7 Chapter 6 Scandal and Suffering

Chapter 6 Scandal and Suffering Even though Marie Antoinette enjoyed motherhood, the people of France continued to find reasons to dislike her. The summer of 1785 brought a huge scandal. It became known as the Diamond Necklace Affair. A jeweler for the royal family asked the queen to pay him for a large and expensive diamond necklace. Marie Antoinette had no idea what he was talking about. The jeweler said that he had given the necklace to Cardinal Louis de Rohan, a church official, to present to the queen.

Marie Antoinette had never asked for the necklace. She knew nothing about it and was convinced that Cardinal Rohan was trying to make her look bad. She had King Louis arrest him. During the trial, the real story came out. A lady of the court had forged a note from the queen, asking Rohan for the necklace. When Rohan gave it to the lady, instead of handing it over to the queen, she gave it to her husband. He, in turn, brought it to London and sold the diamonds. Cardinal Rohan was found to be innocent. Marie Antoinette was not happy with the verdict. She still wanted Rohan punished. So Louis sent him away from court. This angered noble families that had supported the cardinal. Even though Marie Antoinette had never asked for the necklace in the first place, she was still seen as

guilty in the eyes of the people. She had sent an innocent man away. Life continued to go badly for the queen. In July 1786, she gave birth to a baby girl who died the following summer. And Marie Antoinette's oldest boy, Louis Joseph, was very ill. The government of France wasn't doing well, either. The high costs of supporting the American Revolution along with the king and queen's spending left the country with no money. The people of France were furious. They placed a lot

of the blame on Marie Antoinette. Rumors spread about her in pamphlets and flyers. Crude cartoons made fun of her and blamed her for all the country's problems. People hissed at her in public. She discovered threats to her life on signs near her seats at the theater.

"LET THEM EAT CAKE!" HERE IS ONE OF MANY RUMORS SPREAD ABOUT MARIE ANTOINETTE. THE STORY WAS SAID TO REVEAL MARIE ANTOINETTE'S CLUELESS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PEASANTS. WHEN TOLD THAT THE STARVING PEOPLE NEEDED BREAD, SHE REPLIED, "LET THEM EAT CAKE!" THE REMARK WAS MEANT TO SHOW HOW OUT OF TOUCH SHE WAS WITH THE PROBLEMS OF THE POOR. BUT THIS STORY WAS NOT TRUE. SIMILAR WORDS WERE ACTUALLY SAID BY THE WIFE OF

LOUIS XIV (THE FOURTEENTH)—TWO KINGS BEFORE LOUIS XVI—ABOUT ONE HUNDRED YEARS EARLIER.