Marie-Antoinette's 30-year romance with a Swedish count revealed
French queen's shoes sold
Farewell, My Queen
No similarities at all
Michelle Obama is Marie Antoinette? No, says Tea at Trianon blogger Elena Maria Vidal (who is the author of Trianon: A Novel of Royal France).
A queen and her portrait painter
Writer Catherine Delors takes a look at the relationship between Marie Antoinette and artist Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.
(Delors is the author of the excellent historical novel Mistress of the Revolution. You can read my review of the book here. Her new book, For the King, is scheduled to be published in July.)
Court Pomp and Ceremony
Walk like Marie Antoinette
Writer Leslie Carroll learns the Versailles Glide.
Marie Antoinette's daughter
From Elena Maria Vidal's Tea at Trianon blog, here's an interview with Susan Nagel, author of Marie-Thérèse, Child of Terror: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter.
Elena Maria Vidal herself is the author of Trianon: A Novel of Royal France (about Marie Antoinette) and Madame Royale (about Marie-Therese).
Let them throw bread rolls
This article caught my eye because it repeats the old story about Princess Diana fans throwing bread rolls at Prince Charles's then-mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles (who, of course, is now his second wife).
The article says Camilla's supposed bread-pelting was due to "anger at Diana's death." But I heard this story BEFORE Diana's death! I remember being told about it in an online chat room by Diana fans who weren't angry at all. They were simply amused by the rumor (OK, very amused), and they hoped that Diana had heard about it, too.
I don't know if the infamous Supermarket Incident ever happened, but the way this story is apparently being used today — as evidence that Camilla was treated as a scapegoat after Diana's death — makes me suspect that it didn't happen at all, that it's a legend like Marie Antoinette's famous non-quote, "Let them eat cake."
But it appears that possibly someone really did say, "Let them eat cake," or words to that effect. It just wasn't Marie Antoinette. So who knows: Maybe the Supermarket Incident did happen, but Charles and Camilla were the ones in that supermarket, pelting Princess Diana with bread rolls. Uh oh. I hope I didn't just start another rumor.
More than eye-candy
Caroline Weber says French queen Marie Antoinette "may have shopped until she dropped, but she had pressing political reasons for doing so."
Weber is the author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.