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Unsigned handwritten letter in French by Marie Antoinette, three pages on two adjoining sheets, 4 x 6, August 31, [1789]. A deeply emotional letter from the Queen of France to her close companion and confidante Yolande, Duchesse de Polignac (1749–1793), written during the first weeks of the French Revolution and reflecting the atmosphere of uncertainty and political instability at court.
Marie-Antoinette writes affectionately of her children and describes her own depressed and anxious state of mind, finding consolation in the letters and devotion of her trusted friend, whom she addresses tenderly as “mon coeur”: “J’y vois au moins de votre écriture et que vous m’aimez toujours, j’en ai grand besoin, car je suis bien triste et affligée” (“At least I see your handwriting there and know that you still love me; I have great need of that, for I am very sad and distressed”). Referring to the rapidly shifting political situation, she cautiously observes that affairs appear for the moment to be taking a somewhat better turn, though she warns against false hopes: “les méchants ont un si grand intérêt, et tous les moyens de retourner et empêcher les choses les plus justes” (“the wicked have such great interests at stake, and every means of overturning and preventing the most just measures”).
At the same time, the Queen expresses hope that the turmoil and divisions may eventually subside, noting with guarded optimism that “les bons se réunissent ensemble, de toutes les classes et de tous les ordres” (“the good are uniting together, from all classes and all estates”). The letter further reveals Marie-Antoinette’s determination not to lose courage despite the mounting crisis. She remarks that moments such as these reveal true loyalties and have shown her unexpected sincerity and attachment among people from whom she had never anticipated it: “je retrouve tout plein de personnes vraiment et sincèrement attachées, auxquelles je ne pensais seulement pas” (“I am rediscovering many people who are truly and sincerely devoted, of whom I would never even have thought”).
Particularly touching are the three autograph lines added by the Queen’s eldest daughter, the ten-year-old Marie-Thérèse (1778–1851), known as 'Madame Royale,' recommending herself affectionately to the recipient. In fine condition, with minor splitting to the bottom of the hinge.
A remarkable and highly personal royal letter from the opening phase of the French Revolution, written barely six weeks after the fall of the Bastille and at a moment when the authority of the monarchy was rapidly eroding. Marie Antoinette’s words capture both the uncertainty gripping the court at Versailles and her effort to preserve confidence amid the collapse of the political order she had known. Addressed to one of her most trusted intimates, the letter is especially evocative for its mingling of political anxiety, private friendship, maternal tenderness, and moral resolve, while the added lines by the young Madame Royale lend an intimate family dimension to a document composed on the eve of the monarchy’s gravest crisis.
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