Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. Born in Austria as Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, she was the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. In 1770, at the age of 14, Marie Antoinette married Louis-Auguste, who later became King Louis XVI of France in 1774.

Initially popular, Marie Antoinette's lavish lifestyle, combined with her perceived insensitivity to the suffering of the French people, contributed to her declining reputation. France's financial crisis, political turmoil, and worsening economic conditions fueled anti-monarchy sentiments, and Marie Antoinette became a symbol of the monarchy's extravagance and excess.