Queen Marie Antoinette

[britt.25]

I must confess that now I am the one, who is not too well informed about any russian or hessian connections of Marie Antoinette. People have sooo many ansistors, but I give you the advice to check out the wonderful page genea Portugal. It is one of my favourite genealogy sites. It´s wonderful, how you can lead the people back in their ancestry. I always use that page, and there you see all ansistors of the Habsburgs, like those of Maria Antonia (=Marie Antoinette). From her mothers side it can be that she hads hessian blood, surely, I have to check out the page again by myself, I already looked there several times, to see the ancestry of empress Maria Theresia, and you find everything there. About the Romanovs I do not know very much I must confess, because I was always concerned with the others, especially with the Habsburgs and Bonapartes. Yes, Marie Antoinette´s grandniece was also queen of France. It was Marie Louise of Austria, daughter of emperor Franz II./I. , himself son of Marie Antoinettes brother Leopold II., firstly reigning in Tuscany and then also following his "illuminated" brother Joseph II. as holy roman emperor. Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I.) married Marie Louise in his second marriage, it was a political marriage, but also because his first wife Josephine could not give him any heir. Their son was Franz von Reichstadt was quite unlucky, lived under some of arrest by the austrians, he grew up at the Habsburg court and died with 21 at tuberculosis. Please check out our topics about Marie Louise and Franz. I would be happy, if they will be read again, also new comments would be great, because at the moment those topics seem to be out of interest
Marie Louise also had two children by Montenuovo: Wilhelm Adalbert und Albertine. Please have a look on the thread, where I also posted one of my drawings on the last descendant of Albertine, Giovanni Sanvitale    
And about the daughter of Marie Antoinette: Marie Thérèse, was never considered as queen, she was married to her cousin Louis-Antoine de Bourbon-Artois, duke of Angoulême, but they never had children. Some mythology wants to say that Madame Royale was "exchanged" by a halfsister, who appeared to marry Louis Antoine, and the real Madame royale lived somewhere in obscurity, but this is rather a thesis based on mythology and suspicion.

[Duke of New Jersey]

Marie Antoinette's neice, Maria Amalia of the Two Scilices (daughter of Ferdinand and Maria Carolina) was Queen of the French, wife of King Louis-Phillipe d'Orleans (king 1830-1848). 

Marie Thérèse, was never considered as queen, she was married to her cousin Louis-Antoine de Bourbon-Artois, duke of Angoulême

He is/was considered to be King of France for 20 minutes on August 20 1830 after his father's abdication (Charles X) and before Louis-Phillipe d'Orleans took the throne. 

-Duke of NJ

[Eric_Lowe]

Indeed ! She need not die if she remained in Turin. She shown she great love for MA. 

[britt.25]

Marie Antoinette's neice, Maria Amalia of the Two Scilices (daughter of Ferdinand and Maria Carolina) was Queen of the French, wife of King Louis-Phillipe d'Orleans (king 1830-1848). 

Marie Thérèse, was never considered as queen, she was married to her cousin Louis-Antoine de Bourbon-Artois, duke of Angoulême

He is/was considered to be King of France for 20 minutes on August 20 1830 after his father's abdication (Charles X) and before Louis-Phillipe d'Orleans took the throne. 

-Duke of NJ

Sorry, my knowledge was not complete here

[trentk80]

An interesting thought, I realize that Marie Antoinette and Alix were related through Prussian blood as well as Saxe-Saalfield (did this come through her mother's side?)  But did she have any Hessian blood.  If in fact she was descended from George II Landrave of Hesse as was Alix? 

Marie Antoinette had Hessian blood indeed. She descended from Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt through his daughter Elizabeth Amalia. Alix also descended from Landgrave George II but through his eldest son, Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt.

[lori_c]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me.  I am DEFINITELY going to "bump up" the threads because they are of much interest to me as well and I am very ignorant on the subject.  As a side note, the Bourbons and Orleans have much influence in New Orleans, where I live.  In the French Quarter there are streets named for almost all of the the Princes of the Blood so to speak.  Such as Conti St is one example. We have a hotel here called the Bourbon Orleans which is pretty ritzy upscale. And much much more French influenced art and architecture as well as names.  It's amazing. I will definitely look at your drawing.

Thanks Britt!

[lori_c]

An interesting thought, I realize that Marie Antoinette and Alix were related through Prussian blood as well as Saxe-Saalfield (did this come through her mother's side?)  But did she have any Hessian blood.  If in fact she was descended from George II Landrave of Hesse as was Alix? 

Marie Antoinette had Hessian blood indeed. She descended from Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt through his daughter Elizabeth Amalia. Alix also descended from Landgrave George II but through his eldest son, Landgrave Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Thank you also Trent.  I researched through the often unreliable wikipedia having no other resource available and I kept hitting a dead end.  I appreciate your kindness.

[britt.25]

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me.  I am DEFINITELY going to "bump up" the threads because they are of much interest to me as well and I am very ignorant on the subject.  As a side note, the Bourbons and Orleans have much influence in New Orleans, where I live.  In the French Quarter there are streets named for almost all of the the Princes of the Blood so to speak.  Such as Conti St is one example. We have a hotel here called the Bourbon Orleans which is pretty ritzy upscale. And much much more French influenced art and architecture as well as names.  It's amazing. I will definitely look at your drawing.

Thanks Britt!

Hello, It´s interesting with the influence of the french royal family on your hometown, I did not know much about that before. Also the facts that streets are names after different lines of the family or different people from the family, it´s amazing, do you have more examples for it?

[lori_c]

I will think of more but here are some, we have a town called Lafayette, Streets named Louis XVI, Bourbon St., Napoleon Avenue, Lafayette Square is a sort of park (you can see it in the  movie JFK by Oliver Stone if you want to take a look).

My mind is drawing a blank but I will provide more later!

[Lyra]

They absolutly did wear wig... Never, never, never Marie Antoinette would have go out in Versailles without her wig..

That was in 18th century laidie's manners inherited from Louis XIV who forced every one to bear wig because He was loosing his hair. This manner was abolish with the Revolution. Actually Madame Royal asked (when she was liberated) if she had to put a wig to cover her real hair... because it was stange to her no wearing one.

So MA's hair was blond (as in her younger picture) but she wore grey wig as everybody in the French Court ^^' Plus, the more her wig is important and white / grey the more people know that you have an important rank in the society..

A long time ago, i've found a very funny drawing of Voltaire concerning wigs and how big (and exepensive !) were they... hihi (i'll try to find it if some of you want to see it)

I've search for the "coiffure à la Franklin" but I did not find it in my works.. so sorry. keep searching for it..
(and.. it's not Marie Therese.. She was called Charlotte ....)

[CountessKate]

Women did not wear wigs - only men wore wigs as a matter of course.  Women added curls and padded out their hair over frames to achieve those tremendous high fashions, but they only wore wigs if their hair had been cut short or had fallen out or thinned because of illness or age.  It just wasn't the done thing for a fashionable woman to wear a wig.

[FaithWhiteRose]

Its not red here though

Kirsten Dunst's hair did so well as Marie's.

I don't think Marie's hair was red---platinum it seems.

[veu-1]

Others MA pics:

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes that is one of my favourites too...now in Schonbrunn Palace. 

[FaithWhiteRose]

  thanks for the location, Eric. my parents went to France, and I'm greened with envy---not only by the history and the art they got to experience, but the luscious creme-brou-le they were mesmerized by . . . anyway, she (Marie) looks so much like herself in that one. a true pretty, stylish, classical, white-skinned beauty slash Fashion Queen.