For royalists, Marie Antoinette was a martyr.  For republicans she was a foreigner who deserved death at the guillotine.  Just as they didn’t agree then, French historians and film critics don’t agree today about whether this film does justice to a highly complex character in their history.

Regardless of what the historians or critics think, the certainty is that the film will bring hordes of tourists to Paris and Versailles looking for Marie Antoinette memorabilia.  Most likely to benefit from the film, the Versailles Palace (where the film was produced) will open areas of the Petit Trianon where Marie Antoinette spent a great deal of time playing with her marionnettes and holding private meetings.  More visitors are also expected at the Queen’s “hamlet” at Versailles, where she would “play” milk maiden (which hardly pleased the French people of her time).  The Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette was held in her last days before being sent to the guillotine at the Place de la Concorde (then Place de la Revolution) will certainly get some much deserved attention.

The Louvre will be selling related items, and the fabulous pastry shop Laduree (you can see their macarons throughout the film) has an entire Marie Antoinette collection of pastry and cakes.  Other shops and designers are getting into the Marie Antoinette fashion comeback, and the Trois Marches restaurant in Versailles is offering a Marie Antoinette meal for about $127.