Saturday, October 15, 2011

Birth of Madame Royale

On December 19, 1778. An account from History and Other Thoughts:
Marie Antoinette began to feel the first contractions just after midnight on December 19, 1778. As soon as the news of the impending birth spread, crowds began to arrive.The King had the tapestry screens that surrounded the bed secured with cords to avoid them being thrown down upon the Queen. In the end, the room was so crowded it was impossible to move and, to get a better site of Her Majesty, two Savoyards even got upon the furniture! The Queen, however, was still able to walk around the room till 8am, when she finally took to her bed.

The baby was born at about 11:30 am, but it wasn't the eagerly, long-awaited hair. Marie Antoinette had given birth to a fair-haired, blue-eyed daughter, Marie Therese. The Queen still ignored the sex of the baby. The Princess de Lamballe was supposed to shout "Il figlio è nato" for a boy, or "La figlia è nata" for a girl to let the Queen know the sex of her newborn baby, but overwhelmed by emotion, she only managed to say "La regina è andato" (the Queen went) before fainting. (Read entire post.)
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3 comments:

Violet said...

It always please me to know that even if the baby was a boy or a girl, Marie Antoinette and Louis would love him/her regardless :)

May said...

So began a life of trials and tribulations.

Gio said...

Thanks so much for the link love! I really appreciate it. :)