That Austrian Whore: Why Marie Antoinette Was Hated

For years, I looked at famous figures in history in a one-dimensional way:  I saw them as the stiff-spined and pinch-faced people staring back from text books or old portraits.
 I eventually learned to look beyond the prune faces and beneath the starched petticoats; I learned how to see people and not portraits or myths. Henry VIII went from being a fat ogre to a fiery hot-head and smooth politician. Before my eyes, Napoleon was transformed from a short dictator to a master of public relations and Elizabeth I from a severe and pale-faced figure to a masterful ruler and manipulator. Scratching the surface of a person, learning what lies beyond their polite smiles and icy glares is a challenge, but it is also rewarding.

I have been accused of romanticizing or waxing poetic about Marie Antoinette. That simply is not the case. I do not have rose-colored glasses on where the Queen is concerned.  Marie Antoinette, is a multi-faceted person. My view of her is as multi-dimensional as a prism - I recognize her positive characteristics and cringe at her negative ones.

So today, I will not write about Marie Antoinette's sharp sense of style and unswerving loyalty and generosity.  I will discuss a few of her flaws and more irritating habits.


Marie Antoinette could be an ingrate. Knowing how much his wife delighted in the amusements of simple life, Louis XVI decided to make Marie Antoinette a spinning wheel. After spending hours in his workshop constructing the wheel, he proudly presented it to her. In her book, To The Scaffold, Carolly Erickson writes, "She was charmed, she thanked him warmly - and as soon as he had gone, gave the spinning wheel away." One imagines the big, awkward king, like a kid proudly showing off his artwork. His reward for his thoughtful efforts?  A polite smile and a pat on the rear as he was scooted out the door.

Marie Antoinette could be thoughtless. Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had different interests and kept different schedules. Marie Antoinette liked chit-chat, a swirl of activity, and staying up late. Louis was uncomfortable engaging in idle or pointless conversation, was content to work with his hands, and liked to be to bed promptly at 11 PM. One night, early in their marriage, Marie Antoinette contrived a plan to get him to bed early so she could go out on the town. With the help of Louis's younger brother, she set the clock ahead. As the clock chimed its eleventh chime, Louis bid her goodnight and departed. Marie Antoinette, perhaps feeling giddy at the success of the ruse, might have clapped her hands and giggled. Whether she had intended it or not, she had made her husband the butt of the joke...and many more people heard what she had done.


Marie Antoinette did not always lead by example. Madame Royal, Marie Antoinette's daughter, writes in her journal about a particular Christmas when the Queen encouraged her children to give their gifts away to the needy. She wanted to make them aware that there were less fortunate souls in the world, and that it was the duty of their station to look out for those souls. These are lofty and admirable principles to espouse, but they must be taught through action and deed not just word. Although the Queen was charitable, even giving money out of her purse to support various hospitals and orphans, she made no real sacrifices. While people were starving just outside the gates of Versailles, the Queen was hosting lavish fetes. She went through slippers, gowns, and diamonds as if they were limitless resources and rights of her passage.

The young Marie Antoinette was childish and tactless. Marie Antoinette, the outsider from Austria, had a difficult time adjusting to life at the opulent, corrupt Versailles. Because of her heritage, she was hated by various factions, including Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry. Did she rise above it by turning the other cheek? Absolutely not! Marie Antoinette responded by flinging mud. One story tells of Marie Antoinette giggling behind her fan at some of her enemies while at the funeral of Louis XV!


Marie Antoinette was blindly loyal. Oftentimes, Marie Antoinette would show loyalty and favor to those who didn't deserve it. Marie Antoinette and the Comte d'Artois, the King's youngest brother, became friends early on. Artois was a profligate, a lover of women and games of chance. In spite of the King's strong disapproval, he encouraged Marie Antoinette to place high wagers on horse races and card games. Marie Antoinette's friendship with this libertine was the source of speculation and cruel gossip; she was accused of being sexually involved with her brother-in-law. In the end, Artois's friendship would prove as insubstantial and pointless as a game of faro. He deserted his brother, sister, niece, nephew, and sister-in-law when the French Revolution began. At the King's request, he fled France.

The Duchesse de Polignac, one of Marie Antoinette's close friends, was the perfect example of the courtier leech. Once attached to Marie Antoinette, she sucked her nearly dry (whether intentionally or not)! Polignac, a beautiful, delicate, and by some accounts, warm-hearted woman was married to a spend-thrift and involved with a violent and abusive lover. Her family was impoverished. Marie Antoinette, sympathizing with the young woman's tenuous position, appointed her First Equerry and awarded her an annual salary of 12,000 livres. Polignac had an apartment at the head of the marble staircase very nearly Marie Antoinette's rooms. In no time, most of her family and her lover had obtained positions and pensions. These appointments would anger faithful courtiers, jealous nobles, and starving peasants. Polignac fled France at the beginning of the Revolution. She kept in touch with the Queen through friends and acquaintances, including the Duchess of Devonshire, but the damage of her alliance with the queen had been done. Gabrielle Polignac died of a sudden illness a few months after the Queen's execution.

Further reading on the people mentioned in this post: