Marie Antoinette

In 1769 Vienna, Empress Maria Theresa confirms Marie Antoinette will marry Louis-Auguste, the Dauphin of France. Marie is excited at becoming Queen of France. She soon learns her husband is shy and more comfortable with locksmithing than with court life.

Louis reveals he cannot produce heirs, leaving Marie to navigate a precarious political marriage. She begins to seek influence with the power-hungry Duc d'Orleans as a possible counterweight at court.

On their second wedding anniversary, Madame du Barry gifts Marie an empty cradle and a poem critical of her inability to produce an heir. The gesture underscores the pressures of maternity at court. Marie is distressed, while Louis proves too weak to stand up to his grandfather.

Marie meets Swedish Count Axel Fersen at a gaming house and wagers, losing an expensive necklace. The moment reveals her willingness to gamble with both fortunes and reputation.

Count Mercy, the Austrian ambassador, scolds her for her heedless behavior, though she pays him little mind. This rebuke underscores the tension between her duties and private passions.

To make amends with du Barry and please Mercy, Marie hosts a grand ball at court. The event backfires when du Barry draws attention to Louis's absence and Marie's barbed remarks expose old rivalries.

The King decides to annul the marriage, prompting Louis to defend Marie and resist the move. The court drama tests Marie's loyalties and magnifies the political stakes.

Marie flees to Count Mercy's residence after learning she will be sent back to Austria, where she reunites with Fersen, who proclaims his love. The man she loves becomes a dangerous temptation within a treacherous court.

Realising she has fallen in love with Fersen, Marie learns she cannot leave Louis as the King is dying of smallpox and Louis remains fond of her. She agrees to stay, and they ascend to the throne after the King's death, with Fersen urging her to fulfill her duties as Queen.

Marie gives birth to a daughter, Marie Thérèse, and later a son, Louis Charles, cementing her role as mother to the future heirs of France. The royal nursery becomes a symbol of continuity amid court intrigues.

Years later, peasants throw stones at Marie's carriage while she takes her children for a drive, revealing fierce public discontent with the monarchy. She blames d'Orleans for stoking the hostilities that envelop the crown.

Marie refuses to purchase an expensive necklace; court insiders plot to seize it, fueling the infamous Affair of the Diamond Necklace. d'Orleans pressures the royal couple to abdicate the throne in favor of the Dauphin under his regency.

The French Revolution erupts, and the royal family is taken prisoner. Fersen returns with a plan to escape, but the Dauphin narrates to a guard that his father is a locksmith, leading to the King's identification and arrest.

The King is tried and sentenced to death; Marie is put on trial and condemned to death. The Dauphin testifies against his mother, sealing the royal family's tragic fate.

The night before her execution, Fersen visits Marie in prison and they pledge their love to each other. The next morning she goes bravely to the guillotine, a final act watched by Fersen from afar as she contemplates her mother's words about becoming queen.