Marie Antoinette’s Adopted Children | History And Other Thoughts

Originally posted on History And Other Thoughts.

Marie Antoinette loved children. She couldn’t wait to have a bunch of her own, and the lack of intimacy, and therefore children, in her marriage must have been very hard for her to bear. But she found other ways to be a “mother”. When she first arrived at Versailles, she often asked her ladies-in-waiting to bring their children with them. The 15-year-old dauphine grew particularly close to a 5-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister, the children of Madame de Misery, chief femme de chambre.

The children, and Marie Antoinette’s pets, livened up her apartments and life. They played noisy games, breaking furniture and tearing clothes in the mayhem. Not everyone was a fan. Count Mercy, the Austrian ambassador at the French court certainly wasn’t. He believed Marie Antoinette should occupy herself with more important and seemly matters. Never mind that Marie Antoinette was still a child herself, and one whose education had been seriously neglected and who now found herself out of her depth when talking to most adults at court. No wonder she enjoyed the company of children more, but their fun and games were eventually put an end to.

A few years later, she decided to adopt less fortunate children. The first was called…

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