Marie Antoinette remains one of most popular, enigmatic and tragic queens in history and is currently in focus at the Victoria Albert Museum. Marie Antoinette Style is the first British exhibition on her and explores the life and legacy of the French queen. While many people focus on her imprisonment and death, Marie Antoinette Style tracks her throughout her life showing both the good and bad, including her impressive wedding.
The young Austrian archduchess Maria Antoinia married Louis Auguste, the Dauphin of France by proxy on 19 April 1770.
On 14 May 1770, the couple married in person with all of the celebrations expected of the heir to the throne- a full ceremony in the Royal Chapel in Versailles, official court rituals, and a full ball including a fireworks display.
Although her wedding dress no longer survives, there are still surviving items from the wedding.
The exhibition features an invitation to the bal paré, the formal ball to officially celebrate the couple’s wedding. The etched invitation has two cupids holding a garland up along the top, another two playing an instrument in the bottom right corner, and another holding up the Dauphin’s monogram in the bottom left corner.
The invitation is accompanied by a fan made to celebrate the teenage couple’s wedding. The fan features a watercolour illustration of the spectacular fireworks that finished off the day and includes the inscription: “Long live France. Long live the Empire. Allies forever.”
Marie Antoinette Style is on at the V&A until 22 March 2026. The blockbuster exhibition looks at her life, her death, and her lasting legacy that continues today.
