The Queen's Necklace

Download or read book The Queen's Necklace written by Frances Mossiker and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2004 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four years before the French Revolution some priceless diamonds - they cost 1.8m francs, 'the price of a battleship' - were purchased in elaborate secrecy from the court jeweller of France, presumably for Marie Antoinette and at her own instructions. The necklace - not yet paid for - was delivered into the hands of Cardinal Prince de Rohan, first prelate of the Church of France. He in turn gave it to the Countess de La Motte-Valois, who claimed to be acting for the Queen. Although essentially an innocent bystander amidst this chicanery, Marie Antoinette became embroiled in a scandal which fatally weakened the monarchy.