Once upon a time there were princesses who reigned over fiction… In recent years, the creators of series have multiplied biopics more or less faithful to historical truth around the destinies of young aristocratic women struggling with their royal destiny.
After the late Queen Elizabeth II and Lady Diana The CrownElisabeth of Austria in The Empress (Netflix) and Sisi (MyTF1), Alexandrina Victoria de Wettin in VictoriaMary Stuart in reign (MyCanal), Catherine II of Russia in The GreatCatherine de Medici in The Serpent QueenCatherine of Aragon in The Spanish Princess, Elizabeth Woodville in The White QueenElizabeth of York in The White Princess or even Elizabeth I in Becoming Elizabeth (Lionsgate), it’s Marie-Antoinette’s turn to be the subject of a series currently broadcast every Monday at 9:10 p.m. on Canal+. Why are we fascinated by these figures of princesses with often tragic destinies?
It all starts with “fairy tales”
It all starts in childhood with “fairy tales.” We grow up with a whole imagination of kings, queens, princesses, knights and dragons. Obviously, this promotes a potential appetite”, analyzes Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre, editorial director of the weekly Point of view and author of novels, Grand Prize of the novel of the French Academy for The Last of Us (Grasset).
The last king of France, Louis-Philippe I, reigned until 1848. “It’s our historical breeding ground”, recalls the expert. Even if France is a Republic: “The French remain fascinated by monarchies. When Queen Elizabeth II came to inaugurate the flower market on the Ile de la Cité in Paris, under François Hollande, we heard “Vive la Reine”, underlines Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre. These series thus attract history buffs “even if sometimes it is very far from the historical truth”.
Models of powerful women
If these royal fictions focus on female figures, it is because “with the awakening of the struggle for the status of women, the explosion created by #MeToo, we need to look in the history of pioneering women which re-enchant the history of the status of women,” said the journalist.
Queens are powerful female figures. “In France, we have still not had a female president, but we have had great queens through the regency. In England, they were even more powerful since they could reign”, recalls the specialist quoting Elizabeth I “the virgin queen because she needed to remove any man who could have taken the ascendancy over her”.
Marie-Antoinette “grew up in a matriarchy, surrounded by sisters and a mother who was one of the most powerful women in Europe. When she arrives at Versailles, she already knows who she is and what she wants”, considers Deborah Davis, the screenwriter of Marie Antoinettenominated for an Oscar in 2019 for The Favourite, during a round table organized by Canal+.
The British screenwriter attributes the proliferation and success of series about princesses to the fact that “we want to see how they reconcile their career as queen, their life as a mother and their private life. This is a question that all women ask themselves.
Trajectories of female emancipation
Marie Antoinette tells the emancipation of a woman, presented as a rebel in a world ruled by men. “She embodies values of personal freedom, individuality, equality and self-determination. In a way, we are what we are today thanks to Marie-Antoinette”, writes the screenwriter in the press kit.
A point of view that places current feminist concerns on the Austrian princess just married to Louis XVI. These scriptwriters “take liberties with history”, observes Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre. “I saw in Marie-Antoinette a teenager like those of today, a rebel. And then I am not a historian! My job is to find the psychological truth of my characters,” defends Deborah Davis. Small arrangements with History that can be embarrassing “if the public takes it at face value, especially if the protagonists are still alive or very recently dead as in The Crown. There, it is an intellectual imposture, ”said Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Heroines on which we project our fantasy
These queens and princesses thus carry modern ideas, sometimes far from historical reality. “Marie-Antoinette intended to live her life freely, but she was not a woman who held revolutionary or avant-garde ideas in matters of society. We invest these figures with a message that they are not supposed to convey,” remarks the journalist.
And to continue: “If Queen Elizabeth II has never expressed her personal opinions, it is precisely to be a mirror woman, and that everyone can project their own ideal onto her, and in a certain way their own fantasy. These fictional heroines are the same, each era seizes on them to project its own fantasies and issues, sometimes very far from the true historical personality of these queens and princesses”.
History of violence against women
Virginity examination, marital rape, pressure on fertility… Marie Antoinette at The Great Passing by The Serpent Queen, these series describe women struggling with a violent patriarchal system. “These destinies make it possible to revisit the violence against women since these princesses and queens have experienced what the women who have preceded us have experienced”, comments the specialist in crowned heads.
Even in season 5 of The Crown, available since Wednesday on Netflix. Lady Diana, just separated from the Prince of Wales, says about her marriage to the heir to the English throne: “I was taught to dress modestly, to speak in a low voice, to walk behind my husband and always call him sir. I was discouraged from expressing my opinions and having an education, I had to take an oath to be a virgin before being deemed fit to marry her. »
These queens and princesses are also often the victims of “campaigns of misogyny, criticism, extremely violent attacks”, further notes the expert. “Marie-Antoinette was even accused of incest with her son,” quotes Deborah Davis.
Over the course of the episodes, these young heroines, naive and abused, often become clever strategists, capable of bend the rules and even seize power. “It’s cathartic for today’s spectators,” notes Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Sacrificial figures to identify
From Marilyn Monroe to James Dean via Lady Di, “personalities with an extraordinary trajectory, suddenly shattered, have always been an object of fascination”, underlines the editorial director of Point of view. And to add: “Marie-Antoinette would have died falling from her horse before the Revolution, she would probably not be this fascinating, sacrificed and contested figure that she is today. »
“What pleases in the monarchy is that they are sacrificial figures”, declared Stéphane Bern during the conference ” Playoff royalty: fantasy or reality? » that he held during the last edition of Series Mania. If we are so fascinated by these fates of unhappy princesses and queens, “it is because they seem to have a dream life, but because of their misfortunes, they are close to us”, believes Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre.
Intrigues that mix public and private life
The scriptwriters of these series skilfully mix public life and intimate life of these princesses: “Lady Di seemed to have beauty, wealth, etc. The idea is to tell herself that she was like us, that she too did not feel loved, that she too had problems with food, etc. Many people can identify with each other and this makes this personality very privileged, lovable”, continues the expert.
“We need to escape, to dream through emblematic figures, people of flesh and blood, who both look like us and take us to a somewhat dreamlike elsewhere”, explained Stéphane Bern to Séries Mania. “The monarchy allows this extremely powerful narrative and romantic alliance of power and intimacy. Family, power, love, sex, money, everything is concentrated, ”adds Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre. A real windfall for screenwriters who are not about to end the reign of princesses in the series!