Marie Antoinette was guillotined at 12:15 p.m. on 16 October 1793. [207] [208] Her last words are recorded as, "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès" or "Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose", after accidentally stepping on her executioner's shoe. [209] Marie Tussaud was employed to make a death mask of her head. [210] Her body was thrown into an unmarked grave in the Madeleine cemetery, located close by in rue d'Anjou. Because its capacity was exhausted the cemetery was closed the following year, on 25 March 1794. [211] Foreign response Samuel, Henry (12 January 2016). "Marie-Antoinette's torrid affair with Swedish count revealed in decoded letters". The Daily Telegraph.

Marie Antoinette's second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage early in July 1779, as confirmed by letters between the queen and her mother, although some historians believed that she may have experienced bleeding related to an irregular menstrual cycle, which she mistook for a lost pregnancy. [69] By the time the Austrian-born Marie Antoinette took the throne, French people had been attributing this phrase to the foreign queens of French kings for decades as a kind of “displaced frustration with the crown,” argues Caroline Weber, author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. For many revolutionary figures, Marie Antoinette was the symbol of what was wrong with the old regime in France. The onus of having caused the financial difficulties of the nation was placed on her shoulders by the revolutionary tribunal, [216] and under the new republican ideas of what it meant to be a member of a nation, her Austrian descent and continued correspondence with the competing nation made her a traitor. [217] The people of France saw her death as a necessary step toward completing the revolution. Furthermore, her execution was seen as a sign that the revolution had done its work. [218]Lanser, Susan S. (2003). "Eating Cake: The (Ab)uses of Marie-Antoinette". In Goodman, Dena (ed.). Marie-Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-93395-7. Chevrier, M. -R; Alexandre, J.; Laux, Christian; Godechot, Jacques; Ducoudray, Emile (1983). "Documents intéressant E.B. Courtois. In: Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 55e Année, No. 254 (Octobre–Décembre 1983), pp. 624–28". Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française. 55 (254): 624–35. JSTOR 41915129. By the 1790s Marie Antoinette was perhaps the most despised of all Ancien Régime figures. After being toppled from the throne in August 1792 she spent 14 months in prison before being given a show trial and sent for guillotining. Farr, Evelyn (2013). Marie-Antoinette and Count Fersen: The Untold Love Story (2nd Reviseded.). Peter Owen Publishers. ISBN 978-0720610017.

Married her cousin, Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the eldest son of the future Charles X of France.While from late 1787 up to his death in June 1789 Marie Antoinette's primary concern was the continued deterioration of the health of the dauphin, who suffered from tuberculosis, [130] she was directly involved in the exile of the Parlement, the May Edicts, and the announcement regarding the Estates-General. She did participate in the King Council, the first queen to do this in over 175 years (since Marie de' Medici had been named Chef du Conseil du Roi, between 1614 and 1617), and she was making the major decisions behind the scene and in the Royal Council. Farr, Evelyn (2016). I Love You Madly: Marie-Antoinette and Count Fersen: The Secret Letters. Peter Owen Publishers. ISBN 978-0720618778. Antoinette’s political views were undoubtedly conservative and reactionary. She despised how the revolution eroded Louis’ absolutism, believing that radicals and deceivers had come between the king and his people. Antoinette did what she could to restore his political authority – but her political influence was negligible, despite what has been claimed by propagandists and Republicans. Like other women of her era, the queen had no capacity to make decisions on matters of policy or government. She did have the ear of her husband, which may have influenced his decisions. The royal family’s flight to Varennes was undoubtedly sanctioned by Antoinette and organised by her favourite, Count Axel Fersen. Earlier, Antoinette had communicated regularly on matters of politics with men like Honore Mirabeau, Antoine Barnave and Charles Talleyrand. She did this to advance her husband’s interests, however, she could not bring herself to fully trust the agents of the Third Estate. A depiction of Antoinette’s execution in October 1793 Sturtevant, Lynne (2011). A Guide to Historic Marietta, Ohio. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-60949-276-2 . Retrieved 1 September 2011. Despite the general celebration over the birth of an heir, Marie Antoinette's political influence, such as it was, was perceived to greatly benefit Austria. [75] During the Kettle War, in which her brother Joseph attempted to open the Scheldt River for naval passage, Marie Antoinette succeeded in obliging Vergennes to pay huge financial compensation to Austria. Finally, the queen was able to obtain her brother's support against Great Britain in the American Revolution and she neutralized French hostility to his alliance with Russia. [76] [77]