Mother Knows Best: Snubbing the Kings Favourite

"A word about her dress or some bagatelle should not cause you so much trouble...If one demanded of you any lowering familiarities, neither I nor any one else would advise you to grant them, but an indifferent word, a certain mark of regard, not for that person, but for your grandfather, your sovereign, and your benefactor."

Maria Theresa, 30 September 1771




7 comments:

  1. The customs and intricate rules of how to treat certain ranks back then is so interesting and fascinating.

    Confessions & Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Muse. So many ways to talk and act towards different people. No wonder she was lost when she first arrived to Versailles

    ReplyDelete
  3. The more I learn about Marie Antoinette, the more sympathy I have for her. What a dreadful situation to have been in! I am so glad I am not royalty, nor anyone of importance...I can just say hi to people I like (and not talk to those I don't like) and nothing bad will happen!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't think that Marie would have ever had such disdain for du Barry if she had not spent so much time with Mesdames (the aunts).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:09 PM

    I agree with Rococo, but I believe they were one of the few glimpses of relief for Marie in her life at the Court.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's always horrid to have to speak to someone one loathes.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Americans do not hold much sway to royalty that is probably why we react when confronted with these kind of posts that deal with Royalty interactions. It is so foreign to us. I think that they set things up that way back then to weed out the uneducated, they could spot someone that did not know what to say or do and easily discredit them with out the effort of having to trust them from the start. Only the rich could afford to train in the art of upper class communication and they only wanted to interact with the rich and influential.
    Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete