It was the scandal that shook France and permanently damaged Marie Antoinette’s reputation.
But did the so-called “Diamond Necklace Affair” really bring down the Queen Consort and her husband, King Louis XVI, and spark the French Revolution?
That’s the question explored in the fourth episode of the Daily Mail’s new podcast. Queens, Kings and Cowardly Things.
Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and his co-presenter, historian Kate Williams, delve into Marie Antoinette’s astonishing extravagance and the chain of events that led to her losing her head on the guillotine in 1793.
The scandalous sale of a necklace – then the most expensive in the world – that the ailing King Louis XV had ordered for his lover has been revealed.
Marie Antoinette became inextricably caught up in the public outcry that followed, but Professor Williams and Mr Hardman reveal that not all was as it seemed.
Listen to the latest episode now:
Did the so-called “Affair of the Diamond Necklace” really bring down Marie Antoinette and the King of France, Louis XVI? Pictured: Jason Schwartzman as Louis XVI and Kirsten Dunst in the title role of Sophie Coppola’s 2006 film, Marie Antoinette
The necklace, made up of 647 stones and weighing almost 2,800 carats, was the most expensive in the world, valued at around $20 million today. It had been designed by Louis XV’s jewelers, the prestigious Boehmer and Bassange, for his mistress, Madame du Barry.
Marie Antoinette was the daughter of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor.
She betrothed her to King Louis XVI in order to strengthen ties between France and Austria, her native country.
Marie Antoinette was only 14 and Louis only 15 when they married and received jewels worth two million francs from their French father-in-law.
The Queen would also receive many more jewels from her husband over the years of their marriage.
The sparkly pieces were fitting for a woman many consider to be the first celebrity, someone who easily overshadowed her rather boring husband.
Her smile was said to have a “charm” that could conquer “the most brutal of her enemies.”
Her jewelry collection was by far the largest of any French queen and was rivaled only by Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
By the end of 1776, Marie Antoinette had a dress allowance of 150,000 livres, at a time when the average price of a house in a French city was 200 livres.
Marie Antoinette was only 14 and Louis only 15 when they married and received jewels worth two million francs from their French father-in-law.
There were no jewels in sight when Marie Antoinette was guillotined in 1793.
As he gambled, partied and splurged on whatever he wanted, he amassed nearly £500,000 in banknotes.
Versailles was the centre of fashion at its height. Wigs were powdered and decorated with ribbons, feathers, flowers, fruit and even stuffed birds.
The Queen had a personal hairdresser who designed her own 4-foot-high coiffure that featured a replica of the French warship La Belle Poule, with four masts, sails and jeweled portholes.
Marie Antoinette’s greatest passion was her jewels.
Louis plundered the French crown jewels to allow his queen to indulge her passion for rubies, and she was also a particular fanatic of pearls.
While she was being painted adorned with pearl necklaces and other shiny pieces, the French economy was in crisis.
Crops failed, peasants starved, and rumors spread about the queen.
They focused not only on his notable excesses, but also on his serial infidelities.
But it was the necklace affair of 1785 that many scholars believe paved the way for her execution.
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The necklace, made up of 647 stones weighing almost 2,800 carats, was the most expensive in the world, valued at around 20 million dollars today.
It was designed by Louis XV’s jewelers, the esteemed Boehmer and Bassange, for his mistress, Madame du Barry.
However, Louis died before the piece could be finished, so Boehmer and Bassange attempted to sell the necklace to Marie Antoinette and the new King Louis VI.
But the royal couple refused to buy it and the queen urged Boehmer to divide it up and sell it in several pieces.
Enter the impoverished aristocrat Joan of Valois-Saint-Rémy, who had become the mistress of the powerful Cardinal de Rohan, former French ambassador to Vienna.
He was eager to regain the queen’s favor after she removed him from office believing he was causing trouble with her mother.
The cardinal was encouraged by Valois-Saint-Rémy to write to the queen.
What I didn’t know was that the Queen’s affectionate responses were written from Valois-Saint-Rémy.
Believing that Marie Antoinette was in love with him, the cardinal was persuaded to meet a woman he was told was the queen.
In fact, this woman was a prostitute who had been hired by De Valois-Saint-Rémy to impersonate the queen.
He podcast It is introduced by Mail columnist and royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Professor Kate Williams.
When the cardinal received a supposed letter from the queen asking him to arrange the purchase of the diamond necklace for her, he set about doing so.
After showing Boehmer and Bassange the correspondence as proof and giving them a deposit, the cardinal received the necklace in the belief that he would deliver it to the queen.
But instead he gave it to Valois-Saint-Rémy, who promised that he would give it to Marie Antoinette.
The mistress then sold the jewels that comprised it on the black market.
When Boehmer requested payment from the queen, she sincerely insisted that she knew nothing.
Despite her innocence in this particular scandal, in the eyes of the public Marie Antoinette was guilty.
Many believed that here was evidence of wrongdoing and even more unjustifiable extravagance.
When she visited Paris shortly after giving birth to her fourth child, Marie Antoinette was greeted in “perfect, cold silence” by the crowd.
She was also nicknamed ‘Madame Deficit’ and was said to be a heavy drinker, a lesbian and sexually voracious.
Even Napoleon would later say: “The death of the Queen must be dated from the trial of the diamond necklace.”
Marie Antoinette and her husband were captured when they tried to flee Paris in June 1791.
Marie Antoinette was very extravagant, but even she did not want the necklace that Louis XV had made for his mistress.
The impoverished aristocrat Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy played a key role in the necklace scandal
This happened two years after the storming of the Bastille and the confrontation between the royal family and the starving citizens in the courtyard of Versailles.
It was there that, according to legend, Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake.” She didn’t actually say those words, but the myth has endured.
Nine months after her husband’s execution, Marie Antoinette was tried and found guilty of exaggerated charges including high treason, promiscuity, and incest with her son.
On October 16, 1793, her head was cut off and presented before the cheering crowd.
Did the diamond necklace affair trigger the fall of the French monarchy?
Listen to the last episode of Queens, Kings and Cowardly Things Now wherever you get your podcasts to hear the expert verdict from Professor Williams and Mr Hardman.
Robert Hardman is the author of books such as Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II and Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story.
Professor Kate Williams is the author of the recent book The Royal Palaces: Secrets and Scandals, along with many other works.