Book excerpt: The true story of the woman who befriended the last queen of France—and the price she paid for her devotion. Perhaps no one knew Marie Antoinette better than one of her closest confidantes, Marie Thérèse, the Princess de Lamballe. The princess became superintendent of the queen’s household in 1774, and through her relationship with Marie Antoinette, she gained a unique perspective of the lavishness and daily intrigue at Versailles. Born into the famous House of Savoy in Turin, Italy, Marie Thérèse was married at the age of seventeen to the Prince de Lamballe, heir to one of the richest fortunes in France. He transported her to the gold-leafed and glittering chandeliered halls of the Château de Versailles, where she soon found herself immersed in the political and sexual scandals that surrounded the royal court. As the plotters and planners of Versailles sought, at all costs, to gain the favor of Louis XVI and his queen, the Princess de Lamballe was there to witness it all. This book reveals the Princess de Lamballe’s version of these events and is based on a wide variety of historical sources, helping to capture the waning days and grisly demise of the French monarchy. The story immerses you in a world of titillating sexual rumors, bloodthirsty revolutionaries, and hair-raising escape attempts—a must read for anyone interested in Marie Antoinette, the origins of the French Revolution, or life in the late eighteenth century.