Marie Antoinette: The Doomed Queen is a documentary film which premiered on British television (BBC) in 2020.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Host and presenter: Lucy Worsley
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 54 minutes
This film covers the life of Marie Antoinette from the beginning in 1755 until the end in 1793.
Host and presenter Lucy Worsley talks about the major moments in the life of Marie Antoinette, the Austrian princess who became the Queen of France.
Most of this film offers relevant and correct information, but not everything is as it should be, given that this program is presented by a professional historian.
There are some flaws:
# 1. An actress portrays Queen Marie Antoinette. When she speaks a few words, she speaks English!
Marie Antoinette was Austrian. Her native language was German. Having lived in France for several years, her second language was French. But in this film, she speaks English!
This is absurd!
# 2. An actor portrays the French lawyer and politician Maximilien Robespierre. When he speaks a few words, he speaks English! Robespierre was French. But in this film, he speaks English!
This is absurd!
# 3. While Lucy Worsley talks about the Royal family’s attempt to escape from Paris in June 1791, we see a carriage rolling through the streets of Paris during the night. In the background, high above the carriage, what do we see?
The outline of the Eiffel Tower, which was completed in 1889, almost one hundred years later!
This is an anachronism!
This is a huge violation of historical truth!
The host and presenter Lucy Worsley is a professional historian. How can she allow herself to be connected with a production which includes such serious and such obvious violations of historical truth?
# 4. While Lucy talks about the royal family’s attempt to escape from Paris, a map appears on the screen.
The final destination of the fugitives (Montmédy in the northeast corner of France) is marked on the map, but for some mysterious reason it is not mentioned.
Why did the king and queen want to reach this location? Because a royalist general was waiting for them there with a loyal army of 10,000 troops.
From this location they wanted to begin a war to defeat the French revolution and restore the king to his previous position.
According to Lucy, "everything went wrong when they reached Varennes."
Lucy claims the king was recognized by the local postmaster, but
this is not true. There is something wrong with this account.
At 8 pm, the carriage had stopped at St. Menehould where the local postmaster Jean-Baptiste Drouet suspected that one of the passengers was the king.
But at that moment, nobody in this town knew about the royal attempt to escape. Drouet could not be sure. He did not have any proof. The fugitives were allowed to enter the carriage and they departed as fast as possible.
At 9 pm, a message from Paris arrived: the royal family had escaped from Paris!
Now Drouet’s suspicion was confirmed. He and some others left the town in hot pursuit of the carriage.
At 11 pm, they caught up with the carriage in Varennes. The fugitives were only 50 km from the final destination. But they could not make it. The king and the queen were identified and arrested.
What Lucy offers in this film is a compressed version of the real story; a distorted version of the real story.
Moreover, she fails to mention that the bold attempt to escape from Paris was planned and organized by Axel von Fersen, a nobleman from Sweden who was a good friend of Marie Antoinette.
According to many observers, he was more than a good friend. But this question is not discussed in this film.
Lucy is a British historian. When she is dealing with English and British history, she is always on familiar ground.
When she is dealing with French history, she is not always on familiar ground.
Perhaps this is why her account about Marie Antoinette and the French revolution has some flaws.
REFERENCES
# 1. Royal Myths and Secrets
A series hosted and presented by Lucy Worsley
Elizabeth I: The Warrior Queen
(2020)
Episode 2
Queen Anne: The Mother of Great Britain
(2020)
Episode 3
Marie Antoinette: The Doomed Queen
(2020)
Episode 4
Henry VIII’s Reformation
(2021)
Episode 5
Kings George III & IV and the Napoleonic War
(2021)
Episode 6
The Romanovs & the Russian Revolution
(2021)
# 2. Marie Antoinette: The Trial of a Queen
A French docudrama which premiered in 2018
Episode 1
Marie Antoinette:
The Trial of a Queen
Run time = 1 hour 50 minutes
Episode 2
To Kill a Queen:
The Last Days of Marie Antoinette
Run time = 52 minutes
This docudrama is based on the book Juger la Reine by Emmanuel de Waresquiel
(2016 = Hardcover)
(2018 = Paperback
A review of the docudrama is posted on my blog
# 3. The Private Life of Marie Antoinette
A French docudrama which premiered in 2008
An episode of the series Secrets of History
French title: Marie Antoinette Intime
Hosted and presented by Stephane Bern
Run time = 1 hour 51 minutes
A review of this docudrama is posted on my blog
*****
Marie Antoinette
(born 1755)
Married to the French Crown Prince 1770
Queen of France 1774-1792
Executed 1793
*****
The French lawyer and politician
Maximilien Robespierre
(1758 -1794)
*****
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