As a newly married fourteen year old, Marie Antoinette spent many hours in her husband's aunts' apartments. (Looking for a mother figure?) Less so, as she grew older. The aunts pretended to like her but, early on, manipulated her and encouraged her to be rude to the King's (XV) mistress, mocked her behind her back and originated the derisive nickname that eventually became one of the peoples' favorite insulting names for her - perhaps I'm misspelling it...: "L'Autricienne" ("The Austrian"). Bitterness and jealously, born of their father's disregard for them in their childhoods, might be an explanation for their behavior... I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The aunts became less central to Marie Antoinette's life as she grew older and developed her own group of friends. Mesdames became very religious in their later years, and successfully, though not without difficulties, emigrated during an early stage of the Revolution.
As a newly married fourteen year old, Marie Antoinette spent many hours in her husband's aunts' apartments. (Looking for a mother figure?) Less so, as she grew older. The aunts pretended to like her but, early on, manipulated her and encouraged her to be rude to the King's (XV) mistress, mocked her behind her back and originated the derisive nickname that eventually became one of the peoples' favorite insulting names for her - perhaps I'm misspelling it...: "L'Autricienne" ("The Austrian"). Bitterness and jealously, born of their father's disregard for them in their childhoods, might be an explanation for their behavior... I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The aunts became less central to Marie Antoinette's life as she grew older and developed her own group of friends. Mesdames became very religious in their later years, and successfully, though not without difficulties, emigrated during an early stage of the Revolution.
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