Marie Antoinette 's Diamond Necklace Affair

As Marie Antoinette matured Marie Antoinette became more responsible and less extravagant. She tried to change her image by wearing simple gowns, but her efforts had little effect on the unforgiving French public. The greatest damage to her reputation was created by a scandal that took place at the court of King Louis XVI of France just before the French Revolution - the Diamond Necklace Affair, in the mid 1780s. Although Marie Antoinette was innocent, the rumors ruined her reputation.

Situations leading to the affair of the necklace

Three disparate situations led to the affair of the necklace. Firstly, the jeweller Boehmer was unable to convince Marie Antoinette to buy a fabulously expensive diamond necklace originally made for Louis XV's lover Madame du Barry. Boehmer thought that Marie Antoinette was the only person who may be interested in such an expensive item. Marie Antoinette, although was enchanted by the necklace, felt that it was too expensive and refused to buy it.

The second situation was concerning Madame la Motte, a con artist, who wanted to gain a position at court. The third was the socially prominent Prince de Rohan, the Cardinal of France was unhappy over his years of exclusion from Marie Antoinette's inner circle.

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