Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, Volume 2 Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting to the Queen

At fifteen, Campan was appointed reader to the royal sisters, and she opens her memoir with a vivid portrait of Versailles during the waning years of Louis XV’s reign. The court still clung to the elaborate etiquette forged under Louis XIV, yet the atmosphere was marked by a lingering solemnity rather than the gaiety of earlier reigns. While the king spent his days planning the next hunt, Paris became the true hub of wit and intelligence, leaving the palace corridors quiet and formal.

Campan’s eye for detail reveals the king’s private world—his modest seraglio at the Parc‑aux‑Cerfs, the discreet handling of his mistresses, and the intricate routines that governed family visits. She balances the grandeur of royal ceremonies with the intimate, sometimes absurd, quirks of court life, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the daily rhythms that shaped the final chapter of the ancien régime.