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Quote by Antonia Fraser

“What was happening was a maniacal assault on the inhabitants of the Paris prisons, with some of the royal family’s most beloved attendants still incarcerated in the La Force. These included the Marquise de Tourzel and Pauline-and that hate figure so often in obscene popular publications, the lesbian paramour of the “Infamous Antoinette”, the Princesse de Lamballe.”

Quote by Antonia Fraser

Work

Marie Antoinette: The Journey

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Author

Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser

Antonia Fraser is a renowned British historian and author, known for her in-depth research into British history. Her works span from the Tudor to the Stuart periods, with her studies on Mary, Queen of Scots being particularly notable. more

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“Imagine an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says, ‘That is a cup.’ The French-man answers, ‘No it’s not. It’s a tasse.’ Then the Chinese comments, ‘You are both wrong. It’s a pei.’ Finally the Indonesian man laughs at the others and says ‘What fools you are. It’s a cawan.’ Then the Englishman get a dictionary and shows it to the others saying, ‘I can prove that it is a cup. My dictionary says so.’ ‘Then your dictionary is wrong,’ says the Frenchman, ‘because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse.’ The Chinese scoffs; ‘My dictionary says it’s a pei and my dictionary is thousands of years older than yours so it must be right. And besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be a pei.’ While they are squabbling and arguing with each other, a another man comes up, drinks from the cup and then says to the others, ‘Whether you call it a cup, a tasse, a pei or a cawan, the purpose of the cup is to hold water so that it can be drunk. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and refresh your thirst.’ This is the Buddhist attitude to other religions.”

“Grab one of the gorgeous Baccarat crystal glasses you bought me for Christmas last year, Sophie," said Walter. "Didn't your grandmother tell you it's the only way champagne should be served?" Robert smirked and pointed to the buffet. "We certainly don't drink Dom straight from the bottle." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said. "How crass of me." I meandered over to grab a glass- a coupe de champagne, the oldest design, preceding flute and tulip glasses. Legend had it that the bowl of glass was modeled after the breast of Marie Antoinette.”

“Unlike a Eugenie or a Jackie, but quite like her ancestor the Sun King, Marie Antoinette helped invent fashion as a high-stakes political game - one that she played in dead earnest, and with deadly results. A winner-take-all affair, her program of singular sartorial defiance implicated not just her autonomy and her prestige, but her crown and, eventually, her life.”