The Diamond Necklace Affair

Marie-Antoinette

Marie-Antoinette came to France at age 14, in 1770, to be married to the Crown Prince. She and Louis XVI were both teenagers when they became King and Queen. Marie-Antoinette was disliked by most, the moment she became Queen. She was a beautiful Austrian Princess, who took pride in her royal ancestry, and had a frivolous and expensive lifestyle. France had been at war with Austria for most of the eighteenth century, and many did not enjoy having a foreigner as a leader. Rumors soon sprang up about her as well, especially when she did not seem to be able to produce an heir (which was Louis's fault). She was soon suspected to be having various affairs with both men and women. As Marie-Antoinette finally had children and grew up, she matured and controlled her lifestyle, a fact which did not reach the people of France, who still thought of her as a foreign adulteress spending their taxes on masquerade balls, plays and clothes of extravagance.

Louis René Édouard de Rohan, Cardinal of France

Louis René Édouard de Rohan was the Cardinal of France, but he wasn't really devoted to his holy life. He was very active in his sexual life, and he was disfavoured at court. When he acted as ambassador in Vienna, the Queen's mother, Marie Thérèse, disliked him for the dandy and hypocrite he was. Marie-Antoinette followed her mother, and never accepted Rohan. She blocked his ascension up the ladder of success, and had not talked to him in years. Rohan wanted desperately more power, but to do so, he had to be admitted into the Queen's close circle. Rohan probably hoped that this would also mean he could get into her bed, as he believed all the rumors in court, which may or may not have been true.
Then Rohan met Countess Jeanne de la Motte, who became one of his innumerable mistresses in 1784. Jeanne claimed to be a descendant of the Valois family, from royal lineage. She demanded many times for 'her' lands and title to be given back to her, but without success. So she demised a plan to get money. She said to Rohan she was a close friend of the Queen, and that for a little money, she could maybe encourage the Queen to forgive the Cardinal.

Jeanne de la Motte -Valois

Jeanne was lying of course, she had never even met Marie-Antoinette. Rohan absorbed all of La Motte's lies, and he started having a correspondence with the 'Queen', who was in fact a male prostitute, talented in forgery, named Rétaux de Villette, who was also the lover of Jeanne de la Motte. In the letters, the 'Queen' became much more nicer, and the Cardinal was positive she was in love with him. He felt he had never been closer to power, and to her bed. However, just the letters wasn't enough. He demanded a face-to-face meeting from Jeanne. Rohan was treated to a secret meeting in the palace gardens by the young prostitute and actress Nicole Leguay d'Oliva, who bore a striking resemblance to Marie-Antoinette. The fake Queen gave Rohan a rose and said "All is to be forgiven..." before quickly running away. Rohan could taste his victory.
Other people were getting wind of Jeanne's close relationship with the Queen. The royal jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge had a huge 2,800 carat diamond necklace which they desperately needed to sell. The necklace had been commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame du Barry. The King died and Madame du Barry was banished from court before the necklace was completed.

The necklace was destroyed when it was sold piece by piece, but we know it looked like this.

The jewellers had amassed a great debt in creating the necklace, and tried to sell it to the new Queen, but she refused for various reasons. Firstly, the necklace was intended for a woman whom the Queen hated, and secondly, she decided it was wiser to spend the 1,600,000 livres (estimated 100 million dollars today, or 72 million euros) in other things necessary, such as better equipping the French navy. The jewellers begged Jeanne to influence the Queen in buying the necklace. Jeanne saw an opportunity and immediately seized it.
Rohan, the Cardinal of France, learned in his letters from Marie-Antoinette that she wanted to buy the necklace, but needed an intermediary. Rohan went to the rescue and bought the necklace for the Queen, having her word she would give him the money to the later on. Rohan entrusted the necklace to a messenger sent by the 'Marie-Antoinette', but who was Rétaux in disguise. Jeanne and Rétaux then disappeared along with the necklace. Jeanne's husband (who was in on it) went to London to sell the diamonds separately.

Nicolas de la Motte

After a while, the jewellers were concerned. They weren't receiving their money from the Queen. They sent a polite letter reminding her that she owed them, but when the Queen saw the envelope, she thought it was another attempt to get her to buy the necklace. She discarded the letter, but all hell broke loose when the two jewellers came to her in person. The Cardinal was arrested on August 15th 1785. He explained his side of the story, claiming he had been duped by the Countess, but the Queen was furious that Rohan would believe she would have such a relationship with him. The matter was at first to be resolved quietly by the King, but the people knew of the Cardinal's arrest, and they viewed the Queen as guilty. Marie-Antoinette was devastated, and going against her advisors, she decides to have a trial for the Affair of the Necklace, believing that the people would accept her innocence when it was proven by Parliament.
Three days after Rohan's arrest, Jeanne, Rétaux, Nicolas de la Motte (Jeanne's husband), and Nicole Leguay d'Oliva were arrested. After several weeks, the Parliament came to a decision. Rohan was acquitted of all charges, Nicolas fled from France and was never sentenced, Rétaux de Villette was banished from France -he would later settle in Italy and die of old age- , Nicole d'Oliva was acquitted of all crimes, and finally Jeanne was sentenced to be whipped, branded with a 'v' for voleuse (thief), and sent to a horrible prison for prostitutes and lunatics, called La Salpêtrière. She escaped in the following year however, dressed as a boy. She went to London where she spent the rest of her life. She wrote her Mémoirs, where she accused the Queen and greatly shaped the affair to make her appear to be a victim. She died suspiciously in London, falling out of her 3rd floor apartment window (accidental, murder, or suicide?).
Queen Marie-Antoinette was never seen as innocent in the matter and she was guillotined on the 16th of October 1793, during the French Revolution.

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