Do Queens Just Wanna Have Fun? Consummation Conundrum: Trouble in the Royal Bedroom! Does the Queen Have a Swede on the Side? King's brother caught with Queen! ("Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution.") Headlines like the ones mentioned are just the kind of rumors that were renovated during Marie Antoinette's reign. Marie Antoinette was constantly being scrutinized and labeled as a whore and traitor.
The Princesse de Lamballe, was considered Marie Antoinette's first favourite. She was admired for her soulful appearance and being a widow meant she dedicated her now lonely life reflect one of purity. However, despite her reputation that reflected purity, Marie Antoinette and Princesse de Lamballe were accussed of lesbian practices.
Count Axel von Fersen, a young handsome Swede, was considered Marie Antoinette's true love. Count Axel von Fersen and Marie Antoinette first met on January 30, 1774 at an Opera ball at the Palais Royal. Both Fersen and Antoinette were eighteen. Count Axel von Fersen was a soldier on bark to America to aide the American's in their Revolution. Marie Antoinette coined the nickname "le bel Axel" meaning the handsome Axel (Carroll, 263). It is rumored that Marie Antoinette and Count Axel von Fersen consummated their romance in the summer of 1783, but there is no evidence to prove that they were ever intimate.
The Duchesse de Polignac was also considered to be one of Marie Antoinette's favourite companions. She was praised by contemporaries for her fresh appearance and "utter naturalness" (Fraser, 200). The Duchesse de Polignac was also accused of partaking in lesbian acts with Marie Antoinette. In the wide array of contemporary pornographic images displayed as propaganda against Marie Antoinette, the Duchess de Polignac was displayed in graphic embraces with Marie Antoinette.
The Comte d'Artois, younger brother of Louis XVI, also was considered a close friend of Marie Antoinette's. The Comte d'Artois was also portrayed in, "Scurrilous pamphlets accused her [Marie Antoinette] of cuckolding the king with the comte d'Artois" (Carroll, 259).
The rumors that surround Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's marriage is one that has been highlighted most prominently. However, when the young couple wed, "Not only was Louis Auguste shy and uncomfortable around his new bride, but he may have suffered from a mild deformity of the penis known as phimosis, where the foreskin is too tight to retract. This condition...made intercourse, and even an erection, painful" (Carroll, 256).
References
Carroll, Leslie. Royal Romances: Titillating Tales of Passion and Power in the Palaces of Europe. New York: New American Library, 2012. Print.
Fraser, Antoina. Marie Antoinette: The Journey. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2001. Print.
Carroll, Leslie. Royal Romances: Titillating Tales of Passion and Power in the Palaces of Europe. New York: New American Library, 2012. Print.
Fraser, Antoina. Marie Antoinette: The Journey. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2001. Print.