Rosalie Lamorlière

Rosalie Lamorlière (Rosalie Lamorliere in English; March 19, 1768 - February 2, 1848) was the last servant of Marie Antoinette, while the queen was in the Conciergerie, awaiting her trial and execution.[1]

Marie Antoinette le matin de son exécution by Tony Robert-Fleury (detail).

She was born on 19 March 1768, in Breteuil, France, to a shoemaker and his wife (who later died when Lamorlière was 12), and was one of seven siblings. Although she never married, she had a child whose father is unknown.[2]

Lamorlière lived some part of her life in rue de Sèvres in Paris.[2] Following the September Massacres, she was engaged for work by the Richards, up until 1799.[2]

It is unknown what she looked like, as the only portrait known to be painted of her has been lost. Apart from that, the only other existing painting of Lamorlière is Marie-Antoinette, le matin de son exécution, painted by Tony Robert-Fleury during the 19th century, and he had never seen her.[2]

She died on February 2, 1848, at 79 years old. Her tomb was erected by her daughter at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.[1]

Lamorliere's family tomb in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris.

Rosalie Lamorlière, dernière servante de Marie-Antoinette by Ludovic Miserole, a book on Lamorlière, was published in 2010. It is only available in French.[3]

Riyoko Ikeda's manga and its adaptation anime Rose of Versailles features Rosalie as one of the central figures in the story which takes liberties to link her life with other characters both historical and fictional. She is depicted as the illegitimate daughter of Valois de Saint-Rémy and Yolande de Polastron, future Countess of Polignac. Secretly the 15-year-old Yolande gave Rosalie birth and got fostered by the mother of Jeanne of Valois-Saint-Rémy. After her foster mother died, Rosalie is eventually taken in by Oscar (a fictional character and the protagonist of the story), the head of the royal guards who first introduces her to the queen, Marie Antoinette. Rosalie is blackmailed by Polignac into coming to live with her after her younger sister commits suicide, to fill her place in a betrothal but runs away from Polignac and back to Paris. She marries Bernard, a follower of Robespierre, is present at the storming of the Bastille where she witnesses her old friend's death and narrates the end results of the French Revolution (including the execution of the queen) to conclude the story.

Ikeda features Rosalie in her other manga, Eikou no Napoleon – Eroica which focuses on the life of Napoleon.

Rosalie is the main character in the 2019 BBC radio play My Friend, Marie Antoinette, written by Carine Adler and starring Lily Loveless.

References
  1. Lenotre, G. (1907). The Last Days of Marie Antoinette.
  2. Miserole, Ludovic. Rosalie Lamorlière, dernière servante de Marie-Antoinette.
  3. Miserole, Ludovic. "Post by author of 'Rosalie Lamorlière, dernière servante de Marie-Antoinette'".


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