Marie Antoinette

She was married to Louis Auguste, the heir to the French throne in 1770 when she was just 14 years old. The marriage was not a happy one. She was rumored to have taken many lovers to compensate for her unsatisfactory married life. She had four children—their parentage was a topic of debate.

After the fall of monarchy in France, she was tried on several charges and found guilty. She was sentenced to death and was beheaded on 16 October 1793 when she was 38 years old.

She was born as Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna in Austria as the 15th child of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa.

As an 18th century aristocratic girl she was trained in dance, music and appearance. She was taught Italian, French and German, the languages the imperial family was fluent in. She was also tutored in music and could play the harpsichord, spinet and clavichord. She was a skilled dancer in her youth and was appreciated for her grace.

‘The Seven Years’ War involving most of the great powers of Europe ended in 1763, and the relations between Austria and France were fragile at that time. The Austrian Empress Maria Theresa proposed a matrimonial alliance between her daughter Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste, the heir to the French throne, in order to cement relations between the two nations.

The couple was married in a lavish wedding ceremony on 16th May 1770 as more than 5,000 guests watched. Both the bride and the groom were just teenagers at the time of their wedding. Though it was customary for the royal couples to consummate their marriage on the wedding night itself, the couple did not consummate their wedding for the next seven years.

Marie Antoinette was given the title of Dauphine of France upon her marriage. Initially she was much loved by the French public for youthful charms. She was delicately built, with fair skin, blonde hair and beautiful eyes, and captivated the people with her angelic beauty.

The King Louis XV passed away in 1774 and Louis Auguste succeeded him to the French throne as Louis XVI. The king and the queen had a difficult relationship and personality clashes were frequent. In order to distract herself from her troublesome marriage the queen indulged herself in partying and gambling.

Due to marital discord she had several affairs for which she was scorned upon. She was also a lavish spender and did not control her extravagances even when France was going through a period of financial turmoil.

Marie Antoinette was the woman who played the biggest role in instigating the French Revolution. She was the last queen of France who though initially liked by her subjects fell to disgrace with her lavish spending and extravagance. She was famously cited as asking the people to eat cake when informed about the shortage of bread.