Gabrielle de Polastron

Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac (September 8, 1749–December 9, 1793) was a French aristocrat and friend of Marie Antoinette, whom she first met at Versailles in 1775. Image File history File links Gabrielle_de_Polastron. ... September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ... Events While in debtors prison, John Cleland writes Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure). ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ... This article is about the city of Versailles. ... 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Comtesse de Polignac typified the aristocratic hangers-on at the Palace of Versailles before the French Revolution. She embodied the exclusivity, the obliviousness and the selfish extravagance of the ruling class.

Talented and beautiful, Yolande became the undisputed leader of the queen's exclusive society circle ensuring that few entered the circle without her approval. The entire Polignac family benefitted enormously from the queen's generosity with the queen spending extravagantly on the family, but their increasing wealth outraged many aristocratic families, who felt they didn't deserve it. The queen's favouritism towards Yolande and her family was one of the many causes which fuelled Marie-Antoinette's unpopularity with many of her subjects. "The Polignac Set" was despised by royalist and republicans alike.

Yolande was greatly liked by the queen's husband, King Louis XVI, who was grateful for her calming influence on his wife. Yolande was eventually appointed Governess to the Royal Children, including the future Louis XVII and Princess Marie-Thérèse. Louis XVI (August 9, 1754, Versailles – January 21, 1793, Paris) was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French from 1791 to 1793. ... Louis XVII of France (March 27, 1785 - June 8, 1795) also known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785-1789), Louis-Charles, Dauphin of Viennois (1789-1791), and Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France (1791-1793), was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, never actually... Portrait of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, Madame Royale Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte, (December 19, 1778 - October 19, 1851), also known as La Princesse Royale or Madame Royale, was the eldest child of King Louis XVI and his Austrian wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. ...

Yolande's marriage was cordial, if not successful. In other words, typical of marriages within the palace: arranged, and mutually agreed by both parties to have affairs. It was generally believed at Versailles that Yolande's second child was actually fathered by her lover, the Comte de Vaudreuil. Yolande's beautiful younger sister, Louise, became the life-long mistress of Louis XVI's youngest brother, Charles, Comte d'Artois (later Charles X). This article is about the city of Versailles. ... Louis XVI (August 9, 1754, Versailles – January 21, 1793, Paris) was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French from 1791 to 1793. ... Charles X, King of France and of Navarre (October 9, 1757 – November 6, 1836) was born at the Palace of Versailles. ...

Yolande's influence over Marie-Antoinette began to wane after 1785, when the queen's second son, Louis XVII, was born. The queen was becoming increasingly unimpressed with how much the Polignacs were costing her. 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, Yolande felt Marie-Antoinette's displeasure and decided to leave Versailles for a while, and she went to visit friends in England. 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Louis XVII of France (March 27, 1785 - June 8, 1795) also known as Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy (1785-1789), Louis-Charles, Dauphin of Viennois (1789-1791), and Louis-Charles, Prince Royal of France (1791-1793), was the son of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, never actually... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK...

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, Yolande and her friends led the ultra-monarchist movement in Versailles. Together with the diplomat, 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 de 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. The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Louis-Auguste le Tonnelier Louis-Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil (1730 - 1807) was a French aristocrat, statesman and politician. ... Jacques Necker Jacques Necker (September 30, 1732 – April 9, 1804) was a French statesman and finance minister of Louis XVI. // Early life Necker was Geneva, Switzerland. ...

After the fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and seeing Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette being put under house arrest, several members of the Polignac Set to emigrate abroad. The Comte d'Artois left on Louis XVI's orders, as did de Breteuil. Yolande 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. The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 was an important development in, and later a symbol of, the French Revolution. ... July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... Louise-Elisabeth, Marquise de Tourzel (1749 - 1830) A French aristocrat and courtier. ...

Yolande contracted cancer while living in Switzerland. She escaped the guillotine. She died in October 1793, shortly after hearing of the execution of Marie-Antoinette. Yolande was the mother of Jules, prince de Polignac, who became Prime Minister when the Comte d'Artois became King of France in 1824. 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jules, prince de Polignac, French statesman Jules Auguste Armand Marie, prince de Polignac (1780 - March 29, 1847), French statesman, played a conspicuous part in the clerical and ultra-royalist reaction after the Revolution. ... Kings ruled in France from the Middle Ages to 1848. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...