Marie Antoinette and Her Children, 1787, by Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun Marie was forced, by royal decree, to give birth to her first child in public at Versailles. Labor lasted 12 hours, and she had a convulsive fit when it was over. Rosie Lesso wrote for The Collector on August 15, 2023:
One chambermaid gave a shocking account of the build up to the great event, noting, “When the obstetrician said aloud, ‘The Queen is going to give birth!’, the persons who poured into the chamber were so numerous that the rush nearly killed the Queen.” She even described how two chimney sweeps ‘climbed up onto the furniture for a better sight.’ …the Queen was reportedly delighted with her baby girl, Marie-Therese, as a record of her first words to her new baby prove: “You shall be mine; you shall have my undivided care, shall share all my happiness, and console me in my troubles.” Deaths: Marie-Therese 72, Louis-Joseph seven, Louis-Charles 10, Sophie 11 months. That explains the black cloth and Louis-Joseph's right hand.
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