This book provides a comprehensive account of the long-neglected but fascinating figure Marie-Thérèse Charlotte (1778-1851), the only surviving daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, Duchesse d’Angoulême, then dauphine and de jure Queen of France.
Using a vast array of iconographic sources as proof that the princess was far from unknown to her contemporaries, Mensch explores the evolution of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte's image, arguing that although her life was marked by many exiles, she occupied and redefined the role of a queen during the Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830). A de facto queen during the reign of her uncles, Louis XVIII and Charles X, she truly became one in exile. The last avatar of an Ancien Régime society that had disappeared, she continued to represent a certain idea of monarchy at the heart of a Europe in the throes of revolutions. Her life raises questions about queenship in France and the role, place and definition of women in the royal family after more than 20 years, marked by the Revolution and the Empire.
This volume stands as valuable resource for students and scholars of French history, the long nineteenth century, the Napoleonic period, and queenship and court studies. For general readers, the book presents a unique opportunity to discover a little-known historical figure.