Marie Antoinette

The queen of France famed for her extravagance and fashion, executed during the Revolution.

Life

Austrian princess

Marie Antoinette was the daughter of the Austrian empress Maria Theresa. She married the French dauphin at 14 and became queen at 18.

Versailles fashion

She set the fashion at Versailles, and her towering hairstyles and lavish clothing were eagerly imitated; she also built a rustic village at the Petit Trianon, where she played at being a shepherdess. Court spending and the scandal of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace made her the focus of popular hatred, and she was nicknamed "Madame Deficit."

Guillotine

After the royal family was deposed in 1792, she was held in the Temple tower and the Conciergerie, and was sent to the guillotine on October 16, 1793.

Legacy

Marie Antoinette is one of the most famous tragic figures of the French Revolution.

Did you know? The line "If there is no bread, let them eat cake" is often attributed to her, but there is no evidence she ever said it, and Rousseau recorded a similar remark before she married into France.

Key dates

• 1770Married the French dauphin
• 1774Became queen
• 1785Affair of the Diamond Necklace
• 1791Failed flight with the king
• 1793Executed