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Revolutionary royal
The Guardian
|September 17, 2025
Superb exhibition brings you as close as it's possible to get to ill-fated queen
Marie Antoinette had no luck. When fireworks were lit in Paris to celebrate the Austrian princess's marriage to the dauphin of France, a conflagration ensued, the crowd stampeded and at least 130 people were killed - but rumour put the number much higher.
From the start, it seemed she was destined to be hated by the French people and blamed for sufferings she didn't even know existed.
By the time the French Revolution had begun in 1789, she was demonised not just as a lavish spender but a sex addict who cuckolded the king - 1790s pornographic booklets in the V&A's epic show graphically depict her making love to a guard and one of her ladies in waiting.
By the time you get to these untrue and libellous prints, you can't help feeling their bullying nastiness. For you've got to know her. This is a superb lesson in how history can be understood through images and objects. It brings you as close as it's possible to get to the real Marie Antoinette.
This story is from the September 17, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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