Rerun: The future Queen of France was accompanied by 57 carriages, 117 footmen and 376 horses on her journey from Austria to Versailles - but remarkably took only three hours to do her hair and makeup when she tied the knot with Louis-Auguste on 16th May, 1770.
Only 15 at the time, Louis was perceived - even by his closest friends and family - to be timid, unforthcoming and bookish. In a further bad omen, their wedding firework display was postponed due to a storm - and when it finally happened, there was a massive riot that resulted in the crowds being trampled to death.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Arion replay the ‘bedding ceremony’ in excruciating detail; explain exactly what went wrong between the sheets; and consider whether the roots of MArie Antoinette’s legendary profligacy can be traced back to her wedding day…
CONTENT WARNING: Graphic description of sexual intercourse. (Albeit one written in the 1770s, by a Roman Emperor. But, still: you *probably* won’t want to listen along with the kids.)
Further Reading:
• ‘Marriage of the Dauphin Louis and Marie-Antoinette’ (Palace of Versailles): https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/marriage-dauphin-louis-and-marie-antoinette
• ‘French dauphin, Louis, marries Marie Antoinette’ (HISTORY, 2010):
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/louis-marries-marie-antoinette
• ‘“Marie Antoinette”: Wedding scene’ (Sony Pictures, 2006):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftWA5LLAyoo
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’
Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
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