Tea at Trianon: Queen of the French

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, March 18, 2011

Queen of the French

Maria Amalia of Naples, niece of Marie-Antoinette and cousin of Madame Royale. To quote:

Queen Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, consort of King Louis Philippe of the French, is an interesting historical figure and, in many ways, not the sort of person one might expect her to be. She was born Princess Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies at Caserta Palace on April 26, 1782 in the Kingdom of Naples/Two Sicilies. Her parents were King Ferdinand IV and Queen Maria Carolina. From her earliest education she was noted for her religious piety and sincere Catholic faith. With a mother like Queen Maria Carolina and a grandmother like the Empress Maria Theresa, she was fully expected to follow in their footsteps as a strong, involved Catholic consort. While still very young her mother and her aunt, Queen Marie Antoinette of France, planned for her to one day marry her cousin the Dauphin. Obviously, the French Revolution and the tragic death of the poor Dauphin ended that childhood dream. However, it was important inasmuch as Maria Amalia had it in her mind from a very early age that it was her destiny to be the Queen of France.

More on Maria Amalia, HERE and HERE. Share

1 comment:

May said...: Maria Amalia always looks like a wise bird. I think it's the long Bourbon nose and the serious eyes.; March 18, 2011 at 2:39:00 PM EDT