Question: Did Marie Antoinette really say “Let them eat cake?” in reference to France’s starving poor having no bread?
Answer: There’s no real evidence, and if she did, she wasn’t the first. According to the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the statement was made a century earlier by Marie-Therese, Spanish bride of King Louis XIV. It has also been attributed to two of King Louis XVI’s aunts. Marie Antoinette might, of course, have thought it amusing to repeat it, but if so, it wasn’t one of her brighter moves. If not, well, people detested her enough to believe her capable of anything (including incest) and she went to the guillotine on October 16th, 1793.
For more interesting facts on France’s best known queen visit:
https://storja101.wordpress.com/2015/07/02/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-marie-antoinette/
