Foster Kids and Farming; 5 Things You Didn't Know About Marie Antoinette

She was ridiculously kind and generous and adopted the boy given to her as a gift

Jan 2

Here’s what most people “know” about Marie Antoinette.

She was the last queen of France and got her head lopped off during the French Revolution. And she was so spoiled and out of touch that when someone said the peasants have no bread, she said let them eat cake.

Except she didn’t say that.

It was a lie made up by people who hated her. No different than people saying Anne Boleyn was a trollop who “stole” Henry VIII from his wife. That wasn’t true either. Boleyn had been in love with someone else.

Here’s some tidbits about the child queen you probably didn’t know.

1. She was not raised to be a queen

She was the 15th of 16 children born to Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, and Empress Maria Theresa. Back then, the daughters of royals were marriageable pawns. Married off for political connections.

Except, that was supposed to be her older sisters, not her. They were older. And prettier. Four of her older sisters were already promised in marriage to the most illustrious royal houses across Europe.

But Marie? Nah. Because, beautiful older sisters.

She was largely ignored. They said she was a sweet little girl. They didn’t worry too much about her education. Too many prettier older sisters. But they said she was kind, and sweet and so compassionate. Such a pretty voice when she sang. But she didn’t have many prospects, really.

2. Then wham. Wedding bells at 12

Then smallpox swept her family. All those beautiful older sisters died of smallpox or were so disfigured they were no longer marriageable.

And there was little Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna left standing. Neither dead nor disfigured. So she was married off by proxy to the future King of France. Her big brother stood in for the groom, because that was legal. Then she went back home to her dollies and music for another 2 years.

At 14, she was shipped off to France for the real wedding. To a 15 year old boy who would be King. They’d never met before the wedding.

They were both so young and uneducated they didn’t know how to consummate the marriage. Not even kidding. They snuggled and talked but didn’t know what to do in bed, apparently.

When there was no babies seven years later, Marie’s mother sent her older brother to France to have a little talk with the King. When he left, he called them “two complete blunderers.”

Marie got pregnant immediately so they sent her brother a thank you letter. They were mocked and ridiculed for that. Nine months later, the first baby arrived. Then three more, one after the other.

3. She loved gardening and was hated for it.

Marie loved growing things. Instead of leaving the palace grounds in the former ornamental opulence, she built a farming village on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. There were cottages, farm animals, and vegetable and flower gardens. It was called The Queen’s Hamlet.

It was her escape. Marie and her ladies in waiting would wear plain cotton gowns and go tend the gardens and milk the cows. She loved nothing more than tending her flower gardens. She’d put lotion on her hands and sleep in gloves to keep her hands “queenly” after working in the garden.

Eventually she hired a bunch of villagers to help her tend the gardens and animals. It gave them income and food. But it created bad press. Some people felt insulted that the Queen was “mocking” the peasants.

4. She adopted several children

When one of Marie’s maids died, Marie adopted the woman’s daughter, who became a companion to Marie’s own first daughter. Then, when an usher of the court and his wife both died suddenly and tragically, Marie adopted their three children, too. Provided for all of them financially.

And she didn’t just provide financial support. The kids were raised right alongside her own kids as siblings and playmates.

When some foreign dignitary “gave” her a little Senegalese boy as a gift, which was a sick and common thing that happened back then, instead of making him a slave (which was the normal practice) she adopted him and raised him with her own kids.

5. She was ridiculously generous

Royal haters mocked her for her “opulence” and said she never wore a dress twice. And it’s true. Even today, the press loves to marvel when Princess Kate re-wears a dress.

But back in 1700s France, that was royal protocol.

According to royal etiquette, the Queen was only allowed to wear a gown once, and was supposed to change her outfit three times a day. So she did. After she wore a dress, she let her ladies in waiting have them. To wear or sell or remake or do what they wanted with them.

One day she was out for a carriage ride when one of her attendants accidently struck a winegrower in the fields. Marie flew out of the carriage to attend to the man personally. She paid for his care and financially supported his family until he was able to work again.

It wasn’t the first time. There’d been a stampede at the fireworks ceremony when she got married at 14. Around 100 people were injured and she took financial care of every person (and their family) who had been hurt in the wedding day stampede.

She also started charitable foundations

There’s so many examples of her kindness I could write a whole story just about that. She also gave generously to charity, even if it meant she had to start the charitable organization first.

She founded a home for unwed mothers, a society for the aged, widowed, and blind; and made frequent visits to poor families, giving them food from her gardens and money from the royal coffers.

During the famine of 1787, she sold the royal flatware to buy grain for struggling families.

She was a scapegoat, not a villain…

Marie Antoinette was a young girl who was never raised to be a royal, and became queen as a teen. She loved people, children especially. She loved gardening, especially her flower gardens, and bore little resemblance to the rich, entitled villain portrayed by her detractors.

She was one of the most attacked public figures in the history of France and it started long before the French Revolution.

Publishers called “pamphleteers” printed scandalous stories about her because trashing the queen sold pamphlets.

The first rag-mags, I guess.

She became a scapegoat for the nation’s ills. For profit.

Like every beheaded queen, she gave an execution speech before she was beheaded.

“I was a queen, and you took away my crown, a wife, and you killed my husband, a mother, and you took my children away from me. All I have left is my blood. Take it. but do not make me suffer long.” — Marie Antoinette execution speech (source)

But those weren’t her final words.

Her last words were “Pardon me sir. I did not mean to do it” when she stepped on her executioner’s foot. (source)

After her beheading, rabid crowds dipped their handkerchiefs in her blood and waved those handkerchiefs like flags. They cheered when her head was held up for view.

Ding dong, the witch is dead.