Do fact Marie up?

BORN in Vienna, Austria, in 1755, Marie Antoinette was one of 16 royal children.

- 

Her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, was determined to use her massive brood to increase the family's political power.

So when Austria signed the military Treaty of Versailles with France in 1756, she offered up Marie to seal the deal.

It was agreed that her youngest daughter would marry Louis-Auguste, the eldest grandson of French king Louis XV.

Marie was just 14 when they tied the knot - and her timid, uninspiring husband wasn't exactly the man of her dreams. He didn't seem keen to consummate the marriage and the couple soon drifted apart.

By the time his grandfather died in May 1774, they were already living separate lives. Their failure to produce an heir left the new king, Louis XVI, vulnerable to gossip that his wife was having an affair.

Because of her Austrian heritage, Marie already faced an uphill battle to win popularity. And it didn't help that she had a taste for the finer things in life. She became notorious for her pricey clothes, snapping up an average of 200 new gowns a year, and elaborately sculpted hair.