Marie Antoinette Quotes

“I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all." - Marie Antoinette”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“As the Dauphine stepped out of her carriage on to the ceremonial carpet that had been laid down, it was the Duc de Choiseul who was given the privilege of the first salute. Presented with the Duc by Prince Starhemberg, Marie Antoinette exclaimed: 'I shall never forget that you are responsible for my happiness!”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“It lies in humanity's infinite capacity for self-deception where some perceived (and in this case long-desired) advantage is at stake”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“The real work of destruction had been done long before by satire, libel and rumour; Marie Antoinette had become dehumanized. The actual assault by a body of people inspiring each other with their bloodthirsty frenzy was the culmination of the process, not the start of it.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“A frequent charge made against “Antoinette” was that she was bathed in the blood of the French people; the truth of it was, of course, exactly the other way round.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“Like her marriage, Marie Antoinette’s death was a political decision.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“Kings who become prisoners are not far from death.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“Looking without passion is always a good plan where history is concerned. But is it really possible with regard to the career and character of Marie Antoinette?”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“As ever in a crisis, Marie Antoinette showed herself the forceful one who nonetheless could not bring herself finally to impose her will.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“This time the Empress was supposed to have asked the celebrated healer and pretender to miraculous powers, John Joseph Gassner: “Will my daughter be happy?” His reply was suitably gnomic: “There are crosses for all shoulders.” 3”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“Presented with the Duc by Prince Starhemberg, Marie Antoinette exclaimed: “I shall never forget that you are responsible for my happiness!” “And that of France,” replied Choiseul smoothly.20”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“For the King’s distaste at the idea of a mistress, Marie Antoinette can hardly be blamed; yet somehow she was turned into the scapegoat of this upsetting of the natural order of things-as the French court saw it.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“The execration in best-selling pamphlets and obscene engravings did not cease, many people expecting the Queen to take Jeanne de Lamotte Valois’s former place in the Salpétréne prison. Any evil, including a daring jewel robbery brilliantly organized from a closed prison could be attributed to her.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey

“What was happening was a maniacal assault on the inhabitants of the Paris prisons, with some of the royal family’s most beloved attendants still incarcerated in the La Force. These included the Marquise de Tourzel and Pauline-and that hate figure so often in obscene popular publications, the lesbian paramour of the “Infamous Antoinette”, the Princesse de Lamballe.”
― Antonia Fraser, Marie Antoinette: The Journey