The Diamond Necklace

The history of the famous Diamond Necklace, which for a time cast a slur on the fair fame of Marie Antoinette, and which became one of the most deadly weapons in the hands of her enemies, has given birth to much literature, and stands as one of the most flagrant frauds ever attempted. In 1774 Louis XV., wishing to make a present to Mme. du Barry, commissioned the court jewelers to collect fine diamonds and to form a necklace that should be unique of its kind. Time and a considerable outlay were required to procure so great a number of the largest and purest diamonds, and before the necklace was completed Louis XV. was laid in his grave. The work, however, was too far advanced to permit its being abandoned without great loss, and with the hope that Louis XVI. might be induced to purchase it for his Queen, Marie Antoinette, the jewelers, Boehmer and Bassenge, finished the necklace, which was valued at 1,800,000 francs (?72,000 sterling). The new king's finances, however, were in no condition to allow him to purchase the necklace, which, therefore, remained in the hands of the jewelers for some years, until the Rohan intrigue gave it celebrity. It was Mme. Lamotte, a descendant of the royal house of Valois, married to a gendarme, who involved Prince de Rohan, a Cardinal, Bishop of Strassburg and Grand Almoner of France, in a disgraceful plot by playing on his credulity, leading him to believe that Marie Antoinette, who had not spoken to him for eight years, had a special though secret attachment for him. Mme. Lamotte forged the Queen's signature giving the Prince authority to purchase the necklace. On February 1st, 1785, the necklace was placed in the Cardinal's hands. Twenty thousand francs of the original price was deducted, and the note of the Prince de Rohan accepted for the whole amount; the jewelers and the Prince acting under the belief that the necklace was being purchased for her Majesty. Mme. Lamotte by an artful intrigue made the Cardinal believe that the casket with the necklace had been delivered to the Queen, and a written acknowledgment given. Meantime Mme. Lamotte had dispatched her husband with the necklace to London, where it was broken up. The small diamonds were reset in bracelets and rings for Lamotte's accomplices, the remainder sold to various jewelers, and the money deposited in the Bank of England under a fictitious name. A letter from Boehmer and Bassenge to the Queen, in which they thanked her Majesty for the honor she had done them, exposed the whole intrigue, and Louis XVI. had the Cardinal arrested, August 15th, 1785, while he was present at a court fete as Grand Almoner. A few days after, Mme. Lamotte was arrested. The following May the trial took place before the Criminal Court, when the Cardinal de Rohan was proved innocent of fraud, but was ridiculed for his extreme credulity, and exiled to his Abbey in the mountains of Auvergne. The wretched woman, Lamotte, was sentenced to be flogged, branded on both shoulders, and imprisoned for life.