The Ill-Fated Life of Marie Antoinette's Most Loyal Friend | The Princesse de Lamballe

when Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were arrested by the revolutionaries few openly admitted to being a friend of the king or queen except for one of Marie Antoinette's most loyal companions the princess de lambal married Therese Louise of Savoy was not only a close confidante of the French Queen but would remain so steadfast it would result in her horrific death Marie Therese Louisa Savoy was born on the 8th of September 1749 in Turin at the Palazzo carignano the palace was created for the princes of carign Nano of which the fourth one was her father Louis Victor her mother was a land-gravine Christine of Hess reinfeld's rotenberg a German princess of the blood little is known of Marie Therese's childhood but silence usually means a contented and uneventful one she was one of eight children herself the fifth daughter from what is known of the carignano household it was fairly typical of most noble families Marie Therese would have been educated in the qualities deemed most important for a noble wife as she would one day become including learning an instrument dancing and probably at least one other language when Marie Therese was 17 years old she was married by proxy to Louis Alexandre de bobon pontevra the prince de lambal and a great grandson of Louis XIV it was seen as a very suitable match as both Maori Therese and Louis Alexander were from a Royal bloodline and it allowed an alliance between the house of Savoy and the house of bourbon her brother stood in for her absent husband in the Royal Chapel of her father's Palace and was followed by a bedding ceremony in which her brother removed one shoe and one stocking before lying next to her on a bed both otherwise clothed in front of onlookers and a wedding Feast after afterwards this ensured even if Marie Therese's new husband died before she ever laid eyes on him she would be entitled to her widow's finances on the 24th of January she went over the bridge of bovoison between Savoy and France leaving behind her Italian retinue and life and becoming the French princess de lambal she was escorted to her new husband and father-in-law to whom she would become very close in later years and adopted the French version of her name just a few days later as was customary she was presented at the French Court of Versailles all reports state that she was favorably received everyone was delighted with her sweet and merry personality at first her marriage was happy as both parties were attracted to one another from the moment they laid eyes on one another however the prince de lambal's father Louis de bourbon Duke dupontierevra had been desperate to arrange the marriage in order to stem his son's appetites for loose women and raucous Behavior predictably marriage did not stop this part of Louis Alexandra's personality and it wasn't long before he was unfaithful to his new bride having affairs with two comedy actresses and even attempting to give some of his wife's diamonds as a gift to one of them Marie Therese was heartbroken when she found out but she was comforted by her father-in-law who was the opposite of his son in many ways and saw her as his own daughter just a year later in 1768 Marie Therese would become a young Widow having runoff from his household once more to pursue a life of drink women and debauchery Louis Alexander was brought home by his father to the Chateau de Lucien he was suffering from a venereal disease and despite being nursed by his sister and still loving wife he died on the 6th of May Marie Therese was now a widow and inherited a fortune which made her a wealthy woman in her own right however it was her initial wish to enter a Convent and become a nun and she only changed her mind about this when her father-in-law begged her to stay as his daughter Marie Torres agreed to stay instead helping with the Duke de pontierevra's charitable projects in rambuye he would become known because of this as the king of the poor and married Therese earned the nickname the angel of pontierevra Marita raise his most well-known role would come in 1770 when the new Dauphine Marie Antoinette arrived at Versailles as Dowager Princess Di lambal Marie Therese was expected to be part of Royal ceremonies and to greet the new future queen of France during the next during 1771 her father-in-law began to entertain more and as a result of being his Hostess Marie Torres became more involved in court life including attending balls held in the name of the dolphin Marie Antoinette was reportedly Enchanted by Mary Therese and showed her more attention than the others which didn't fail to escape the gossips of Versailles cousins of maritories married into Marie Antoinette's family and it wasn't long before the dolphin came to treat married Therese as a close relation the Empress Maria Theresa Marie Antoinette's mother dislike the friendship as she believed royalty should not form close or intimate relationships and that having favorites caused problems however Marie Therese was known by all for having an amiable and sweet personality unlikely to create political or courtly problems and was a princess of the blood this made her acceptable if such a companion had to be chosen Marie Antoinette was Charmed by her new friend amarito is became her closest Confidant after Marie Antoinette's young husband Louis XVI had ascended to the throne also making her queen of France she raised the station of her friend on the 18th of September 1775 Marie Antoinette made Marie Therese the superintendent of the Queen's household the highest possible rank for a lady in waiting this position meant Marie Therese was is now in charge of overseeing the Queen's orders staff and schedule over all other ladies in waiting but the very giving of this position created tension the post had been vacant for over 30 years mostly because it was seen as unnecessary expensive and gave too much power to the holder this was compounded when the queen also gave two of Marie Therese's brother's lucrative posts Marie Torres was of sufficient rank but was seen as too young she would also gain the outrageously huge salary of around 1.2 million livre Marie Therese was asked in the circumstances of the country if she would give up at least part of this huge sum but she refused bursting into tears and stating she would rather have all the Honors that came with her rank or retire from Court Marianne instead offered to pay the salary leading to Whispers of Marie Therese being a greedy Court favorite Marie Therese was also given to fainting spells and convulsions sometimes remaining unconscious for hours at a time which gave way to rumors that these were fake and used to bring on sympathy in other words whatever good reputation maritaris had built for herself by helping charitable Works was being eroded in her behavior and perceived favoritism at Versailles Marie Therese had many charms she was described as charming and sincere unlikely to engage in the intrigues of Versailles and was liked by nearly all at court however she was also reclusive by nature and preferred to spend time with the queen in small groups of company rather than in the High Society balls and Amusements that Marie Antoinette was coming to enjoy as she said settled into her role as Queen it wasn't long before Marie Therese would be pushed aside for a new favorite Yolanda de polastron The Duchess de polanyak Yolanda was beautiful outgoing and sociable and she expressed her opinion to the queen that the princess de lambal was rather boring in return Marie Therese considered The Duchess de polanyak to be a bad influence on Marie Antoinette and distanced herself from Yolanda by 1776 Marie Antoinette was spending more time with her new favorite a Marita Rays appeared less and less at court the queen quarreled more with the Princess Di lambal who always seemed to be in the wrong reported by Ambassador Mercy to the Empress Maria Teresa when Marie Antoinette decided to arrange amateur theater Productions at her personal property the petty Trianon Yolanda managed to convince the queen to refuse was married to raise his admission to them it must have been a humiliating experience for Marie Therese who was still superintendent to the Queen's household as such she still had to hold balls in the Queen's honor greet foreign Royal guests with the queen and participate in ceremonies such as for the birth of the royal children by the mid-1780s margaritoris's health had worsened to the point she was no longer able to perform her duties in 1787 she traveled to England advised by her doctors to take the waters in bath despite the medical nature of her visit rumors abounded that it was actually a secret diplomatic mission on behalf of the queen Charles Alexandra de Colonna an exiled minister of France was about to publish his Memoirs and some thought Marie Therese was going to ask him to Omit details about the queen but in fact he was not in England at the time but this still showed the story that was growing around Marie Antoinette and those deemed close to her even if the rumors were foundless after her return to France Marie Torres found that the Queen's friendship with the duchess de polanyak had soured and once again became Marie Antoinette's closest Confidant her health had recovered to the point Marie Therese could once again join him with court life but events outside Versailles were Brewing as well she would have been present in 1789 to attend the ceremonies around the opening of the Estates General an important point in the build up to the revolution propaganda surrounding the king and queen was gaining speed as well and several pamphlets a week were spilled onto the streets of Paris Marie Therese was reserved and quiet by nature and regarded by many at court as something of a prude but that didn't prevent the production version of pamphlets accusing the princess Dylan Bal from being a lover of Marie Antoinette this tapped not only into the growing hatred of the wealth divide and for the upper classes but also into the 18th century suspicion of homosexuality the main purpose was actually to undermine the Queen's image but it must have been horrible for Marie Therese to be shown in this way in July 1789 when the French Revolution finally broke with the storming of the Bastille Murray Therese was away in Switzerland and when she returned she stayed in the country to nurse the Duke de pontiervra and so was not present for the women's march on Versailles on the 5th of October [Music] two days later Marie Therese left to join the royal family in the twilery palace resuming her duties as before sharing the apartments of the Pavilion De Flores with Madame Elizabeth the King's sister Marie Therese settled fairly permanently it would prove to be a brave decision but was in keeping with her loyalty and steadfastness life in the twilery palace retained some sense of normality King Louis XVI still held public viewings of his rising and going to bed and Marie Antoinette still held card parties and dined publicly with the King whilst also attending Mass foreign envoys were still admitted and had to be entertained throughout all of this Madame Therese was by her Queen's side she had never really enjoyed holding lavish parties or balls but now she threw herself into them she understood that gaining support of of loyal Nobles would be the key to helping Marie Antoinette's cause her Salon became the meeting place for the queen and many important members of the national constituent assembly as well as where Marie Antoinette reportedly met with Mirabel in light of the Revolution maritories also had a new role to take on that of checking for loyalty amongst the Royal household Madame campan Marie Antoinette's ladies made recalled how she was questioned by the Princess Di lambal after rumors she had been receiving revolutionaries in her rooms through a network of spies maritaris cleared Madame campan then questioning the ladies made on other members of the household once she knew she could be trusted many members of the Court fled France including the one-time favorite of the queen The Duchess de polinia with so few members of the royal Entourage remaining slander against them intensify amongst them maritaris in June 1791 the royal family attempted to flee France in the unsuccessful flight to varen Maori Therese was not aware of it at first probably to protect her from being questioned afterwards if it had been successful but the night before Marie Antoinette simply paid her good night and advised her to spend a few days in the country for her health after departing the next day for her Villa in pasi The Princess Di lambal received a note from the queen informing her of the Escape Plan and asking her to meet them in Brussels obtaining letters of introduction Marie Tori set out at once first sailing to Dover in England and traveling through the Netherlands until she reached Brussels meeting with count Axel Von ferson the Queen's close friend who was behind the details of the plan of course she then knew the Escape hadn't worked in doubt for some time whether she would be more used to the queen in or out of France Marie torres's mind was made up for her in October 1791. this was when the new provisions of the Constitution began and Marie Antoinette was told to put her household in order and release any courtiers not in her service the queen therefore wrote The Princess Di lambal a formal letter asking her to either return to service or resign while we do not know the contents of this letter it apparently was enough to convince Mary Therese her place was by Marie Antoinette's side and she made up her mind to return to Paris she was quoted as saying I must live and die with her this also led to mauritori's writing her will although there is some dispute whether she wrote it in Britain or while in the Netherlands in either case she understood there was a good chance she would die in the Queen's service on her return to the twilery's Palace margaritories wrote to Nobles who had already fled France asking them to return in the Queen's name she worked hard at retaining loyal courtiers around the royal family when the demonstration of the 20th of June 1792 broke out Marie Therese was with the queen at the twileries the demonstration was the Parisian people's last attempt at a somewhat peaceful resolution to persuade Louis XVI to abandon his current policies the people of Paris burst in as a mob intending to petition the king in his apartments and obtain decrees and ministers they deemed fit but they also passed by the room in which Mary Antoinette was with her children the queen fearing for her husband cried out my place is by the king's side but Maori Torres calmed her friend and replied no no Madam your place is with your children a table was pulled before the queen and her two children and she was protectively surrounded by her ladies in Waiting the children's governess and a few noblemen they stood by her side as the mob passed through for several hours spitting and hurling insults at Marie Antoinette as they went according to a witness Marie Torres stood by the queen side through the whole ordeal showing great bravery as she placed herself between the mob and the royal family her only thoughts seemed to be with keeping Marie Antoinette the young dolphin Louis and his sister also named Marie Therese all safe without giving her own safety a second thought the Princess Di lambal would remain in the Queen's service even during the much more violent attack on the tweedery palace on the 10th of August 1792. the palace was stormed by armed revolutionaries a Marie Therese along with the children's governess Madame de tozel took Refuge with the royal family in the Legislative Assembly this attack would prompt France to abolish the monarchy just a few weeks later while staying at the Legislative Assembly Maori Therese grew ill and had to be sent away to the fiance Convent to get better Marie Antoinette told her loyal friend not to return but as soon as her health improved maritories once again returned to the royal family traveling with them to the dumpler a prison tower that once stood in Paris it was clear she had made her choice about living or dying on the 19th of August it was to be the LA last time Marie Therese would ever see Marie Antoinette or her family the princess de lambal along with Madame de tozel and her daughter Pauline du tozel was separated from the royal family and taken to La Force prison where the three women shared a cell in September the prison was attacked several times by mobs and those accused would be placed before hastily assembled tribunals run by the common people each prisoner was questioned before ultimately being allowed to go free or being condemned to death death came in the form of being thrown out to a yard where a mob of men women and children were waiting to Kill The Condemned the staff of the prison didn't agree with this and often allowed prisoners to escape especially Women Pauline de tozel managed to escape but her mother and marito Ruiz were too famous to get out safely however the royal Governors Madame de tozel along with most of the other women who had been members of the royal household were freed from all charges sadly the Princess Di lambal her profiled too well known the slander against her forming an opinion in the minds of many that didn't really exist would be the exception on the 3rd of September 1792 mauritaris and Madame de tozel were brought out into a courtyard before a people's tribunal she had spent several weeks in a small dank cell unknowing of her fate and it must have been terrifying to face the accusatory people waiting for them outside the rules of the crowd outside the courtyard were loud and angry and the experience must have been nightmarish the Princess Di lambal was quickly asked her name and her employment before being questioned as to whether she knew of court plots on the 10th of August upon replying that she did not Marie Torres was then asked to swear to a very specific oath that of Liberty and equality but also to swear hatred to the king and queen reportedly her words in response were readily to the former but I cannot to the latter it is not in my heart there were some men who were sent from her father-in-law present and they apparently whispered to her to say the oath even if she didn't really mean it but maoritaris instead simply added out loud I have nothing more to say it is indifferent to me if I die a little earlier or later I have made the sacrifice of my life it was the end of her Swift interrogation the judge announced that Madame was to be taken away meaning death the Princess Di lambal was marched out of the Courtyard by two son School lots and thrown out into the yard Beyond where a murderer self-proclaimed executioner mob awaited her the yard was already filled with the bloodied corpses of other prisoners who had met the same fate and the men sent from her father-in-law shouted out for Mercy but were soon silenced when the mob shouted for their deaths also apparently the Princess Di lambal stood silent for a moment a small woman dressed in white before she was struck with a pike to the head and fell to the ground the crowd then set upon her stabbing her viciously until she bled to death there are many variations on her death especially later from pro-royalist supporters criticizing the regime in which Marie Therese was strip naked and raped or had her breasts cut off her body cut apart on her entrails dragged out however there is no historical proof for these Tales of Horror and were more likely used as propagander against the murderers when on trial in later years a clerk who later had to deal with the remains of Marie torres's body noted only that her Pockets had items in suggesting she was still fully clothed and that she was without a head this part was true and furthers the grizzly death of the Princess Di lamban her head was removed from her body and mounted on a pike then paraded through the streets while her body was dragged behind as the crowd screamedal there were several witnesses to this and one purchased a lock of her hair which was later given to her father-in-law Maori taris's head was then shown beneath Marie Antoinette's window at the tompler prison the wife of one of the prison officials saw the head and screamed thinking the screen came from Mary Antoinette herself the crowd laughed and jeered asking the queen to come and kiss the lips of her favorite the prison officials kept the royal family away from the windows and Marie Antoinette apparently fainted upon hearing whose head was outside one of the Duke de pontiervra's men managed to get hold of the Princess Di lambal's head interring it in a nearby Cemetery her body while recovered by the authorities was not buried in a known place and is still unknown today Marita raise the Princess Di lambal may have been on the wrong side of history and siding with the French royal family but that is her only fault she appears to have been a charitable gentle person who was loyal to her friends to the very end and brave enough to face her fate there is no question that while the Grievances of the French people had been ignored for too long and their suffering should have been helped lot earlier Marie Torres and her fellow prisoners did not deserve the horrifying death that awaited them her character lived on in the Memoirs of those who had known her and while not a prominent part of the French Revolution she would be remembered as another whose blood was spilled for being close to Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI in the building of the new Republic foreign if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like And subscribe so you don't miss any new documentaries [Music]

Channel: History's Forgotten People

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Keywords: french history, french revolution, louis XVI, marie antoinette, history of versailles, marie antoinette facts, princesse de lamballe, marie therese of savoy, the princess of lamballe, princesse de lamballe death

Id: BGfgas0QSwI

Length: 26min 26sec (1586 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023