Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002 Page: 19
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The pamphlets were published on secret
printing presses in Paris (and some in
London), and were circulated, at first, by
the courtiers who were not part of the
queen's tiny circle of friends. The pam-
phlets libeled the queen in every form
and fashion, from spending too much on
clothes, gambling, and dancing poorly, to
more sexually insulting accusations. It is
unclear who the authors of such scandal-
ous writings were, but Beaumarchis is
known to have written several, as well as
the pornographer, Restif de la Britonne,
and even the Revolutionary Mirabeau.
Libels involving the queen paid good
money and, therefore, attracted even the
most distinguished writer. The interest
in the pamphlets generated among the
French people, resulted partly from the
flamboyant personality of Marie Antoi-
nette. She stood out among the royals
because of her colorful style and charm-
ing allure. Her Austrian nationality
made her more apparent and she would
probably not have been so noticeable to
the masses if she had been a native
Frenchwoman.23 The Revolutionaries
originally focused their negative propa-
ganda on Marie Antoinette's extrava-
gances at court, even though royals had
behaved in this fashion since the reign
of Louis XIV.
After she became queen, Marie An-
toinette unwittingly proceeded to carve a
private niche for herself, a choice that
would eventually be her undoing. After
the death of Louis XV, and upon be-
coming queen, Marie Antoinette began
to change the etiquette of Versailles.
She was determined to enjoy herself and
relaxed the stuffy formality of court life.
She immediately received criticism from
the older nobles, but her mother had
taught her that aristocrats had no partic-
ular right to their privileges and she ig-
nored their murmurings. One source of
scandal against Marie Antoinette was
the extravagant amount of money spent
on her country get-away, the Petit Tri-
anon (Little Trianon). She had acquired
the "little garden" retreat at Versailles
after the death of Louis XV. It had be-
longed to the old king's mistress, Ma-
dame du Barry, and most were pleased
when Louis XVI gave it to the new
queen. It was only a mile from the pal-
ace of Versailles, but it became Marie
Antoinette's escape where "one could
breathe the air of happiness and free-
dom."24 Only a few were invited and
while there, the manners and dress were
relaxed and informal. Marie Antoinette
wasted no time, however, in redecorat-
ing the rooms in the utmost luxury,
causing stories to circulate about the
amount of money she spent on her toy
palace.Confused by her relationship with
Louis, Marie Antoinette found outlets
for her frustrations in races, hunting par-
ties, masked balls, plays, operas, gam-
bling, clothes and jewels. Her young
friends and favorites surrounded her,
including her younger brother-in-law,
Artois, who was almost always involved
in the frivolities. She often rode astride
and loved to go sledding, organizing
sledging parties, which reminded her of
her Austrian childhood. These sledging
parties became popular with the young
courtiers and made an enchanting spec-
tacle.25 She was indeed imprudent enjoy-
ing the freedom of restraint at Petit Tri-
anon, which was reminiscent of her
freedom at the court of Vienna and was
regarded as barbarism at the court of
Versailles. Many felt that this frivolity
and playfulness at Petit Trianon was ex-
tremely derogatory to the dignity of the
queen and every gossiping tongue in
Paris was soon magnifying her indiscre-
tions.26
Many of Marie Antoinette's entourage
were men, including the Duc de Lauzun,
the Prince de Ligne, the Baron de Bes-
enval, the Due de Coigny, the Marquis
de Segur, the Comte de Vaudreuil, the
Comte d'Adhemar, and the Vicomte
Dillon. Therefore, it was understandable
that rumors should circulate about her
involvement with her "chevaliers ser-
vants." By appearing in public with these
men, against the express wishes of the
King, Marie Antoinette opened herself
to the scandalmongers and pornogra-
phers. An innocent mistake by Marie
Antoinette once involved the Duc de
Lauzun and a plume of white heron's
feathers. Admiring the plume worn on
his hat, she had made a remark to one
of her ladies in waiting, who then re-
ported it to the due. The next morning,
the duc sent the plume to the queen,
who was embarrassed and unwilling to
accept it. Fearing though that she might
offend the duc, she kept it and wore it
once. This story immediately became
known as "the Heron's Plume" affair,
and in prose and verse, Marie Antoi-
nette was accused of receiving gifts from
gentlemen lovers.27 The Prince de Ligne,
a gentleman in his 40s from the Austrian
Netherlands, known for his honesty,
commented, "I never saw anything in
her company which was other than dis-
tinguished by elegance, good feeling and
taste."28 He described her flirtatiousness
as "only from friendliness and reserved
for very few people, while there was also
that natural coquetterie of a woman and
a queen intended to please everyone."29
The queen also had a real fondness
for her female friends, three in particu-
lar, Therese Louise de Savoie-Carignan,Princess de Lambelle, Yolande de Polas-
tron, Comtesse de Polignac, and the
Princess de Guemenee. Her desire to
please her friends resulted in Marie An-
toinette spending much more on them
than she ever spent on clothing or jew-
elry for herself. Her attempts to be gen-
erous and considerate to those she loved
caused understandable jealousy at court
and gave her enemies fodder for the vile
rumors, which circulated about her.
Pamphlets described Versailles as "that
school for dangerous women."30 Marie
Antoinette's brother, Joseph, reported to
their mother that his sister was acting
slightly improper, wanting the privileges
and indulgences of monarchy, while pre-
tending to be a private individual. Marie
Antoinette did want to create her own
private entity and she used her authority
to shower gifts, money, and offices upon
her favorites.31 There is no proof, how-
ever, that Marie Antoinette participated
in any lesbian acts, and most historians
believe that her overall demonstrative
behavior was nothing more than adoles-
cent crushes resulting from the frustra-
tion of an unsatisfying marriage.32
Many viewed her extravagant behavior
and passion for fashion as "excessively"
female. Her obsession with adornment
was compared to a prostitute and earned
her the nickname "the Trinket
Queen."33 Before she ever arrived in
France, Marie Antoinette was encour-
aged to appreciate the fashions of Paris,
being sent little fashion dolls from Ver-
sailles demonstrating how the various
dresses looked when worn. She was im-
mediately fascinated and wrote enthusi-
astically about them in her diary (July
12, 1769). On July 15, 1769, she com-
ments about the Countess de Noailles,
her future lady of honor, and the fifteen
pages of fashion etiquette that she had
to learn. She expressed her hope that
the Countess would not be too strict
about these rules.34 She did overspend
on clothing, on an average buying more
than 170 creations a year, and exceeding
her dress allowance by an annual 40,000
livres. She also shared a popular taste
for English fashion, which offended tra-
ditional Frenchmen, who deeply dis-
trusted an excessive love of anything En-
glish. Her worst extravagance overall was
diamonds, although Madame Campan
later reported in her memoirs that
Marie's first purchases were modest and
purchased from her own purse.35 August
Boehmer, a Jewish jeweler from Ger-
many, sold her a pair of diamond soli-
tary earrings, which began Marie Antoi-
nette's infamous jewelry spending spree.
When Maria Theresa learned of her
daughter's needless extravagances, she
chastised her and warned her that "a19
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Howard Payne University. Texas Journal of Genealogy and History, Volume I, Fall 2002, periodical, 2002; Brownwood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth599838/m1/22/: accessed May 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Howard Payne University Library.