The last Queen of France is probably among the most maligned women in history. Remembered above all for the infamous phrase “Let them eat cake!”, she is perceived as insensitive, cruel, and completely out-of-touch with the people she ruled.

In reality, Marie Antoinette was modest, popular with her subjects before her spectacular fall from grace, and the chances of her ever saying that sentence are practically zero. The black legend that surrounds her is a result of misinterpretation, a xenophobic and misogynistic court, and the socio-economic situation in France at the time. 

Marie was fourteen when she was married to Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France. Her French was poor, so a tutor was hired to teach the young Dauphine. Contrary to popular opinion, Marie was incredibly sharp and she quickly picked up anything she was competently taught — her previous poor education was due to a bad choice of tutor. She was presented to the people of France as a youthful goddess, and the marriage was popular with many due to her beauty and personable nature. Those opposed to the union were mostly those who disliked the alliance with Austria, and so they hated Marie automatically.

However, in her first years at court, Marie was generally well-liked, and with reason. During a fireworks display celebrating the wedding, there was a stampede and many people were killed; Louis and Marie Antoinette subsequently gave up all their private funds for a year to relieve the suffering of the victims and their families. This endeared them greatly to the public, and they continued to take the practice of almsgiving incredibly seriously for the duration of their reign.

Marie soon gained a reputation for being kind and merciful. She was indulgent with her household, interested in their lives, and she was, despite outward appearance, actually quite frugal. Her supposed taste for extravagance was a rumour crafted from her interest in court life, which was more likely a distraction from her unhappy marriage than anything else. Though it is true that Marie did sometimes overspend on fashion and such like, she favoured simplicity above all else.

When she and her husband became King and Queen, Marie requested that the common people be relieved of something called ‘the Queen’s belt’, famously quipping ‘Queens no longer wear belts’. Among her other deeds were adopting three poor children to be raised alongside her own, paying for the education and financial support of others, building cottages for peasant families, distributing food for the hungry, and starting a home for unwed mothers at the palace. She encouraged her eldest daughter, the Madame Royale, to forgo her Christmas presents and to wait on the poor as equals, and she and Louis were patrons of the Maison Philanthropique, which helped the aged, blind, and widows.

All who were acquainted with the Queen’s private qualities knew that she equally deserved attachment and esteem. Kind and patient to excess in her relations with her household, she indulgently considered all around her, and interested herself in their fortunes and in their pleasures.

Madame Campan, in her memoirs

So, how did this woman end up with people baying for her blood?

First, Louis refused to consummate their marriage for seven years. Questions over this arose, and people began to suggest that the young, beautiful queen was promiscuous and having affairs with other noble men at court. There is no solid evidence to suggest this is true, but the rumour stuck, and when she had her first child, a daughter, in December 1778, the girl’s paternity was contested, as was the paternity of all Marie Antoinette’s children.

Then, as already mentioned, Marie’s spending on clothes was perceived to be extortionate. She never wore the same outfit twice and dresses were expensive and time-consuming to make. On the surface, this does appear incredibly wasteful, but the truth is that she probably didn’t spend that much money; she had a taste for simpler fashions and did away with the typical hoop skirts of the day. Even so, she managed to acquire the nickname ‘Madame Deficit’.

Distrust of foreigners and Austrians in particular only grew in France, and so Marie’s increasing interest and influence in politics — at a time when the Revolution was just beginning — was suspicious to say the least. She was l’Autrichienne, and so they thought nothing was beneath her, and even rumours of lesbianism began to spread.

By this point, Marie Antoinette’s reputation was beyond saving, and it seemed that no one was willing to even try. The monarchy’s official press had never paid much attention to the queen and they remained silent, never bothering to address or counter the accusations made against her. The pamphlets became more and more outrageous in their descriptions of her supposed lovers, and Marie became the corruptive force against legitimate government, guilty of twisting her weak husband to her own, deviant will.

Like dominoes, it all began to fall. Louis became ill and their oldest son, the dauphin, was sickly. The monarchy was collapsing and Marie fell into a depressive state, though she still tried her best to keep everyone else afloat. She was the one who orchestrated their escape attempt; theoretically, she could have left alone, but she refused to go without her husband or children.

Within a day, the family had been caught and escorted back to Paris. Now, the once-adored queen was reviled, the people crying out for her blood. So deep did the prejudices run, that even Thomas Jefferson said “had there been no queen there would have been no Revolution,” which is almost certainly untrue.

King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine on 21st January 1793. The ‘Widow Capet’, as the queen was now known, was plunged into mourning and she was separated from her children. Her eight year old son, Louis Charles, was handed over to the Paris Commune and was soon turned against his mother. Marie Antoinette’s fate was in question for months, with some advocating a prisoner exchange, and others for exile.

The argument that eventually won out was death. Marie was put on trial, the outcome likely already decided, and was, among other things, accused of treason, adultery, and conspiracy. The most scandalous of the charges, though, was incest, and accusation made by Louis Charles himself, having been pressured into it. She responded with intelligence, despite only having been given a day to prepare, but, early on 16th October 1793, Marie Antoinette was declared guilty.

That very same day, she took her final journey to the scaffold, where she was guillotined, aged just 37. Her last words were “Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose” (“Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas fait exprès”), after stepping on her executioner’s foot.

Sources:

• Barker, Nancy N., ‘”Let Them Eat Cake”: The Mythical Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution’, The Historian (Kingston), 55.4 (1993), 709–24
• https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/marie-antoinette-facts-life-death-cake-buried/
• https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/the-final-days-of-marie-antoinette/
• http://www.marie-antoinette.org/articles/reputation/