Marie-Antoinette - “Killer Queen”

"She keeps her Moët et Chandon in her pretty cabinet,
Let them eat cake, she says, just like Marie-Antoinette".
“Killer Queen” Lyrics by Freddie Mercury

On 2 November 1755, Maria Antonia of Austria was born. She was the 15th child of Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria. Six of her 16 children died at a young age as it often happened back then. Maria Theresa married several daughters to different European rulers, using them as pawns to maintain control over her Empire (Austrian Empire - aka Holy Roman Empire).

When Maria Antonia, now known as Marie-Antoinette was bound to be married to the Dauphin, future King Louis XVI, Maria Theresa wrote to Louis XV "Her age craves indulgence...". She was warning him about her daughter being a "valley girl"... In today's world, the average fourteen year-old girl is expected to be a teenager, but in those days, a fourteen year-old royal was bound to be mature and act accordingly to her rank in society and at court.

Evidence of her misbehaving are documented in the letters of Count de Mercy-Argenteau who accompanied Marie-Antoinette to France and spent several years there with her. The whole time, he was secretly reporting to her mother who then lectured Marie in countless letters...