A MARIE ANTOINETTE BIRTHDAY

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HOW I SHOULD LIKE TO LIVE LIKE HER...

The life of Marie Antoinette was both charmed and fraught, filled with happinesses as well as sufferings. In essence, Marie was like any one of us: a human, moving through life in the best way she could. Yet, in many ways Marie lived in a dream. As the princess of France, she could bring to life any fancy, any whim; she could surround herself with gardens, and friends, and parties, and simple pleasures such as good books and fresh foods from her own farm. Oh, to be Marie for a day in the fragrant gardens of the Petit Trianon... That would be an experience. 

Marie, ever a fan of parties, would throw the most lavish balls and fêtes, as well as the most intimate gatherings of friends. 

“Marie Antoinette could not fail to do the honours of Trianon for her guests. There was given in the theatre ‘Zemire et Azor’ by Gretry, and ‘Jean Fracasse au Serail,’ a ballet by Gerdet; the dances were gay, the costumes very rich, the actors excellent. After the play there was supper; after the supper an illumination. The garden looked like fairy-land; the queen enjoyed all these splendours, which were hers, and her grace and kindness and delicate thoughtfulness added to them. ‘How much I should like to live with her!’ the Comtesse du Nord said, on the day following this entertainment.

Then on Saturday, June 8, there was a fancy-dress ball at Versailles. The salons, and especially the gallery, were beautifully decorated with a profusion of candles and girandoles. The whole court was in full dress, the king having ordered that every one should be as brilliant as possible, or not appear. ”

— The Life of Marie Antoinette - by Maxime de la Rocheterie

It was these dreamy garden parties that inspired me to hold my own soirée, in honour of friendship, and of my twentieth birthday.

On her twenty-first birthday, Marie threw a party like no other:

the festivities began 36 hours before the big day. At around 7pm on October the 30th, the Faro tables opened at the château de Fontainebleau. Marie and her guests proceeded to drink, play card games, and be merry until the small hours of November the 1st.

While my own birthday was a little less epic, I planned it in the same flawless style as Marie: down to the very last detail. I sent out my invitations, planned the table settings and dinner menus, and organised many games. Everything was there for the delight of my friends. 

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AT THE PETIT TRIANON

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WITH MARIE ANTOINETTE

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SHE WISHED SHE COULD LIVE
IN THE MIDST OF FLOWERS...
 

🌸🌸🌸

🌿 THE PETIT TRIANON 🌿

- THE JEWEL BOX- 

Originally created by Louis XV for Madame de Pompadour, the Petit Trianon was handed down to Marie by her husband.

Immediately, she went to work refashioning the interior -picking out new furnishings that fulfilled her pastoral fantasies.

She so loved flowers that they adorned every surface: boiseries of bouquets on the wood panelled walls; lily of the valley, jasmine and pine-cones on the carved chairs; and whole fields of embroidered flowers on the tapestries, hangings and coverings. 

 

🌿 LE HAMEAU DE LA REINE 🌿

- THE FARM-

In addition to the Petit Trianon, Marie began work on a small village, in which she could spend her time - happily frolicking between fields of cows, milkmaids, and cooing doves. 

Thus, the Hameau de la Reine was created, with eight rustic buildings, their roofs thatched, their brick and stone walls adorned with creeping vines. 

Marie spent her time at the Hameau wandering between...

- The Water Mill & artificial river
- The Barn (used for balls and parties)
- The Dovecote
- The Queen's House & adjoining Billiards Room

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🌿 THE ENGLISH GARDEN 🌿

Marie replaced Louis XV's famous botanical gardens with a living nature that was not imprisoned by greenhouses: her own English Gardens. Reflecting her own wishes for freedom, her gardens were designed for walking, picnicking and for intimate gatherings. 

Hidden between the trees and fields were small paths, leading to secret grottos cut out of the rocks. There, she could speak freely with her friends without being watched. 

“The Grotto was all carpeted with moss and freshened by the stream that flowed through it.”

— Count of Hézecques

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🌿 FREEDOM 🌿

BY ORDER OF THE QUEEN

“If you want to come at noon, I will give you lunch. I will be all alone; I therefore kindly request that you not come in formal attire, but in country dress.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to Princess von Hesse-Darmstadt

Rules at the Petit Trianon were 'by order of the Queen', and she had decreed that no one may visit unless given her personal invitation to do so. 

And so, Marie lived on her little estate in peace, quietude and intimacy with her closest friends. There, she could forget about the grandeur and rigours of royal life. "Here I am myself", she would often say.

When Marie walked into a room at Trianon, no one rose to greet her, but instead they carried on their conversations as she sat down to join them.

SWEET INTIMACY

In order to protect her privacy, Marie had 'moving mirrors' made for her own Boudoir. The mirrors would be lifted from the floor to cover the windows.

Similarly, she had a device made for the movement of the dining table - which could be set by the servers in the rooms below, before being hauled up to the dining room and appearing through the floor, fully dressed, as if by magic.

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🌿 DAILY PLEASURES 🌿

MORNINGS:

During the daytime, Marie and her friends engaged in many fine activities, including:

Walks and promenades through the gardens.

Lunching alfresco in the grass - a favourite pastime of Marie and her husband Louis XVI.

Playing parlour games such as Blind Man's Buff.

Receiving visiting musicians such as Gluck, Piccini and Gretry.

Reading to one another from books of poetry, or from the works of Rousseau.

Collecting fresh milk and cheese from the Hameau.

Rehearsing for a play, put on and enacted by themselves.

EVENINGS:

Of an evening, Marie would continue living the joys of a simple life surrounded by much cheer....

Playing at cards and gambling

or

Playing Billiards in the room adjoined to her own.

Singing and playing the harpsichord, accompanied by her friends and distinguished guests.

Holding balls in the barn at the Hameau.

Putting on fêtes in the grounds of the Petit Trianon, dressing as a 'lemonade seller' or a simple chatelaine. 

Putting on plays for the King.

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🌿 THE THEATRE 🌿

In 1780, Marie had her own theatre built, and together with her friends she formed the troupe des seigneurs, putting on plays for the King and her close companions.

After the theatre was built, decked out with blue moiré walls and painted ceilings of clouds, Marie her troupe spent much of their time rehearsing.

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ℳ
THE TROUPE DES SEIGNEURS PRESENTS...
♕♕♕

AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER

August 1

Le Roi et le fermier

- by Sedaine

August 10

On ne s'avise jamais de tout

- by Sedaine

Les Fausses Infidélités

- by Berthe

September 6

L'Anglais à Bordeaux

- by Favart

Le Sorcier

- by Poinsinet

September 19

Rose et Colas

- by Sedain

October 12

Le Devin du village

- by Rousseau

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A DAY AT VERSAILLES

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WITH MARIE ANTOINETTE...

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WAKING...

“As her mother wishes to know how the days are passed; she gets up between nine and ten, and, having dressed herself and said her morning prayers, she breakfasts, and then she goes to the apartments of her aunts, whose she usually finds the king. That lasts till half-past ten; then at eleven she has her hair dressed.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770

Waking up in her sumptuous bed, Marie would first be presented with a large book - the gazette des atours - which was filled with a multitude of fabric swatches, each one from a dress in her wardrobe. She would have to choose three each day, by sticking pins into three of the lavish swatches...

1. The first: a formal silk or velvet court gown for the Mass of the day.

2. The second: a more informal cotton, muslin or lawn gown for the afternoon's proceedings.

3. The third: an elaborate evening gown for any concerts, balls and dinners.

The dresses would be brought down to her later, in large baskets covered with green taffeta. 

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PETIT DÉJEUNER - BREAKFAST

Marie would either eat breakfast in bed, or at a small table set near her couch. Breakfast would normally consist of a simple coffee or hot chocolate, with kipfel - a kind of Austrian bread.

&

PETITES ENTRÉES

At the same time as having her breakfast, or just proceeding it, Marie would receive people into her room, including her physician, secretary and other important persons.

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BAIN DE MODESTIE - THE BATH

Sometimes Marie would have her breakfast in the bath, as she bathed quite often. A large slipper bathtub was then rolled into the dove grey bathroom, with its sloping tiled floors, and Marie would don a flannel chemise buttoned from head to toe to keep her body concealed from her ladies in waiting who bathed her. 

In the bath would be placed a fragrant muslin pad filled with sweet almonds, pine nuts, linseed, lily bulbs and marshmellow roots. Marie also loved to douse herself in eau de fleur d'orange - orange blossom water.

A towel was then wrapped around the Queen, and she would change into a long chemise as her bed was being warmed. Then she could await the day's Lever ceremony while reading in bed or working on a tapestry.

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LEVER | CHAMBRE - THE MORNING DRESSING

“At twelve, what is called the Chamber is held, and there every one who does not belong to the common people may enter. I put on my rouge and wash my hands before all the world; the men go out, and the women remain; and then I dress myself in their presence. ”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770

ROUGE

While the ladies that would dress Marie were arriving, a small escritoire à toilette was wheeled out into the middle of her bedroom, its graceful baroque roll-top lid concealing a mirror and small, silk lined drawers filled with:

powders, paints, rouges, pomades, pin cushions and wig powders stashed in wooden boxes. 

Using these, Marie would create a fashionably milky white complexion, with rosy cheeks, adding a dash of pomade to her lips and eyelashes to enhance them. 

THE SPECTACLE

Then came the dressing. This was one of the most important rituals of the day, not for the queen, but for her attendants - as only the highest members of her household, or of the court, had the right to grandes entrées, to watch the spectacle. And only the most titled of those were permitted to help dress the queen. It was truly an honour to help the Queen dress each day, and the proceedings could be interrupted as each princess entered the bedroom...

The dame d’honneur handed Marie Antoinette her chemise, while the dame d’atours would help her into her dress and put on any jewellery. If a princess of the royal family was present, the dame d’honneur would hand the chemise to her instead. Then that princess would give the chemise to Marie Antoinette. If a princess du sang was present, the dame d’honneur would hand the chemise to the dame d’atours, who would then hand it to that princess, who would then hand it to Marie Antoinette. 

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MARIE'S Wardrobe

“It is true I am rather taken up with dress; but as to feathers, everyone wears them and it would seem extraordinary if I did not.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, 5 March 1775.

Marie Antoinette's wardrobe was housed in three separate rooms, dedicated solely for that purpose.

Etiquette decreed that she must not wear a dress more than once, and that she must change her dress three times a day. It was also politesse that moved her to order eighteen pairs of pastel-coloured, violet-scented gloves, and four new pairs of shoes each week.

Marie's taste and style was her own, though. Always impeccable, and ever fashionable, she ordered many of her gowns from her favoured designer: Rose Bertin. Two times a week, Rose would visit Versailles with new swatches and designs to show the Queen; designs with romantic names such as 'Heart's Agitation' and 'Stifled Sighs'. Rose could also fulfill Marie's desires for decorated hats, perfumed fans, hair feathers, and the like.

ROSE BERTIN CATALOGUE:

Decorated silk hat: 60 Livres.

Plain straw hat: 20-40 Livres.

Court Gown: 1,900-2,800 Livres.

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THE MASS

“Then comes mass. If the king is at Versailles, I go to mass with him, my husband, and my aunts; if he is not there, I go alone with the dauphin, but always at the same hour. ”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770.

Leaving her apartments, Marie would be trailed by an large entourage on her way to mass, including members of her own household, the princesses of the court, their attendants, and the courtiers who attended her Chambre ceremony that morning. The walk to mass was often a time of great gossip, which sometimes continued during the solemn ceremony of the mass, held in the chapel of Versailles.

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DINING - THE MIDDAY MEAL

“After mass we two dine by ourselves in the presence of all the world; but dinner is over by half-past one, as we both eat very fast. ”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770

We cannot ignore the hint of humour in Marie's description of the midday meal, which was a grand spectacle: the King and herself placed at the table for all to see, the public peeping through the ranks of Swiss Guards to get a peek, and those most noble persons of the court having the privilege to sit behind the royal couple. All watching.

The dishes would be served in a formal fashion, with many courses laid onto the table - pheasant and other fowl, fish, beef and other red meats; all laid onto the table in strict symmetrical patterns of diamonds or squares, with the larger dishes forming the points and smaller ones filling in the pattern. Servers would offer up glasses of drink on silver platters, and drinks would not be placed back onto the table, but onto the silver platter. Marie would not eat much during these lavish banquets, and would prefer to eat a more sensible meal of boiled chicken and vegetables later in her own apartments.

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AFTERNOON AMUSEMENTS

“From the dinner-table I go to the dauphin’s apartments, and if he has business, I return to my own rooms, where I read, write, or work; for I am making a waistcoat for the king, which gets on but slowly, though, I trust, with God’s grace, it will be finished before many years are over. At three o’clock I go again to visit my aunts, and the king comes to them at the same hour. At four the abbé comes to me, and at five I have every day either my harpsichord-master or my singing-master till six. At half-past six I go almost every day to my aunts, except when I go out walking.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770.

After the midday meal, Marie would often change into her less formal dress, picked that morning from the gazette des atours. She would then pursue any variety of cultured activities - from working on her tapestries and needle-work, to reading in the library, to walking about the grounds.

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CARD GAMES

“At seven we play cards till nine o’clock; but when the weather is fine I go out walking, and then there is no play in my apartments, but it is held at my aunts’.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770.

Card games were a big attraction at the palace, and gambling at them was one of Marie's favourite pastimes. Many courtiers would get dressed just for the occasion, Marie would don her evening dress, and the games would begin at nine or so. Again, the public were allowed to watch, and even bet on the players, but the highest tables - in the King's and Queens apartments, were closed to only a small entourage. 

When she was only eighteen, Marie, while attending the wedding reception of the Comte d'Artois, won a staggering amount of 1,200 louis, (each louis was worth around 24 livres). She seemed embarrassed, and the next day she gave 50 louis to each parish of Versailles, and then gave the remaining amount to her servants and the poor.

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RETIRING FOR THE EVENING

“At nine we sup; and when the king is not there, my aunts come to sup with us; but when the king is there, we go after supper to their rooms, waiting there for the king, who usually comes about a quarter to eleven; and I lie down on a grand sofa and go to sleep till he comes. But when he is not there, we go to bed at eleven o’clock.”

— Marie Antoinette, letter to her mother Maria Theresa, c. July 1770.

DÉJEUNER
- DINNER -

Etiquette required that if the king was not eating with the Queen, she would be attended by women only. The last meal of the day was usually a light one, with the midday meal being more alike to our 'dinner.' Instead, Marie's supper consisted of white meat, broth, and a few biscuits dipped in water. 

LE COUCHER
- THE EVENING UNDRESSING -

Getting ready for bed, Marie would undress while her maids readied a nightgown and cap brought to her in a basket. She would settle into bed and wait with the Femme de Chambre for the King to arrive and to be put to bed also. Then her maids would retire.
 

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SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:

Marie Antoinette's letter to Empress Maria Theresa, c. 12 July 1770. The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Charles Duke Yonge, 1876.

Memoirs of Madame Campan on Marie Antoinette and her court, transl. G. K. Fortescue, 1909.

The Private Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre, transl. R. W. Phipps, 1889.

A Banquet for Louis XIV: recreated at the Palace of Versailles, www.telegraph.com, 2010.

Marie Antoinette's Beauty Secrets, madameguillotine.org.uk, 2011.