During the French Revolution, Marie-Antoinette was nicknamed "the Austrian" by her detractors. Yet through her father François of Lorraine — Duke of Lorraine who became Holy Roman Emperor — she was just as much Lorraine as Austrian. A heritage often forgotten, yet one that sheds new light on the personality and fate of the last Queen of France.

François of Lorraine, Marie-Antoinette's father, descended from the ducal House of Lorraine, one of Europe's oldest dynasties. By marrying Maria Theresa of Austria, he united two great European houses, giving rise to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Marie-Antoinette, the fifteenth child of this imperial couple, thus carried in her veins as much Lorraine blood as Austrian — a dual identity that history largely obscured in favour of the infamous nickname forged by the Revolution.

Understanding this Lorraine heritage means better grasping the cultural and dynastic roots of a queen whose tragic destiny continues to captivate the world.