My mother, Marie Theresa, Empress of Austria, had 16 children and she used us all as pawns. She would make us marry her enemies so there would be better trade between the two countries. One of her enemies was France , and that is were I went. I am Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, soon to be the last Queen of France.
When I was 14, I was forced to go to France and marry King Louis the XVI. But before I got to France I went on an island and people took everything Austrian from me, then made me French by making me wear French clothing and jewelry and wigs. King Louis was afraid of girls, in fact he was shaking when he put the ring on my finger. When I was first the queen it was really hard to get used to not ever being alone. People thought it was okay to come into my bedroom whenever they wanted to because as a queen I was a public figure working for the people. They thought everything I did was their business. My solution to this was to build my own little town near Petit Trianon in Versailles. I enjoyed picking flowers, fishing, and educating my own kids, as well as putting on plays where I could be a normal farm girl or milk maid. Before I had the privacy of my own town, I ballroom danced, gambled, and stayed up late and slept in.
I heard some rumors about some swindlers tricking the Cardinal into buying me a necklace because he was so desperate for me to like him. I already had seen the necklace and decided against buying it, as it was too expensive. He was caught and put on trial for spending the money he didn’t have, but in the end, he didn’t even get in trouble because he came from a popular family, The country still believed I had something to do with the purchase. France hated me so much because I was their Austrian enemy's daughter. They also thought I spent too much money on my own little town, 3 foot high wigs, parties, gambling, and whatnot. And maybe they were right, but my husband also funded the American Revolution against England. That was not cheap I'm guessing! But no matter who had been spending the money in our high courts, our people of France were starving to death. I did not say "let them eat cake" Because of all of these upsets, our people started to protest and were attempting to break into the castle.
Then one night a mob, led by armed women, was finally successful in breaking Into the castle. And I took as secret doorway to my daughter and son's rooms, and then another secret doorway to my husband's, before the mob came Into mine. This is how I got away to start with, but they caught up with me at my husband's room and put us under house arrest in Paris. During this time, they also placed a guillotine in the middle of town, causing some members of the court to die. When my palace was taken over, on September 21, 1792, the monarchy fell and my husband was forced to wear a red cap, a sign of the revolution.
During our house arrest in Paris, with the help of an old friend, we attempted to escape to the Austrian border and meet my brother there, who also had with him, an army. With forty miles left of our 200 mile journey, we were caught and sent to prison at the temple in Paris this time.
While we were in prison we were separated and they even took my 7 year old son away from me. I could hear him singing songs of the revolution, which his jailer made him learn, from his own cell. He was also, sadly, abused, and died later when he was 10. On another occasion, another mob of revolutionists cut off my good friend's head and forced me to kiss her pale lips; in response, I fainted. My husband was not okay with this, and let the mob know. He was eventually put on trial for speaking up for me in this case, along with treason, and was sentenced to the guillotine. I woke up to the church bells signaling his death on January 21, 1793.
A month after my husband's death, I was moved to a different cell, because the jailer wanted to have me in a place that he could charge people money to come see the last queen of France. These people already knew I was to be beheaded, but I did not know this at the time.
I was finally put on trial in October of 1793 and it lasted for 2 days and one night, with 41 witnesses In all. I was tried for being a bad queen, treason, being irresponsible with money, and also for being a bad mother. I was finally found guilty of being a bad mother, but not guilty of any of the other accusations. I was sentenced to death at noon of the same day my trial ended, October 16,1793.
I went back to my jail cell and wrote a letter to my sister-in-law, but before it was sent a barber came in and cut my hair and placed it in a bonnet. They placed my arms behind my back and changed me to plain clothes. I was given a ride in a cart pulled by a donkey, so that the people could see their queen. It took 30,000 guards to keep the mobs from me. As I stepped up to the guillotine, I accidentally stepped on the executioner's foot. I told him "Pardon me sir, it was not on purpose."
I was no help to either of my countries. In fact, when I died my countries were at war. I came to France as Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, I have received many nicknames such as Atoine, Madame Deficit, Madame Veto, and by many more. But no matter what, I will always be known as the last Queen of France.
Bibliography:
Marie Antoinette. David Grubin. PBS, 2006.
https://www.biograph.com/people/marie-antoientte-9398996
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MarieAntoinette
Presentation Notes: _______________________
"Good morning (or afternoon) how is your day? Mine is so bad in fact the last year has bin so bad. my family was put under huosearest then they kill my husband and took my kids and chop my head off not cool."
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