(wikipedia pictures)
Marie-Antoinette
lived
a happy childhood, with her big family in their fairy tale's castles,
Hofburg and Schönbrunn in particular. She
may have also known Laxenburg and other castles since she had friends
who didn't belong to her royal family. For
example, she remained friends with Louise and Charlotte von
Hesse-Darmstadt until death did them apart.
However,
her best friend was her sister Marie-Caroline. They played and
laughed together, confided in each other, shared many experiences at
the same time and were nearly treated as twins. All her life
Marie-Antoinette would look for a similar relationship once an adult,
in the cruel and suffocating place that Versailles was...
From
her childhood, people acknowledged her grace, her charm and lovely
manners. She knew how to
attract people, how to put them at ease. Among her favourite "hobbies", there was dancing, which added to her overall grace, since
ability in dancing was considered as a real plus for a woman.
She
had a great heart, as the anecdote linking her and Mozart testifies
it: both children, he tripped while running and fell on the floor.
Everyone laughed but only Antoine (as MA was called as a child) came
to help him. No wonder he wanted to marry with the delicate
princess.
Nonetheless,
she had flaws naturally, and her education and upbringing encouraged
them to grow, to her biggest misfortunes later in life.
Since
her parents were both very busy, mainly her mother with her imperial
duties, Marie-Antoinette's
education was so neglected that she had a hard time trying to
concentrate and study. Most people who had accompanied her her
whole life couldn't deny how
difficult it was to put her at work and have her focus on some serious
problems. Mercy-Argenteau, ambassador of Austria in the French court, had lamented several times about the queen's lack of concentration. Her
French “teacher”, Vermond, found
another way to make her learn a better French and more about her
future family. He was one of
the first persons who did perceive Marie-Antoinette's intelligence
(she was a clever woman despite how much people liked to insult her
and treat her like a stupid queen). To
make the princess learn, he had to amuse her with stories, anecdotes etc.,
which, with hindsight, can be an excellent way to help to remember things.
Another
problem in the imperial family: personal hygiene was discouraged.
Except
for washing hands and face, water was feared and used with caution and parsimony.
This bad habit was something
MA brought to Versailles in the first months of her life over there.
In a letter, Mercy wrote about the fact she neglected her teeth. It
seemed then only later when she started to
bloom as a woman MA would start to enjoy baths.
For
the moment, she was still an archduchess surrounded by her family's
affection and warmth. What's more, while her mother started to make projects
to send
her in the most beautiful kingdom in the world, Marie-Antoinette was promised to have the
brightest future ever. It probably gave her the impression to be the elected among all her mother's children as she would later state in a letter to her.
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