In 1770, the French people greeted Austrian Marie Antoinette as the beautiful and future French queen. Twenty-three years later they guillotined her as the most reviled woman in France. Marie Antoinette, as a young girl
In Europe, with most political powers ruled by monarchies, the best method of insuring a stable alliance with another ruling dynasty was through marriage.  Maria Theresa aggressively forged alliances with the French Bourbons dynasty through marriages of her daughters Maria Amalia and Maria Karolina to the rulers of the Italian duchies of Parma and Naples.  But her most ambitious union was reserved for her youngest daughter, Maria Antonia. Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Marie Antoinette's mother
Maria Theresa gave birth to sixteen children, unusually thirteen survived into at least early childhood, including the second youngest, Maria Antonia.  As the house of Hapsburg was decidedly Roman Catholic all ten of the Empress’ daughters had the first name of Maria, an acknowledgement of the Virgin Mary.  Maria Theresa was a workaholic who spent most of her days focused on the affairs of state, but she closely supervised the tutors and nannies who were responsible for her children’s upbringing and education.  Her strong work ethic and stubborn determination were fortunate personality traits.  Only months after her ascension, many of the European monarchs who had formally agreed with her father to recognize her as his heir renounced this agreement, perhaps sensing weakness.  Frederick the Great’s 1740 invasion of the Austrian province of Silesia set off an eight-year war that eventually involved all of the great powers of Europe.  It was not until 1748 that diplomacy resolved this conflict, and firmly established Maria Theresa as de facto Holy Roman Empress and Archduchess of Austria, but Prussia and Frederick remained hostile and within eight years another war broke out.  The Seven Years War strengthened Austria’s profile in Europe but the immense cost of this conflict convinced the Empress that diplomacy was a much more reasonable way to maintain political power and preserve her domain.    Louis XV
In Europe, with most political powers ruled by monarchies, the best method of insuring a stable alliance with another ruling dynasty was through marriage.  Maria Theresa aggressively forged alliances with the French Bourbons dynasty through marriages of her daughters Maria Amalia and Maria Karolina to the rulers of the Italian duchies of Parma and Naples.  But her most ambitious union was reserved for her youngest daughter, Maria Antonia.  Approximately the same age as the heir to the French crown, the grandson of France’s King Louis XV seemed an obvious match and serious negotiations began between the two courts to make this wedding happen.  A special tutor, the Abbe Jacques de Vermond was brought to Vienna’s Hofburg palace from France to improve the teenager’s language skills and overall social polish, underlining the serious nature of the discussion.  A French dentist even surgically and painfully straightened her teeth.  But this was only the beginning of a process demanded by Louis XV, that focused obsessively on the physical appearance of France’s potential queen.  Louis’ womanizing exceeded that of even his royal contemporaries, the famous mistresses Madame Du Pompadour and Madame Du Barry among the dozens of women achieving notoriety during his fifty-nine-year reign.  The Hofburg Palace
In April of 1770, Maria Theresa packed off her daughter as well as the Abbe de Vermond, by then subtly cultivated as the Empress’ eventual eyes and ears once the marriage took place and Maria Antonia began a journey that proved emotionally overwhelming.  This trip started on April 21, 1770, in the main courtyard of Vienna’s Hofburg, the sprawling palace of Austrian emperors and in this case the Empress, Maria Therese.  The empress’ daughter was placed in a magnificent gilded carriage, saluted by a crowd of patrician well-wishers and Swiss Guard ceremonial rifle volleys, and then sent off while all of the church bells of the city pealed in a congratulatory farewell. Versailles
Although Marie’s Austrian royal family lived in the sprawling Hofburg complex and also constructed the impressive Schonbrunn Palace on the outskirts of Vienna, probably nothing prepared her for the grandiosity of the seat of the French monarchy.  Built by Louis XIV as not only a statement of his national superiority and absolute power, the king also wished to contain all of the members of his court under one roof.  Hundreds of apartments were provided for those members of French society who were prominent enough to merit such status.  But Louis’ ostensible generosity concealed an underlying motive, that of keeping the nobility under his literal eye and stripping them of any political power or even ability to unite against his absolute rule.  Thousands of inhabitants lived within the palace, which could hold as many as ten thousand residents but typically housed between two and four thousand occupants.  The Petit Trianon
Louis XVI also attempted to remove any legacy of the former mistress, the Madame de Pompadour, by officially presenting his wife the Petit Trianon, a small chateau on the grounds of Versailles, formerly built and occupied by De Pompadour.  Initially, the ascension of the new king and his beautiful wife was greeted by the public with happiness and the young couple was popular, the staggering deficits and disastrous foreign policy of Louis XV rendering him a bad memory.  It was hoped that a new reign would also bring new attitudes and a new direction.  Marie Antoinette, Queen of France
Marginalized politically, with her husband’s chief advisors hostile to Austria, Marie Antoinette immersed herself in a pastime meant to underline her status as the court’s most important female.  She began the practice of weekly masked, costumed balls, centered around various themes, her costumes sparing no expense and distinguishing her from her guests with spectacular clothing.  Her husband, perhaps guilty at his ongoing sexual disinterest allowed her to spend fantastic amounts on her wardrobe and the parties themselves which frequently lasted until dawn.  These exercises were undertaken to at least publicly maintain the façade that Marie Antoinette enjoyed great influence with the king and she hoped over time to regain the same political prestige as that of Louis XV’s mistresses.  Louis XVI
Mortality suddenly intervened in the spring of 1774 to permanently change the relatively vapid routine of the heir and his wife.  On April 27, Louis XV went hunting with his entourage but suddenly felt too sick to even leave his carriage.  By May 3 even he acknowledged that the red lesions on his body were indicative of smallpox.  The king lasted another week, many accounts stating that in his final hours he uttered the phrase “Apres moi, le deluge,” After me, the deluge, a supposed acknowledgement that the financial excesses and utter governmental mismanagement of France could only result in catastrophe.  Like many storied quotations, this one most likely never occurred but it should have and it was a fitting admonition for especially the now Louis the XVI and Marie Antoinette.  Princess de Lamballe
On the 19th of August, the Commune removed all eight non-royal members of the entourage.  Most were eventually released unharmed, one, Marie, Princess de Lamballe, a close friend and confidante of Marie Antoinette, who had faithfully remained with the Queen during her recent ordeals was dragged before an impromptu September 3rd Commune tribunal at her new prison location.  These tribunals, a violent response meant to liquidate any prisoners formerly associated with the monarchy, were convened as a result of the Austro-Prussian offensive that initially made great progress in its intent to overturn the Revolution.   Asked to swear loyalty to the new government and to denounce the King and Queen, the Princess de Lamballe affirmed the former but refused the latter, stating that whether she died then or shortly thereafter was not worth her honor and dignity.  Released into the courtyard she was beaten and stabbed to death by a mob assembled to execute those condemned by the tribunal with the words, Let them go,” the victim unaware that this was actually a death sentence.  The Princess’ body was beheaded, disemboweled and her remains paraded through the city on pikes, this procession reaching the Temple with the intent to display this grisly artifact to the King and Queen.  Although she did not see this