Page 33 - All About History - Issue 27-15

The Hated Queen: Marie Antoinette

crucially, he was a man who could be easily originally the gossip of court filtered outside the
convinced by loud, persuasive people – his new palace walls and filled the pages of the libelles, the A queen’s
wife was one such person. slanderous pamphlets published across France. favourite things
The moment Marie stepped through the doors To the writers and readers of these, the lack of an
of Versailles she was surrounded by courtiers heir obviously meant that the queen was courting The extravagant purchases that
far older and more experienced than her, who other men, and her excessive wardrobe came drove a nation to loathing
opposed everything she represented – an alliance across as grandiose at a time when her people
between France and Austria. Marie was denied the were starving. The revolutionary propaganda that
common method any young queen would employ was already bubbling leapt upon this image of
to solidify her position – producing an heir – as an idiotic, shameless queen and refused to let it
Louis was unable to consummate the marriage go. Little did Marie know, while she focused on
for seven long years. Her awkward and humiliated cementing her place as queen, the destruction of
husband shrank smaller and smaller under the the royal authority had already begun, and she
knowing smirks of the members of was to serve as the centrepiece.
court, but shrinking was the last After the royal couple were finally
thing Marie had on her mind. able to produce an heir, the queen
Marie dressed for success. transformed from a party girl to
She robed herself in a huge a stern, self-controlled woman. 258,000 LIVRES A YEAR
array of luxurious silk But this change came too late;
dresses, placed her dainty Thequeen, the revolution gaining speed
hands into scented gloves, eternally outside the palace walls had Wardrobe
stood strong in high modest,hada already decided exactly what Officially,Mariehadafixedallowanceof120,000
heels and literally made specialrobemade sort of person she was. The livres for clothes and accessories. However, she
oftenexceededthisquiteconsiderably.Although
herself taller with her forhersothat country was in debt, huge shewassupposedtorestrictherordersto36
towering pouf hairstyle. shecouldbathe debt, and it was the common dressesforsummerandanother36forwinter,for
She broke court traditions, fullyclothed people who were feeling thefashionablequeenthissimplywasn’tenough.
abandoning heavy make-up the sting. Marie, deemed Combined with the 18 pairs of gloves and four pairs
ofshoesorderedforheronaweeklybasis,Marie’s
and replacing wide-hooped responsible thanks to her wardrobe filled three separate rooms at Versailles.
panniers with simple feminine trivial expenditures, was dubbed
dresses that complemented ‘Madame Déficit’. This was not
her full figure. Her costume was without truth – Marie spent more than
strategy for survival; it sent a loud any other person in France, bestowing
and clear message – “I can do exactly her favourites with gifts and reluctant to tax
what I please” – and this message filtered into her her aristocrat chums. The expenses of court were
lifestyle. As her husband slept, she partied into the huge, and outside the people were starving. 500,000+ LIVRES
early hours, gossiping with friends and attending But Marie was fighting her own battles. Her
masked balls. She commissioned a painting of husband, after suffering from bouts of depression,
herself riding in the style of a man and she even had withdrawn his power in government and she
dared to own a property independently of her was the only one able to cement the authority Hameau de la Reine
husband. The young Austrian was making waves; of monarchy in his place. Despite her own Marie, constantly surrounded by the rigid structure
if tradition wouldn’t accept her, then she would mother’s advice to avoid meddling in politics, the andresponsibilityofcourtlife,orderedthe
construction of this hamlet as a place of escape.
smash it to pieces. queen emerged as a powerful political force, and Hameau de la Reine was a working farm designed
The older generation at court didn’t like this without the support of her husband was forced to inrustic,pastoralstyle.There,Marie,herchildren
one bit – a frivolous, air-headed girl they could grapple for the power of the monarchy against an and friends would dress up as simple peasants,
milkthecowsandsheepandenjoythesimplicityof
handle, but an ambitious and stubborn foreign assembly growing less and less faithful. the fantasy retreat, while outside the starving and
woman who didn’t know her place? That was far On the surface she was iron, but underneath strugglesofrealFrenchpeasantscontinued.
more dangerous. Before she had even finished Marie was shaken by the uprising outside the
her teens Marie was making enemies. What was palace walls. She had made hasty efforts to

6-10 MILLION LIVRES

As revolution washed
over France, the people
called for Marie's blood
Château de Saint-Cloud
After falling pregnant again in 1784, Marie convinced
the king to purchase this extravagant palace for
her on the premise that the air of the commune
would be beneficial to her children. As well as the
substantial 6 million livres price tag, Marie poured
money into redecorating and rebuilding parts of
the building and gardens. The French people were
shocked, not only at the irresponsible spending
but also at the prospect of a queen independently
owning her own residence.

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