The Necklace that Lost Marie Antoinette her Head - An 18th Century case of Catfishing

 

 In 1772 King Louis XV enlisted jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge to create an elaborate necklace for Madame Du Barry, his mistress. 

The necklace weighed 2,800 carats and had 647 precious stones and by the time it was made Louis XV had died of smallpox and his mistress had been banished. 

 The jewellers tried to sell it to Marie Antoinette but she declined it. 

 Jeanne De Valois-Saint Remy was a descendant of an illegitimate son of King Henri. In 1780 she married Nicholas De La Motte. They had a modest pension from the king but it was not enough, so Jeanne hatched a plan to acquire the necklace. One of her friends was Cardinal Louis Rohan who had fallen out of favour with the queen and was eager to reconcile, she tricked the cardinal into believing he had the queen's favour again and got him to write her a letter, De La Motte's accomplice faked replies on expensive guilt-edged stationary and the letters became so amorous that the Cardinal believed they were in love. 

 After a requirement that they meet, Jeanne hired a prostitute to impersonate the queen and organised a rendezvous at the palace of Versailles in the gardens. Jeanne told the Cardinal the queen wanted the necklace but felt too guilty to have it because half of the population of Paris were starving.  Cardinal De Rohan agreed to cover the costs in instalments. 

 When the Cardinals first payment was insufficient the jewellers pestered Marie Antoinette who then denied ever having bought the necklace. The Cardinal was brought in front of the king and queen and was asked to explain himself. The swindle was uncovered. The prostitute and Jeanne were convicted but the Cardinal was acquitted. Nicholas De La Motte was publically flogged and branded with a "v" for a robber. He was initially imprisoned but escaped ten months later. The trial desecrated the Queen's fragile reputation. Eight years later Marie was executed by guilottine during the French Revolution and the necklace was never found.