Who Was Marie Antoinette?

By Dana Meachen Rau, Who HQ and John O'Brien

From the palaces of Austria to the mirrored halls of Versailles, Marie Antoinette led a charmed life. She was born into royalty in 1755 and married the future king of France at age 15. By 21 she ascended to the throne and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle of masquerade balls, sky-high wigs, and extravagant food. But her taste for excess ruffled many feathers. The poor people of France blamed Marie Antoinette for their poverty. Her spending helped incite the French Revolution. And after much public outcry, in 1793 she quite literally lost her head because of it. Whether she was blameless or guilty is debatable, but Marie Antoinette remains woven into the fabric of history and popular culture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
• Release date: Oct 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9780399539756

Dana Meachen Rau

Dana Meachen Rau is an author, editor, and illustrator of children’s books. She has written more than 100 books for children, many of them nonfiction in subjects including astronomy, history, and geography, as well as numerous biographies. She lives in Burlington, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.

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Cover for Who Was Marie Antoinette?

For ACR, my own queen of fashion—DMR

For Terase L. O’Brien—JO

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Text copyright © 2015 by Dana Meachen Rau. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by John O’Brien. Cover illustration copyright © 2015 by Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. PENGUIN and PENGUIN WORKSHOP are trademarks of Penguin Books Ltd. WHO HQ & Design is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. Printed in the USA.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953985

Ebook ISBN 9780399539756

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Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Copyright

Who Was Marie Antoinette?

The Archduchess

A Royal Wedding

Trying to Fit In

Living Like a Queen

Motherhood

Scandal and Suffering

A Failed Escape

End of the Monarchy

Timelines

Bibliography

Who Was Marie Antoinette?

On April 21, 1770, fifteen-year-old Marie Antoinette left home and traveled to France. She had always lived a royal life. Her parents were the emperor and empress of Austria. The young archduchess was leaving behind her beloved homeland. She was engaged to marry Louis Auguste, the future king of France.

Marie Antoinette rode in a jeweled coach amid a parade of more than fifty other carriages. Hairdressers, chefs, and other attendants traveled with her for the two-and-a-half-week journey. Peasants cheered along the road between Vienna, Austria, and Strasbourg, France. They hoped to catch a glimpse of the young bride-to-be.

The royal procession reached the Rhine River, where a new building stood on an island. Marie Antoinette said good-bye to the Austrian people who had traveled with her. When she entered the building, she had to take off all of her Austrian clothes. She was given a French gown made of golden fabric. She wasn’t allowed to bring anything from Austria into France, not even Mops, her little pug dog.

In an official ceremony, she was handed over to the French. When she opened the doors