augustine Friars. Maria was in honour of the Virgin Mary, Antonia in honour of Saint Anthony of Padua, Josepha in honour of her elder brother, Archduke Josef and Johanna in honour of Saint John, the Evangelist.

Called Antoine, she was brought up in company with her nearest siblings in age, Maria Carolina and Maximilian at the Hofburg Palace and the Schonbrünn Palace, in Wien. The Countess of Brandeis was in charge of her education. Maria Antonia enjoyed her music instruction, her dancing lessons, and anything to do with pets, especially dogs and horses. She was interested in history, learnt Latin and Italian and wrote poetry. Theater was her passion, especially comedy. Her brother, Archduke Joseph of Austria married Isabella Maria of Parma (1741-1763) on 16 October 1760, in Wien. 

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria with her Doll at the Feast of St. Nicholas

Detail by Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria

1760

Isabella and Joseph had a daughter, Maria Theresia, Archduchess of Austria (1762-1770) on 20 March 1762. Named after her grandmother, they called her "Titi" for short. Her sister, Maria Johanna died of smallpox on 23 December 1762, in Wien. She was interred at the Imperial Crypt, in Wien. Isabella gave birth to a second daughter, Maria Christina of Austria on 22 November 1763, who died soon afterwards. Isabella of Parma died on 27 November 1763.

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria Dancing 

Detail by Johann Georg Weikert

1765
Le Petit Trianon, Versailles

Joseph of Austria married his second wife, Princess Maria Josepha of Bavaria (1739-1767) in January 1765. Her father, Franz I died on 18 August 1765, in Innsbruck. He was interred at the Imperial Crypt, in Wien. Her sister-in-law, Maria Josepha of Bavaria died of smallpox on 28 May 1767. Her sister, Maria Josepha of Austria died on 15 October 1767, in Wien. She was interred at the Imperial Crypt, in Wien.

 Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria 

by Martin van Meytens

Her sister, Maria Carolina of Austria married Ferdinand IV, King of Naples on 12 May 1768. The young Archduchess was promised in marriage in order build a diplomatic alliance between Austria and France. Louis XV, King of France and Navarre (1710-1774) asked for Maria Antonia's hand in marriage for his grandson, Louis Auguste, Dauphin de France (23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793) on 7 June 1769. He was the son of Princess Marie Josèphe of Saxony (4 November 1731 - 13 March 1767) and Louis, Dauphin de France (4 September 1729 - 20 December 1765). After the marriage treaty was signed, Maria Theresia wrote in a letter to King Louis XV, "Her intentions are excellent, but given her age, I pray you to exercise indulgence for any careless mistake... I recommend her once again as the most tender pledge which exists so happily between our States and our Houses." The young Archduchess was no longer Maria Antonia, but Marie Antoinette. Her sister, Maria Amalia of Austria married Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma (1751-1802) on 19 July 1769, at the Château de Colorno. Her niece, Titi died of pleurisy on 23 January 1770.

Marie Antoinette of Austria

Château de Versailles

Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste were married by proxy on 19 April 1770, at the Augustine Church, in Wien. Marie Antoinette left Wien on 21 April 1770, for France. Her mother, Maria Theresia said; "Farewell, my dearest. Do so much good to the French people that they can say that I have sent them an angel." A symbolic act of loyalty at the "handover" was held on 7 May 1770, on a island in the middle of the Rhine. Marie Antoinette was required to leave her Austrian attire, possessions, servants, and even her dog behind, "that the bride might retain nothing belonging to a foreign court." She was then attired in clothing fashionable at the French Court and taken to Strasbourg for a Thanksgiving Mass in her honor. A few days later, she continued her journey to Versailles. After meeting King Louis XV and the Royal family, Marie Antoinette was introduced to Louis Auguste. Before the wedding ceremony, Marie Antoinette was presented with the jewels traditionally belonging to the Dauphine de France. Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste were married on 16 May 1770, in the Chapel of the Château de Versailles, in Versailles. In 1770, Maria Theresia wrote to her daughter, "If one is to consider only the greatness of your position, you are the happiest of your sisters and all princesses." Her brother, Ferdinand of Austria married Maria Beatrice of Modena (1750-1829) on 15 October 1771, in Milan. In 1772, the Marchande de Modes, Rose Bertin (1747-1813) was introduced to the Dauphine. She owned the clothing boutique, Le Grand Mogol, in Sainte-Honore. Marie Antoinette soon had to face jealousy and rumors. First at Court, particularly from the mistress of Louis XV, Marie Jeanne Bécu, Madame du Barry (1743-1793). Since Marie Antoinette felt it was beneath herself to associate with a woman of her past, Madame du Barry set out to make her life as unpleasant as possible. Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother, Maria Theresia that Madame du Barry, "is the stupidest and most impertinent creature imaginable." The Empress told the Dauphine that to snub the King's favourite was "most unwise in her current position". Since her marriage was unconsummated, Marie Antoinette was in a vulnerable position. Due to Royal protocol, Madame du Barry was not allowed to speak with Marie Antoinette until spoken to first. It is reported that Marie Antoinette said to Madame du Barry at a ball; "There are a lot of people at Versailles tonight, aren't there." After the incident, Marie Antoinette, wrote to her mother, Maria Theresia, "My duties here are sometimes hard to fulfill." Marie Antoinette found a friend in Marie Thérèse Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe (1749-1792). In January 1774, Marie Antoinette met Count Hans Axel de Fersen (1755-1810) at a ball in Paris. Attracted to him, she invited him to Versailles. King Louis XV died of smallpox on 10 May 1774, at Versailles. The new King and Queen of France then fell to their knees in prayer, with Louis XVI saying, "Dear God, guide and protect us. We are too young to reign." According to The Guardian of Marie Antoinette. Letters from the Comte de Mercy Argentau, Austrian Ambassador to the Court of Versailles, to Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother from Choisy four days after the death of King Louis XV. "14 May 1774, Choisy My dear mother, Mercy will have told you the circumstances... Happily the cruel illness left the King's mind clear till the very last, and his end was very edifying. The new King seems to have won the hearts of his people. Two days before the death of grandpapa he distributed 200,000 francs to the poor, which produced a great effect. Since the death he has not ceased to work; and to answer with his own hand ministers whorn he cannot yet see; and he writes many other letters. This is at least certain - he has a turn for economy, and a great desire to make his subjects happy. In everything he has as much wish as he has need to teach himself. I hope that God will bless his good intention. The public expects many changes at this moment. The King has contented himself with sending that creature (Madame du Barry) to the convent, and with driving out from the Court every one who bears that surname of scandal. The King, in fact, found it necessary to give this example to the people at Versailles, who, even at the time of the illness, were truckling to Madame de Mazarin, one of the most humble of the favourite's servants. They beg me to preach toleration to the King on behalf of a number of corrupt souls, who have committed very much evil in past years, and I am much inclined to do so." Empress Maria Theresia responded to a libel against her daughter and son-in-law on 28 August 1774, "I would never have believed that such inveterate hate could be held in the hearts of the French against Austria, against my person, and against the poor innocent Queen. This it is that is the result of such lavish adulation! This is the love they bear to my daughter! Never have I seen anything so atrocious; and it fills my heart with the bitterest contempt for this nation without religion, without manners, and without feeling!" In November 1774, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau wrote to the Empress, "The advantage of talking to the Queen, upon no matter what subject, is that by a most fortunate gift of memory she forgets nothing that she has ever heard, even if it be in connection with things that did not interest her, and to which therefore she paid, at the time, only half attention; but these points remain with her, and when occasion arises she recalls the whole of my remarks on any subject." Louis XVI was crowned on 11 June 1775, at Rheims Cathedral. According to the French newspaper, Gazette de France, Friday, 16 June 1775, "The Queen arrived accompanied by Madame (Elisabeth, the King's sister), and despite the fact that she remained incognito, she was delighted at the most vivid expressions of love the French Nation devoted to her. She attended all the august ceremonies of this sacred feast. A stand had been set up for Her, Madame Clotilde and Madame Elisabeth." In the autumn of 1775, when Paris was marked by bread shortage, Marie Antoinette is claimed to have joked, "If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!" (S'ils n'ont plus de pain, qu'ils mangent de la brioche). As famous as Marie Antoinette is for having proclaimed this, the Queen never said it. According to Confessions, book 6 by Jean Jacques Rousseau written around 1767, "At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, Then let them eat pastry!" When Marie Antoinette heard about the bread shortage, she wrote, "It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness. The King seems to understand this truth; as for myself, I know that in my whole life (even if I live for a hundred years) I shall never forget the day of the coronation." Princesse de Lamballe was appointed Superintendent of the Queen's Household on 18 September 1775. From 1775, Rose Bertin presented her newest creations twice a week for Marie Antoinette. According to Madame Campan, "It may be said that the mere admission of a milliner into the house of the Queen was followed by evil consequences to her Majesty. The skill of the milliner, who was received into the household, in spite of the custom which kept persons of her description out of it, afforded her the opportunity of introducing some new fashion every day. Up to this time the Queen had shown very plain taste in dress; she now began to make it a principal occupation; and she was of course imitated by other women. All wished instantly to have the same dress as the Queen, and to wear the feathers and flowers to which her beauty, then in its brilliancy, lent an indescribable charm. The expenditure of the younger ladies was necessarily much increased; mothers and husbands murmured at it; some few giddy women contracted debts; unpleasant domestic scenes occurred; in many families coldness or quarrels arose; and the general report was, - that the Queen would be the ruin of all the French ladies." Also in 1775, Marie Antoinette met Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron (1749-1793) and with her young friends, she threw herself into a life of gambling, masked balls, theatricals and late night promenades. Her circle included Princesse de Lamballe, Yolande Martine Gabrielle, the Count of Artois, the Duc de Ligne, Count Dillon, Count Vaudreuil and Count Fersen. Marie Antoinette was assisted out of bed each morning and dressed by her various Ladies in Waiting. According to Madame Campan, "The Queen's toilet was a masterpiece of etiquette; everything was done in a prescribed form. Both the dame d'honneur and the dame d'atours usually attended and officiated, assisted by the first femme de chambre and two ordinary women. The dame d'atours put on the petticoat, and handed the gown to the Queen. The dame d'honneur poured out the water for her hands and put on her linen. When a princess of the royal family happened to be present while the Queen was dressing, the dame d’honneur yielded to her the latter act of office, but still did not yield it directly to the Princesses of the blood; in such a case the dame d’honneur was accustomed to present the linen to the first femme de chambre, who, in her turn, handed it to the Princess of the blood. Each of these ladies observed these rules scrupulously as affecting her rights. One winter's day it happened that the Queen, who was entirely undressed, was just going to put on her shift; I held it ready unfolded for her; the dame d'honneur came in, slipped off her gloves, and took it. A scratching was heard at the door; it was opened, and in came the Duchesse d'Orleans: her gloves were taken off, and she came forward to take the garment; but as it would have been wrong in the dame d'honneur to hand it to her she gave it to me, and I handed it to the Princess. More scratching it was Madame la Comtesse de Provence; the Duchesse d'Orleans handed her the linen. All this while the Queen kept her arms crossed upon her bosom, and appeared to feel cold; Madame observed her uncomfortable situation, and, merely laying down her handkerchief without taking off her gloves, she put on the linen, and in doing so knocked the Queen's cap off. The Queen laughed to conceal her impatience, but not until she had muttered several times, "How disagreeable! how tiresome!" According to a letter Marie Antoinette wrote to Comte Rosenberg in 1775, "My tastes are not the same as those of the king, who only likes hunting and mechanical inventions. You will agree that I would not appear very graceful in charge of a forge. I am not Vulcan and I displease him more in the role of Venus than in my other activities, which he does not object to." By 1776, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI lived separate lives. The King was hunting and eating, while the Queen was dancing, gambling and occupied with fashion. Marie Antoinette was not a big eater, she prefered light food like chiken and fish, and loved hot chocolate. In 1776, Louis XVI accepted skating into the Court. Marie Antoinette became a proficient skater. During the winter of 1777, according to the Memoirs of Marie Antoinette by Madame Campan, "...the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties had given the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar ones in France. This amusement had already been known in that Court, as was proved by sleighs being found in the stables which had been used by the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI. Some were constructed for the Queen in a more modern style. The Princes also ordered several; and in a few days there was a tolerable number of these vehicles. They were driven by the princes and noblemen of the Court. The noise of the bells and balls with which the harness of the horses was furnished, the elegance and whiteness of their plumes, the varied forms of the carriages, the gold with which they were all ornamented, rendered these parties delightful to the eye. The winter was very favourable to them, the snow remaining on the ground nearly six weeks; the drives in the park afforded a pleasure shared by the spectators. No one imagined that any blame could attach to so innocent an amusement. But the party were tempted to extend their drives as far as the Champs Elysees; a few sleighs even crossed the boulevards; the ladies being masked, the Queen's enemies took the opportunity of saying that she had traversed the streets of Paris in a sleigh. This became a matter of moment. The public discovered in it a predilection for the habits of Vienna; but all that Marie Antoinette did was criticised. Sleigh-driving, savouring of the Northern Courts, had no favour among the Parisians. The Queen was informed of this; and although all the sleighs were preserved, and several subsequent winters lent themselves to the amusement, she would not resume it." According to a letter Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother, Maria Theresia in 1777, "The king has no taste for sleeping with another person." Their marriage was not consummated and Marie Antoinette suffered all the embarrassment. In April 1777, her brother, Joseph II had a private meeting with Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother, Maria Theresia in a letter dated 30 August 1777, that he had finally made her his wife. It happened in the morning of 18 August 1777, at about 10 o'clock, when she was just emerging from her bath. She wrote, "...I am not pregnant yet, but at least now there's hope." The Empress wrote to Comte de Mercy-Argenteau in April 1778, "If I did not have the knowledge that you are with my daughter to sustain me, I should be still more uneasy both for her and for the future of her child." In July 1778, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau informed the Empress, "The Queen goes for a walk directly she rises, thus taking moderate exercise in the healthiest hours of the day. She employs the rest of the morning in needlework or in netting purses... She takes another walk in the evening before supper... She is in perfect health." Marie Antoinette gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, Madame Royale on 19 December 1778. Forced to give birth in front of courtiers in her bedchamber, Marie Antoinette refused to give birth in public again. The little Princess was named after the Queen's mother, Maria Theresia. As they placed the baby in her arms, she said; "Poor little thing, you are not what they wanted, but we will love you nonetheless. A son would have belonged to the State, you shall be mine, and have all my care, you shall share in my happiness and soften my sorrows." Mercy wrote to the Empress, "The Queen is as well as it is possible for her to be, and her august child, who is strong and healthy, is also wonderfully well." According to the Memoirs of Madame Vigée-Le Brun by Marie-Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun (1755-1842), "... It was in the year 1779 that I painted the Queen for the first time; she was then in the heyday of her youth and beauty. Marie Antoinette was tall and admirably built, being somewhat stout, but not excessively so. Her arms were superb, her hands small and perfectly formed, and her feet charming. She had the best walk of any woman in France, carrying her head erect with a dignity that stamped her queen in the midst of her whole court, her majestic mien, however, not in the least diminishing the sweetness and amiability of her face. To any one who has not seen the Queen it is difficult to get an idea of all the graces and all the nobility combined in her person. Her features were not regular; she had inherited that long and narrow oval peculiar to the Austrian nation. Her eyes were not large; in colour they were almost blue, and they were at the same time merry and kind. Her nose was slender and pretty, and her mouth not too large, though her lips were rather thick. But the most remarkable thing about her face was the splendour of her complexion. I never have seen one so brilliant, and brilliant is the word, for her skin was so transparent that it bore no umber in the painting. Neither could I render the real effect of it as I wished. I had no colours to paint such freshness, such delicate tints, which were hers alone, and which I had never seen in any other woman. At the first sitting the imposing air of the Queen at first frightened me greatly, but Her Majesty spoke to me so graciously that my fear was soon dissipated. It was on that occasion that I began the picture representing her with a large basket, wearing a satin dress, and holding a rose in her hand. This portrait was destined for her brother, Emperor Joseph II., and the Queen ordered two copies besides, one for the Empress of Russia, the other for her own apartments at Versailles or Fontainebleau." In 1780, Louis XVI commissioned Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818) to be Court painter. Her mother, Maria Theresia died on 29 November 1780, in Wien. She was interred in the Imperial Crypt, in Wien. She was succeeded by her son, Joseph II. Marie Antoinette was completely crushed by sorrow. She wrote to her brother, "...now you're all I have left in a country that always will remain so dear to me." Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second child, a son, Louis Joseph Xavier Francois on 22 October 1781. She described the moment as; "The happiest and most important event for me." Her husband, Louis XVI proudly said; "Madame you have fulfilled our wishes and those of France, you are the mother of a Dauphin." In 1782, Yolande Martine Gabrielle Polastron was appointed Governess for Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's children, called the Children of France.

Marie Antoinette, Queen Consort of France and Navarre

by Marie-Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun

1783
Le Petit Trianon, Versailles

In 1783, Louis XVI purchased the 14th Century Château de Rambouillet from Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Penthievre (1725-1793). The King commissioned Charles Claude de La Billarderie, Comte d'Angiviller (1730-1809), the governor of the estate and the director-general of the King's buildings, to oversee the creation of an Anglo-Chinese garden and a pleasure dairy to entice the Queen to Rambouillet. The Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740-1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (1745-1799) were the inventors of the first practical balloon. A Montgolfiere hot air balloon carrying a duck, a sheep, and a rooster flew for eight minutes in front of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and the French Court on 19 September 1783, at Versailles. Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second son, Louis Charles de France on 27 March 1785. She said, "Mon chou d'amour is charming, and I love him madly. He loves me very much too, in his own way, without embarrassment." In 1785, Marie Antoinette abandoned the more elaborate wigs and she refused to buy any more jewels for her personal collection. Then she was criticized for not being dressed fit for a Queen and for spending time at Le Petit Trianon, given to Marie Antoinette by Louis XVI. According to Madame Campan, "The day after the first performance of "Zemira and Azor," Marmontel and Gretry were presented to the Queen as she was passing through the gallery of Fontainebleau to go to mass. The Queen congratulated Gretry on the success of the new opera, and told him that she had dreamed of the enchanting effect of the trio by Zemira's father and sisters behind the magic mirror. Gretry, in a transport of joy, took Marmontel in his arms, "Ah! My friend," cried he, "excellent music may be made of this." - "And execrable words," coolly observed Marmontel, to whom her Majesty had not addressed a single compliment." Marie Antoinette composed many melodies herself, among the more famous were, C'est Mon Ami (This is my friend) and Portrait Charmant (Charming portrait).

C'est Mon Ami

By Marie Antoinette
Ah s'il est dans votre village
Un berger sensible et charmant
Qu'on chérisse au premier moment
Qu'on aime ensuite davantage


C'est mon ami
Rendez-le moi
J'ai son amour
Il a ma foi


Si par sa voix douce et plaintive
Il charme l'écho de vos bois
Si les accents de son hautbois
Rendent la bergère pensive


C'est encore lui
Rendez-le-moi
J'ai son amour
Il a ma foi


Si même n'osant rien vous dire
Son seul regard sait attendrir
Si sans jamais faire rougir
Sa gaité fait toujours sourire


C'est encore lui
Rendez-le-moi
J'ai son amour
Il a ma foi


Si passant près de sa chaumière
Le pauvre en voyant son troupeau
Ose demander un agneau
Et qu'il obtienne encore la mère


Oh c'est bien lui
Rendez-le moi
J'ai son amour
Il a ma foi


Portrait Charmant

By Marie Antoinette
Portait charmant, portait de mon amie
Gage d'amour par l'amour obtenu
Ah viens m'offrir le bien que j'ai perdu
Te voir encore me rappelle à la vie.


Oui les voilà ses traits, ses traits que j'aime
Son doux regard, son maintien, sa candeur
Lorsque ma main te presse sur mon coeur
Je crois encore la presser elle-même


Non tu n'as pas pour moi les mêmes charmes
Muet témoin de nos tendres soupirs
En retraçant nos fugitifs plaisirs
Cruel portrait, tu fais couler mes larmes


Pardonne-moi mon injuste langage
Pardonne aux cris de ma vive douleur
Portait charmant, tu n'es pas le bonheur
Mais bien souvent tu m'en offres l'image

According to Madame Vigée-Le Brun, "I was so fortunate as to be on very pleasant terms with the Queen. When she heard that I had something of a voice we rarely had a sitting without singing some duets by Grétry together, for she was exceedingly fond of music, although she did not sing very true. As for her conversation, it would be difficult for me to convey all its charm, all its affability. I do not think that Queen Marie Antoinette ever missed an opportunity of saying some thing pleasant to those who had the honour of being presented to her, and the kindness she always bestowed upon me has ever been one of my sweetest memories. One day I happened to miss the appointment she had given me for a sitting; I had suddenly become unwell. The next day I hastened to Versailles to offer my excuses. The Queen was not expecting me; she had had her horses harnessed to go out driving, and her carriage was the first thing I saw on entering the palace yard. I nevertheless went upstairs to speak with the chamberlains on duty. One of them, M. Campan, received me with a stiff and haughty manner, and bellowed at me in his stentorian voice, "It was yesterday, madame, that Her Majesty expected you, and I am very sure she is going out driving, and I am very sure she will give you no sitting to-day!" Upon my reply that I had simply come to take Her Majesty's orders for another day, he went to the Queen, who at once had me conducted to her room. She was finishing her toilet, and was holding a book in her hand, hearing her daughter repeat a lesson. My heart was beating violently, for I knew that I was in the wrong. But the Queen looked up at me and said most amiably, "I was waiting for you all the morning yesterday; what happened to you?"
"I am sorry to say, Your Majesty," I replied, "I was so ill that I was unable to comply with Your Majesty's commands. I am here to receive more now, and then I will immediately retire."
"No, no! Do not go!" exclaimed the Queen. "I do not want you to have made your journey for nothing!" She revoked the order for her carriage and gave me a sitting. I remember that, in my confusion and my eagerness to make a fitting response to her kind words, I opened my paint-box so excitedly that I spilled my brushes on the floor. I stooped down to pick them up. "Never mind, never mind," said the Queen, and, for aught I could say, she insisted on gathering them all up herself. When the Queen went for the last time to Fontainebleau, where the Court, according to custom, was to appear in full gala, I repaired there to enjoy that spectacle. I saw the Queen in her grandest dress; she was covered with diamonds, and as the brilliant sunshine fell upon her she seemed to me nothing short of dazzling. Her head, erect on her beautiful Greek neck, lent her as she walked such an imposing, such a majestic air, that one seemed to see a goddess in the midst of her nymphs. During the first sitting I had with Her Majesty after this occasion I took the liberty of mentioning the impression she had made upon me, and of saying to the Queen how the carriage of her head added to the nobility of her bearing. She answered in a jesting tone, "If I were not Queen they would say I looked insolent, would they not?" By the late 1780s, envy and hatred of Marie Antoinette were widespread. Many were envious of the Queen and preference for her small court circle and the patronage she wielded on their behalf. They fabricated and circulated stories about the Queen. Marie Antoinette was generous and her donation to the poor was considerable, but the rumors about her increased her people's open criticism.  The Court jewelers, Böhmer and Bassenge had been commissioned by Louis XV to make a extravagant diamond necklace for his mistress, Madame Du Barry. Before the necklace was complete, Louis XV died, leaving the jewelers with an elaborate piece containing more than 600 diamonds, worth 1,500,000 livres. Monsieur Böhmer offered the necklace to Marie Antoinette after the birth of her daughter, and her reply was; "At that price we have more need of a ship of the line than a necklace." The jeweler again offered it to her on the birth of her son, the Dauphin, and was again refused. After trying to dispose of the piece in the other Courts of Europe, Böhmer again visited the Queen and begged her to buy it, or else he would be bankrupt. Marie Antoinette advised him to break up the necklace and sell the stones. She said; "Not only have I never commissioned you to make a jewel... but, what is more, I have told you repeatedly that I would never add so much as another carat to my present collection of diamonds. I refused to buy your necklace for myself, the king offered to buy it for me, and I refused it as a gift. Never mention it again." The jewelers then received an approach from Cardinal de Rohan, to buy the necklace, paying by installments, on behalf of the Queen, with documents signed, "Marie Antoinette de France". The deal was struck, the first payment made, and the necklace given over to Cardinal de Rohan. When the second payment fell due, neither the money, nor the necklace, were to be found. The anxious jewelers finally spoke to the Queen. She denied all knowledge of the agreement, and everything exploded. Cardinal de Rohan was duped by Jeanne de Valois, Comtesse de la Motte. She was a descendent of King Henri II, anxious to get her rights as Royalty. She became Rohan's mistress, and managed to convince him that she was on intimate terms with the Queen. She told the Cardinal that the Queen desired the necklace, and would be happy for him to act as an agent. Jeanne de Valois then acted as an intermediary between Rohan and Marie Antoinette, providing him with notes that purported to come from the Queen. In fact, they were the work of Rétaux de Villette, who not only made no attempt to simulate the Queen's handwriting, but also signed with a form never used by the Queen, who appended only her name to documents. Jeanne de Valois arranged a meeting between Rohan and the Queen at midnight in the Grove of Venus, at Versailles. The woman who met the Cardinal was not the Queen, but Nicole le Guay d'Oliva who bore a remarkable resemblance to Marie Antoinette. She posed as the Queen and gave the Cardinal a rose. Cardinal de Rohan gave the necklace to Jeanne de Valois, who was supposed to send it by courier to the Queen, but she gave it to Rétaux de Villette, who passed it to the Comte de la Motte. It was then broken up, some of the stones was set in jewelry for Jeanne de Valois, but most carried to London, England for sale. This could have been just a sordid story of larceny, had Louis XVI decided to judge and act on the affair himself, as was his right as absolute monarch, but he passed it to parliament to deal with, anxious to convict Cardinal de Rohan, in an open forum. The scandal broke out on 15 August 1785. All the accused, apart from the Comte de la Motte who was in England were imprisoned in the Bastille. The pamphlets were lapped up eagerly, each new accusation and scandal fuelling gossip and leading to satires, verses and songs. After a trial which lasted for months, Count Cagliostro was acquitted of all charges and freed. Guay d'Oliva was also acquitted of criminal activity though censured for her impersonation of the Queen. Rétaux de Villette, as he had made no attempt to actually impersonate Marie Antoinette's handwriting, was banished from France. In his absence, the Comte de la Motte was sentenced to flogging, branding, and lifetime imprisonment on the galleys. Jeanne de Valois was sentenced to be flogged "naked," in underclothes, in public, branded on both shoulders with the letter "V" for voleuse (thief) and imprisoned for life. After sentence was carried out, she was imprisoned in la Salpêtrière. A few months later, she escaped to London, England. Cardinal de Rohan was cleared of all charges on 31 May 1786.  The affair of the necklace was the first step towards the revolution. Louis XVI brought Marie Antoinette to see the unfinished dairy on 20 June 1786, at Rambouillet. Marie Antoinette gave birth to her second daughter and fourth child, Marie Sophie Helene Beatrix on 9 July 1786.

The Children of Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI:

Marie Thérèse Charlotte, Madame Royale (19 December 1778 - 19 October 1851)
Louis Joseph Xavier François, Dauphin de France (22 October 1781 - 4 June 1789)
Louis Charles, later Louis XVII, King of France and Navarre (27 March 1785 - 8 June 1795)
Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrix de France (9 July 1786 - 19 June 1787)

According to Madame Vigee Le Brun, "...in 1786, when I was painting the Queen, I begged her to use no powder, and to part her hair on the forehead. "I should be the last to follow that fashion," said the Queen, laughing; "I do not want people to say that I adopted it to hide my large forehead." Marie Antoinette was good hearted and kindly tried to aid the poor. She attended benefits for charity and used Le Hameau to aid impoverished families, but her acts were hardly noticed amid the suffering. With the costly aid from 1778 to 1783, to the American colonies in their War of Independence with Great Britain, the debt of France was now a crisis. To try to revive the Queen's popularity portraits were made and exhibited showing the Queen surrounded by her children, but detractors noticed the Queen's expansive costume and dubbed her, "Madame Deficit."  According to Madame Vigee-Le Brun, "The last sitting I had with Her Majesty was given me at Trianon, where I did her hair for the large picture in which she appeared with her children. After doing the Queen's hair, as well as separate studies of the Dauphin, Madame Royale, and the Duke de Normandie, I busied myself with my picture, to which I attached great importance, and I had it ready for the Salon of 1788. The frame, which had been taken there alone, was enough to evoke a thousand malicious remarks. "That's how the money goes," they said, and a number of other things which seemed to me the bitterest comments. At last I sent my picture, but I could not muster up the courage to follow it and find out what its fate was to be, so afraid was I that it would be badly received by the public. In fact, I became quite ill with fright. I shut myself in my room, and there I was, praying to the Lord for the success of my "Royal Family," when my brother and a host of friends burst in to tell me that my picture had met with universal acclaim. After the Salon, the King, having had the picture transferred to Versailles, M. d'Angevilliers, then minister of the fine arts and director of royal residences, presented me to His Majesty. Louis XVI. vouchsafed to talk to me at some length and to tell me that he was very much pleased. Then he added, still looking at my work, "I know nothing about painting, but you make me like it." The picture was placed in one of the rooms at Versailles, and the Queen passed it going to mass and returning. After the death of the Dauphin, which occurred early in the year 1789, the sight of this picture reminded her so keenly of the cruel loss she had suffered that she could not go through the room without shedding tears. She then ordered M. d'Angevilliers to have the picture taken away, but with her usual consideration she informed me of the fact as well, apprising me of her motive for the removal. It is really to the Queen's sensitiveness that I owed the preservation of my picture, for the fishwives who soon afterward came to Versailles for Their Majesties would certainly have destroyed it, as they did the Queen's bed, which was ruthlessly torn apart. I never had the felicity of setting eyes on Marie Antoinette after the last Court ball at Versailles. The ball was given in the theatre, and the box where I was seated was so situated that I could hear what the Queen said. I observed that she was very excited, asking the young men of the Court to dance with her, such as M. Lameth, whose family had been overwhelmed with kindness by the Queen, and others, who all refused, so that many of the dances had to be given up. The conduct of these gentlemen seemed to me exceedingly improper; somehow their refusal likened a sort of revolt, the prelude to revolts of a more serious kind. The Revolution was drawing near; it was, in fact, to burst out before long." The first meeting of the assembly was held on 22 February 1787. Calonne was dismissed on 8 April 1787. Their youngest daughter, Marie Sophie Helene Béatrix died shortly before her first birthday on 19 June 1787. Her parents was left devastated, Marie Antoinette spent hours weeping over her body. In May 1789, Louis XVI called the Estates General. Their son, Louis Joseph died on 3 June 1789. The title of Dauphin passed to his younger brother, Louis Charles, Duke of Normandy. The year 1789, was marked by severe bread shortages in Paris. The King relieved Necker of his position as minister on 12 July 1798. Huge mobs gathered around the armory in the morning of 14 July 1789, at Les Invalides. They broke into the armory and begin handing out guns before they headed toward the Bastille. The governor of the Bastille, Bernard de Launay, refused to let the mob enter the Bastille or hand out any gunpowder. Someone then cut the ropes to the drawbridge and the mob rushed forth. After four hours of fighting, de Launay capitulated on the promise of his safe conduct. He and some of his officers were taken to the Town Hall and murdered. Their heads were mounted on poles and paraded around. Meanwhile, the prisoners kept in the Bastille were freed. The storming of the Bastille marks the beginning of the French Revolution. According to the diary of Louis XVI, "July 14th; nothing." Upon learning that the Bastille had been taken, Louis XVI was reported to have asked; "Is this a revolt?" La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said; "No, Sire, it is a revolution." The King agreed to dismiss the troops camped near the capital, re-instated Necker and donned the red-white-and-blue cocard; the symbol of the new France. Louis XVI went to Paris to restore calm, but no actions were taken against those who stormed the Bastille. The storming of the Bastille greatly disturbed a number of nobles, members of the Royal Court fled the country. Marie Antoinette also hoped to flee, feeling it was unwise to remain so close to Paris during the current troubles. She hoped that the King would give orders for them to move to their Château at Saint-Cloud, but Louis XVI insisted that they stay at Versailles. In the summer period called the "Great Fear" peasants revolted through the countryside in fear that the King under pressure from the Queen and her "Austrian committee" would put down the revolution. A great banquet for the Royal guards was held on 1 October 1789, at Versailles. Tales of the banquet spread to Paris where a new bread shortage was looming. Then rumors spread in Paris that the Royals were hoarding all the grain. A hungry and angry mob of peasants decided to march on Versailles. Fortunately, one of the King's courtiers, the young Duc de Fronsac, was in the city at the time and ran on foot through the woods to the Palace to warn Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. An emergency meeting was held to determine what the Royal strategy should be. Marie Antoinette once again repeated her plea that the King and his family flee, but Louis XVI refused insisting that it was his duty to stay. Early in the morning on 5 October 1789, a group of women got together and made a big crowd in the central marketplace of Paris. Marie Antoinette was sitting for the last time on 5 October 1789, in her grotto at Le Petit Trianon when she heard the mob was coming to take the Royal family to Paris. She returned to the Palace of Versailles. When the women got to the Hotel de Ville they numbered around 6,000. As they marched through the streets, more women came out of their houses and off the street to join them. They were armed with pitch forks, muskets, pikes, swords, bludgeons, crowbars, and scythes as they marched through the rain. Aware that she was the primary target of the mob's anger, Marie Antoinette chose to sleep alone that night. She left instructions to the Marquise de Tourzel that she was to take the children straight to the King if there were any disturbances. When the women reached Versailles, they stormed through the gates and demanded to see the Royal family. Marie Antoinette went to bed at 2 in the morning. That night the mob found an unguarded entrance and was directed straight to the apartments of the sleeping Queen. At 4:3o the mob broke in to her bedroom. The Queen's two guards gave their lives to save her, as Madame Campan and her other maids hastily gathered some clothes and underwear, and Marie Antoinette ran from her bed to narrowly elude her attackers. The ladies ran to the King's bedchamber. Madame Élisabeth, was already there, and when the children arrived the doors were locked. A large crowd gathered in the Palace's courtyard and demanded that the Queen come to the balcony. Marie Antoinette appeared in her night-robe, accompanied by her two children. The Queen then stood alone for almost ten minutes, whilst many in the crowd pointed muskets at her. She then bowed her head and returned inside. Some in the mob were so impressed by her bravery that they cried; "Vive la Reine!" The King was scared and overwhelmed by group of people that stood before him. He told the women that he would have all of the bread in Versailles ordered out to them, but more than bread arrived in Paris. The Royal family took carriages on 6 October 1789, in a long procession for Paris. The women's went in front, crying; "We shall now have bread we have brought back the baker, the baker's wife, the baker's boy!" As Marie Antoinette left Versailles, she said to Madame Campan; "When Kings become prisoners they have not long to live!" They were taken to the Tuileries Palace. The Marquis de la Fayette was placed in charge of the Royal family's security. When La Fayette met the Queen, he told her, "Your Majesty is a prisoner. Yes, it's true. Since Her Majesty no longer has her Guard of Honour, she is a prisoner." Marie Antoinette sent a short note to the Austrian ambassador saying, "I'm fine, don't worry." La Fayette was made the head of the National Guard in 1789, but eventually had to flee France. Before departing, Marie Antoinette said; "I can see that Monsieur de Lafayette wishes to save us, but who will save us from Monsieur de Lafayette?" From the beginning of the revolution, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had hopes for a compromise, a constitution that would include the monarchy.  The National Constituent Assembly was drawing up a new constitution which would turn France into a constitutional monarchy. Marie Antoinette held secret communications with the Comte de Mirabeau, a prominent member of the National Constituent Assembly who hoped to restore the authority of the crown. A great meeting was held on 14 July 1790, in the Champ de Mars, and the Royal family was required to attend festivities to celebrate the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. The Assembly, the National Guards, and a great number of people gathered, to hear the King take a solemn oath to be true to the new Constitution. As the Assembly in its turn swore to be faithful to Louis XVI, the Queen lifted the Dauphin in her arms that all might see him and know that he, too, shared in the promises made by the Assembly to their King. The Queen dutifully attended, described the celebrations as symbolizing "everything that is most cruel and sorrowful." The King's cousin, Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, returned from England and publicly proclaimed his support for the revolutionaries, but his Scottish mistress Grace Elliott was a secret Royalist. Mirabeau had an interview with the Queen after the meeting at the Champ de Mars. He kissed her hand, saying, "Madame, the monarchy is saved." In 1790, hope of compromise between the Royals and the revolutionaries dimmed with the creation of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Mirabeau died early in 1791. The National Assembly was dissolved, new deputies were chosen by the people and called the Legislative Assembly. In it sat Robespierre, Danton and Marat. They belonged to the Club of the Jacobins, and were known as Red Republicans. By 1791, both Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had come to the conclusion that the Revolution was going to destroy France. They came to the decision to flee to Montmédy, a Royalist stronghold in the east of France. There they would gather their supporters and foreign assistance, her brother Emperor Leopold II, Catherine II of Russia, the King of Sweden and the King of Prussia had all promised military aid. They hoped that once they had escaped they would be able to negotiate with the revolutionaries. Across the frontier an army awaited them, led by French nobles who had already fled from France. Count Hans Axel von Fersen from his own pocket arranged the needed coach, assumed identity papers and escape plans. At midnight, on 20 June 1791, the Royal couple with their children escaped from Paris. The Dauphin was disguised in his sister's clothes, but this was the only precaution taken to escape discovery. Louis XVI insisted on travelling in a new coach. He also ordered his couriers and bodyguard to wear their yellow liveries. As they journeyed along as quickly as they dared, one of the horses traces broke, and a whole hour was wasted before it was repaired. Their coach was lumbering and slow, it required extra horses and changes and attracted attention. At one change an alert patriot noticed an attractive but familiar woman who issued orders though dressed as a maid. He thought he recognized the Queen and from a gold piece given as a tip recognized the King. They had been recognised and were being followed. They reached the village Varennes, close to the frontier. Here they expected fresh horses, which were ready on the farther bank of the river, but the courier who had gone on before to find them, never dreamed of crossing the bridge to look for the horses and reported to the King that there were none to be found anywhere. Jacques Drouet, the man who had pursued the fugitives had sped ahead and reached Varennes. While the King tried to make the sleepy postillions drive their horses one stage farther, Drouet alarmed the village, blocked and guarded the bridge with the Mayor of Varennes, who demanded the travellers' passports. The Royal party not being allowed to go on, was forced to spend the night in the mayor's house. In the morning the troops sent by the Assembly reached the village, their officer carrying with him an order to arrest the Royal fugitives. As the warrant was handed to Louis XVI, he read it and said sadly; "There is no longer any King of France." They had travelled over 200 miles and were just near the French-Austrian border and loyal troops ready to rescue them. The Royal family was forced to return to Paris. Surrounded by the National Guard as they passed through the streets of the capital, the people watched the Royal family with silence and hostility. Back at the Tuileries, Madame Campan drew the bath for Marie Antoinette, and the Queen removed her hat and veil, both noticed the Queen's blonde hair was now completely white. According to Madame Campan, "The first time I saw her Majesty after the unfortunate catastrophe of the Varennes journey, I found her getting out of bed; her features were not very much altered; but after the first kind words she uttered to me she took off her cap and desired me to observe the effect which grief had produced upon her hair. It had become, in one single night, as white as that of a woman of seventy. Her Majesty showed me a ring she had just had mounted for the Princesse de Lamballe; it contained a lock of her whitened hair, with the inscription, "Blanched by sorrow." At the period of the acceptance of the constitution the Princess wished to return to France. The Queen, who had no expectation that tranquillity would be restored, opposed this; but the attachment of Madame de Lamballe to the royal family impelled her to come and seek death." The Princes of Europe heard of the King and Queen's captivity with anger, and the Holy Roman Emperor, with other sovereigns, demanded that they should be set free. The Red Republicans answer was to send three armies to the frontiers, lest some forces should invade France and restore the King and Queen to freedom. Louis XVI was forced to agree that the armies should be sent, but when the Assembly demanded that he should declare that all the emigrant nobles were traitors, he absolutely refused to do as they wished. Again the people rose, and forced their way into the Tuileries, even into the room where Louis XVI himself stood with his guards and a few friends. Finding themselves in the presence of their King, the rough men shrank back for a moment abashed. Then, pressed forward by those behind, they took courage and shouted that Louis should do as the Assembly wished and denounce the nobles as traitors. Brave and steadfast the King answered; "This is not the time and place to do as you desire." His courage awed the mob, and one of the men handed him a red cap, the symbol of liberty, and Louis put it on his head. The Queen also was offered a red cap, which she put on the head of the little Dauphin. Seeing this the leader of the mob was touched, and said; "Madame, this people loves you more than you think." Marie Antoinette went for the last time to the theatre on 20 February 1792. Her brother, Leopold II died on 1 March 1792. He was succeeded by his son, as Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor (1768-1835). Austria and Prussia threatened France on behalf of the Royal family and France declared war on those powers in April 1792. At the same time, calls for volunteers arose under the cry "Patrie en Danger". In July 1792, as Prussian armies invaded France, the Duke of Brunswick threatened the people of Paris that if any harm came to persons of the King or Queen, serious vengeance would be exacted by the invaders on France. The Tuileries Palace was stormed on 10 August 1792, by the populace. The Royal Family fled the Palace for the National Assembly. They heard the reports of the fall of the Tuileries and massacre of the 900 Swiss guards who had stayed to defend them. The Royal family was removed from the Feuillans to the Temple on 13 August 1792. Twelve Commissioners of the general council were to keep constant watch at the Temple, which had been fortified by earthworks and garrisoned by detachments of the National Guard. The Temple, formerly the headquarters of the Knights Templars in Paris, consisted of two buildings; the Palace, facing the Rue de Temple, and the Tower, standing behind the Palace. The Temple was four stories high. The first consisted of an antechamber, a dining-room, and a small room in the turret, where there was a library. The largest room was the Queen's bedchamber, in which the Dauphin also slept; the second was occupied by Madame Royale and Madame Elisabeth. The King's apartments were on the third story. He slept in the great room, and made a study of the turret closet. The fourth story was shut up; and on the ground floor there were kitchens. The Royal family were accompanied by the Princesse de Lamballe, Madame de Tourzel and her daughter Pauline, Mesdames de Navarre, de Saint-Brice, Thibaut, and Bazire, MM. de Hug and de Chamilly, and three men-servants. An order from the Commune soon removed these devoted attendants, and M. de Hue alone was permitted to return. Madame Royale recalled, "We all passed the day together, my father taught my brother geography; my mother history, and to learn verses by heart; and my aunt gave him lessons in arithmetic. My father fortunately found a library which amused him, and my mother worked tapestry... We went every day to walk in the garden, for the sake of my brother's health, though the King was always insulted by the guard. On the Feast of Saint Louis 'Ca Ira' was sung under the walls of the Temple. Manuel that evening brought my aunt a letter from her aunts at Rome. It was the last the family received from without. My father was no longer called King. He was treated with no kind of respect; the officers always sat in his presence and never took off their hats. They deprived him of his sword and searched his pockets... Petion sent as gaoler the horrible man - who had broken open my father's door on the 20th June, 1792, and who had been near assassinating him. This man never left the Tower, and was indefatigable in endeavouring to torment him. One time he would sing the 'Caramgnole,' and a thousand other horrors, before us; again, knowing that my mother disliked the smoke of tobacco, he would puff it in her face, as well as in that of my father, as they happened to pass him. He took care always to be in bed before we went to supper, because he knew that we must pass through his room. My father suffered it all with gentleness, forgiving the man from the bottom of his heart. My mother bore it with a dignity that frequently repressed his insolence." Manual visited on 3 September 1792, the Temple and assured the King that Princesse de Lamballe and all the other prisoners who had been removed to La Force were well, and safely guarded. According to Madame Royale, "But at three o'clock, just after dinner, and as the King was sitting down to 'tric trac' with my mother, which he played for the purpose of having an opportunity of saying a few words to her unheard by the keepers, the most horrid shouts were heard. The officer who happened to be on guard in the room behaved well. He shut the door and the window, and even drew the curtains to prevent their seeing anything; but outside the workmen and the gaoler Rocher joined the assassins and increased the tumult. Several officers of the guard and the municipality now arrived, and on my father's asking what was the matter, a young officer replied, "Well, since you will know, it is the head of Madame de Lamballe that they want to show you." At these words my mother was overcome with horror; it was the only occasion on which her firmness abandoned her. The municipal officers were very angry with the young man; but the King, with his usual goodness, excused him, saying that it was his own fault, since he had questioned the officer. The noise lasted till five o'clock. We learned that the people had wished to force the door, and that the municipal officers had been enabled to prevent it only by putting a tricoloured scarf across it, and allowing six of the murderers to march round our prison with the head of the Princess, leaving at the door her body, which they would have dragged in also." Clery had gone down to dine with Tison and his wife, employed as servants in the Temple, "We were hardly seated when a head, on the end of a pike, was presented at the window. Tison's wife gave a great cry; the assassins fancied they recognised the Queen's voice, and responded by savage laughter. Under the idea that his Majesty was still at table, they placed their dreadful trophy where it must be seen. It was the head of the Princesse de Lamballe; although bleeding, it was not disfigured, and her light hair, still in curls, hung about the pike." At length the immense mob that surrounded the Temple gradually withdrew, "to follow the head of the Princess de Lamballe to the Palais Royal." The pike that bore the head was fixed before the Duc d'Orleans's window as he was going to dinner. It is said that he looked at this horrid sight without horror, went into the dining-room, sat down to table, and helped his guests without saying a word. Madame Royale recalled, "My aunt and I heard the drums beating to arms all night, my unhappy mother did not even attempt to sleep. We heard her sobs." The National Convention was constituted on 21 September 1792. It was decided that Louis XVI should be brought to trial for treason on 3 December 1792. A deputation from the Commune brought an order on 7 December 1792, that the Royal family should be deprived of "knives, razors, scissors, penknives, and all other cutting instruments." The Queen had frequently to take on herself some of the humble duties of a servant. This was especially painful to Louis XVI when the anniversary of some State festival brought the contrast between past and present before him. He exclaimed; "Ah, Madame; what an employment for a Queen of France! Could they see that at Vienna! Who would have foreseen that, in uniting your lot to mine, you would have descended so low?" Marie Antoinette replied; "And do you esteem as nothing; the glory of being the wife of one of the best and most persecuted of men? Are not such misfortunes the noblest honours?"  The Mayor of Paris, Chambon, accompanied by Chaumette, Procureur de la Commune, Santerre, commandant of the National Guard, and others, arrived at the Temple on 11 December 1792 and read a decree to the King, which ordered that "Louis Capet" should be brought before the Convention.  According to Madame Royale, "It is impossible to describe the anxiety we suffered. My mother used every endeavour with the officer who guarded her to discover what was passing; it was the first time she had condescended to question any of these men. He would tell her nothing." Citizen Capet was found guilty by the National Convention and condemned to death on 18 January 1793, as, "guilty of conspiracy against the liberty of the nation and a crime against the general safety of the State." He was allowed one last farewell supper with his family on 20 January 1793. Louis XVI was taken to the guillotine on 21 January 1793. Marie Antoinette collapsed when she heard the crowds cheer her husband's death. According to her daughter, "She no longer had any hope left in her heart or distinguished between life and death." Commissioners arrived on the night of 3 July 1793, with instructions to separate her son from the rest of his family. Exiled Royalists proclaimed the Dauphin, King Louis XVII upon the death of his father. As a result the republican government decided to imprison the eight-year-old child in solitary confinement. Louis flung himself into his mother's arms crying hysterically, and Marie Antoinette shielded him with her body, refusing to let them have him. The commissioners threatened to kill her if she did not give them the child, but she still refused until they threatened to kill Marie Thérèse Charlotte. Her son was put under the care of Simon, a cobbler and one of the Commissaires of the Commune. It was resolved that Marie Antoinette should be tried on 1 August 1793. Marie Antoinette was awakened by guards at 2 a.m. on 2 August 1793, and transferred to the Conciergerie Prison. According to her daughter, Marie Thérèse Charlotte, "On the 2d of August, at two o'clock in the morning, the municipal officers "awoke us," to read to my mother the decree of the Convention, which ordered her removal to the Conciergerie, preparatory to her trial. She heard it without visible emotion, and without speaking a single word. My aunt and I immediately asked to be allowed to accompany my mother, but this favour was refused us. All the time my mother was making up a bundle of clothes to take with her, these officers never left her. She was even obliged to dress herself before them, and they asked for her pockets, taking away the trifles they contained. She embraced me, charging me to keep up my spirits and my courage, to take tender care of my aunt, and obey her as a second mother. She then threw herself into my aunt’s arms, and recommended her children to her care; my aunt replied to her in a whisper, and she was then hurried away. In leaving the Temple she struck her head against the wicket, not having stooped low enough. The officers asked whether she had hurt herself. 'No,' she replied, 'nothing can hurt me now.'" Marie Antoinette was lodged in the council chamber in La Conciergerie. She was watched over, day and night. Marie Antoinette appeared before her judges on 14 October 1793. Hebert said that Louis Charles Capet knew of very premature vices for his age, that Simon had learned that he derived this from his mother. Marie Antoinette made no reply. Urged to explain herself, Marie Antoinette said, with extraordinary emotion; "I thought that human nature would excuse me from answering such an imputation, but I appeal from it to the heart of every mother here present." This noble and simple reply affected all who heard it. The president of the revolutionary court pronounced; "The Tribunal, as declared by unanimous jury, responding to the indictment of the public prosecutor, according to the laws cited by him, condemned the Marie-Antoinette, said Lorraine of Austria, widow of Louis Capet, the death penalty; declares, in accordance with the Act of March 10, its property, if it was in French territory, are acquired and forfeited to the Republic; ordered at the request of the accuser public, this trial will be run on Revolution Square, in printed and posted throughout France."

 

 Secret Mass for Marie Antoinette by Abbé Magnin
1793
La Conciergerie

"No one understands my ills, nor the terror that fills my breast, who does not know the heart of a mother."

A secret mass was held for Marie Antoinette in her chamber by Abbé Magnin. Attended by Marie Antoinette, Miss Fouché and two soldiers. As daylight appeared, Marie Antoinette was given a few pieces of paper. She wrote her last letter to her sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, at 4.30 am, on 16 October 1793, in Conciergerie. The letter never reached its destination. It was handed to the Public Prosecutor. He retained it.

"October 16, 1793 at 4.30 am

It is you, my sister, that I am writing for the last time. I have been sentenced to death but not a death that is shameful, for it is only shameful for criminals, but to be reunited with your brother. Like him, innocent, I hope to display the same firmness as he did in his last moments. I am as calm as one is when one's conscience holds no reproach. I deeply regret having to leave behind my poor children. You know that I lived only for them and for you, my dear good sister. In what a situation I leave you, who out of your affection has sacrificed everything to be with us!... All that is left is for me to confide in you my last thoughts. I should have liked to have written them down before the start of the trial but quite apart from the fact that I was not allowed to write, events took place so rapidly that I really did not have the time. I die in the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman faith, that of my fathers, in which I was brought up and which I have always acknowledged. Having no hope of spiritual consolation and not even knowing if there are still any priests of my faith here and if so, whether the place at which I am would endanger them too much, I simply ask God for forgiveness for all my trespasses. I hope that He in His love will hear my prayers kindly and will receive my soul mercifully. I ask all those whom I know, especially you, my sister, to forgive me for any unhappiness I may unwittingly have caused them. I forgive all my enemies the wrongs they have done to me. I now say farewell to my aunts, brothers and sisters. I used to have friends; the thought of being separated from them for ever, and their unhappiness, will pain me even in my death; let them know at least that I thought of them until the last moment. Adieu, my dear and good sister. I hope this letter will reach you. Think of me always. I embrace you from the bottom of my heart and also my dear poor children. My God, it breaks my heart having to leave them for ever. Goodbye, goodbye. Now I must devote myself only to my spiritual duties. Since I am not able to act freely they will perhaps send me a constitutional priest; however, I declare here and now that I shall have nothing to say to him and shall treat him as a complete stranger." Her hair was cut and her hands tied.

Marie Antoinette

16th October 1793

Marie Antoinette left at 11 o'clock, on Wednesday, 16 October 1793, La Conciergerie. Wearing a white underdress she stepped into a two-wheeled cart accompanied by l'Abbé Girard, Priest from Saint-Landry.

Marie Antoinette driven to the execution accompanied by l'Abbé Girard, Priest from Saint-Landry on 16th October 1793

by Henri Joseph Fradel

La Conciergerie

"I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all."

On reaching the foot of the scaffold l'Abbé Girard whispered; "This is the moment, Madame, to arm yourself with courage." Marie Antoinette replied; "Courage? The moment when my troubles are going to end is not the moment when my courage is going to fail me." On the scaffold Marie Antoinette accidentally stepped on the executioner's foot, and her last words were; "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose." Marie Antoinette was harshly pushed on to the guillotine plank, her head placed in the vice, she was bound, and at 12:15, 16 October 1793, the blade fell, to loud cheers all round. The executioner, Sanson raised her bleeding head high, for all to see, while he shouted; "Live the Republic!" Later her head was thrown in the cart between her legs. Her body was left on the grass before being dumped in an unmarked grave at the La Madeleine cemetery. Jacques Hébert wrote in the newspaper, Le Père Duchesne that Marie Antoinette was, "bold and impudent to the very end." During the Bourbon Restoration bones that were presumably of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were found on 18 January 1815. Their remains were interred on 21 January 1815, in the Crypt of the Saint-Denis Basilica, in Saint-Denis, France.

"I was a Queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long." Marie Antoinette

Excerpts and Sources: The Guardian of Marie Antoinette Letters from the Comte De Mercy-Argenteau, Austrian Ambassador to the Court of Versailles to Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, Memoirs of Marie Antoinette by Madame Campan, Memoirs of Madame Vigée Le Brun by Marie-Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun and Mémoires de Madame Royale, Duchesse d'Angoulême by Marie Thérèse Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angoulême.