Following the execution of her husband, former King Louis XVI of France, which took place nine months earlier, Marie-Antoinette met the same fate at the guillotine.
She had married Louis in 1770, being the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, with the intention of solidifying the French-Austrian alliance. Living a life of extravagance during a period of economic hardship in France, she persuaded her husband to oppose any reforms to the monarchy. There was an instance when she reportedly responded to the news of French peasants lacking bread in a cold manner by saying, “Let them eat cake.” The escalating revolutionary unrest eventually drove the king and queen to try to escape to Austria in 1791; however, they were apprehended by revolutionary forces and brought back to Paris. In 1792, the monarchy of France was dissolved, leading to the condemnation of Louis and Marie-Antoinette for treason.
