Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac
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Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac (8 September 1749–9 December 1793) was a French aristocrat and friend of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met when she was presented at Versailles in 1775. The duchesse de Polignac typified the aristocratic hangers-on at the court of Versailles before the French Revolution. She embodied the exclusivity, the obliviousness and the selfish extravagance of the ruling class. However, historians Pierre de Nolhac and the marquis de Ségur agree that Mme de Polignac was sweet and indolent and that most of the problems originated with her entourage.
[edit] Biography
She was born in Paris, but moved to Languedoc. Her maternal grandfather was René Hérault, who had served as Lieutenant General of Police of Paris (i.e. head of the Paris Police) between 1725 and 1739. She lost her mother, Jeanne Charlotte Hérault, at the age of three and went to her aunt, who put her in an aristocratic convent. When she was eighteen, she married Jules, comte de Polignac, captain in the French army. She had four children with him.
When Diane de Polignac, her sister-in-law, called her to the court, she came with her husband. Marie Antoinette became attached to the simple Gabrielle de Polignac.
Talented and beautiful, Gabrielle became the undisputed leader of the queen's exclusive circle, ensuring that few entered without her approval. The entire Polignac family benefited enormously from the queen's extravagant generosity, but their increasing wealth outraged many aristocratic families, who felt they didn't deserve it. The queen's favouritism towards Gabrielle and her family was one of the many causes which fueled Marie-Antoinette's unpopularity with many of her subjects. "The Polignac Set" was despised by royalist and republicans alike.
Gabrielle was liked by Louis XVI, who was grateful for her calming influence on his wife, encouraging their friendship. Gabrielle was eventually appointed Governess to the Royal Children, including the future Louis XVII and Princess Marie-Thérèse.
Gabrielle's marriage was cordial, if not successful; in other words, it was typical of aristocratic arranged marriages, where both parties were free to have affairs. It was rumored at Versailles that Gabrielle's second child was actually fathered by her lover, the comte de Vaudreuil. Gabrielle's beautiful sister-in-law, Louise, became the life-long mistress of Louis XVI's youngest brother, the comte d'Artois (later Charles X).
Gabrielle's influence over Marie-Antoinette began to wane after 1785, when the queen's second son, later the Dauphin, was born. The queen was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the cost of the Polignac circle. She confided to another lady-in-waiting, Henriette Campan, that she was "suffering acute dissatisfaction" over the Polignacs. According to Campan, "Her Majesty observed to me that when a sovereign raises up favourites in her court she raises up despots against herself." Eventually, Gabrielle felt Marie-Antoinette's displeasure and decided to visit friends in England.
The months leading up to the outbreak of the French Revolution in July 1789 saw the queen and the Polignac set become closer once more. Politically, Gabrielle and her friends led the ultra-monarchist movement in Versailles. Together with the diplomat, the baron de Breteuil, and the comte d'Artois, they persuaded Marie-Antoinette to help depose the king's finance minister, Jacques Necker. This proved to be a catastrophic decision, especially since Breteuil had argued that they delay the move for a few weeks. It is generally believed that it was the comte d'Artois who rushed ahead with the plot, before it was the right time to do so.
After the fall of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, and with Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette under house arrest, several members of the Polignac Set decided to emigrate. The comte d'Artois left on Louis XVI's orders, as did Breteuil. Gabrielle and her family escaped to Switzerland, where they kept in contact with the King and Queen through letters. After she had left, the care of the royal children was entrusted to the Marquise de Tourzel.
Gabrielle developed cancer while living in Switzerland. She died in October 1793, shortly after hearing of the execution of Marie-Antoinette. Gabrielle was the mother of Jules, prince de Polignac, who became Prime Minister when the comte d'Artois became king in 1824. She was also the mother of Aglaé de Polignac, duchesse de Guiche, called in the family "Guichette", who died in 1803 in an accidental fire.
[edit] Legacy
Gabrielle de Polastron has left her mark in history and it can be seen in history books, novels, movies and other kinds of media.
In the anime and manga series Rose of Versailles she makes several appearances as she befriends Marie-Antoinette in order to take advantage of her. She's also given two additional daughters, Charlotte and Rosalie (the second being illegitimate), whom she tried to use for her own purposes.
More recently she has been portrayed by Rose Byrne in the recent film Marie Antoinette.
