The Crime Book

64

I

n 1785, Queen Marie

Antoinette was embroiled in

a notorious scandal at the

French court over a diamond

necklace. Confidence trickster

Jeanne de la Motte orchestrated a

ruse, impersonating the queen to

deceive a wealthy cardinal. The

implications of this swindle had

unintentionally far-reaching

consequences and helped to

bring about the French Revolution.

Royal commission

In 1772, King Louis XV enlisted the

jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge to

create an elaborate necklace for

Madame du Barry, his mistress.

The jewellers created a diamond

necklace that weighed 2,800 carats

and featured 647 stones. It took

several years to make and cost

2 million livres (about £8 million

today). By the time it was finished,

Louis had died from smallpox and

du Barry was banished by his heir,

Louis XVI. The jewellers tried to

sell the necklace to Queen Marie

Antoinette, but she declined it.

A cunning plan

Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a

descendant of an illegitimate son of

King Henri II (1547–59). In 1780, she

married Nicolas de la Motte, an

officer of the gendarmes, and they

styled themselves as Count and

Countess de la Motte. They were

granted a modest pension from the

king, but it was not enough to

provide Jeanne either with the

lifestyle she desired or reflect the

social status she felt entitled to.

Learning that the jewellers

were trying to find a buyer for the

necklace, Jeanne hatched a plan

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

Paris, France

THEME

Jewellery scam

BEFORE

1690s William Chaloner

leads a highly successful coin

counterfeiting gang in

Birmingham and London,

England; he is hanged in

1699 for high treason after

targeting the Royal Mint.

AFTER

1923 Lou Blonger, the kingpin

of an extensive ring of con

men who operated in Denver,

Colorado, for more than 25

years, is finally convicted after

a famous trial dogged by

allegations that Blonger’s

associates attempted to bribe

members of the jury.

The necklace was a work of art,

featuring festoons, pendants, and

tassels. In creating it without a firm

commission, the jewellers took a huge

risk, which nearly bankrupted them.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

OF BAD COUNSELS...

I FELL A MARTYR

THE AFFAIR OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE, 1785

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65

A schemer through and through,

Jeanne de la Motte escaped prison

dressed as a boy. She fled to London

where she wrote a memoir of the

diamond necklace scandal in which

she defended her actions.

See also: The Crawford Inheritance 66–67 ■ Frank Abagnale 86–87 ■ Clifford Irving 88–89

CON ARTISTS

to acquire it, sensing the ideal

opportunity for her financial and

social advancement. Among her

acquaintances was Cardinal Louis

de Rohan, who had fallen out of

favour with the queen and was

eager to reconcile. In 1784, Jeanne

convinced the cardinal that she

enjoyed Marie Antoinette’s favour

and tricked him into writing to the

queen. De la Motte’s accomplice

Rétaux de Villette forged replies

from “the queen” on gilt-edged

stationery. The exchanges became

so amorous that de Rohan believed

he and the queen were in love.

After requests from de Rohan for

the pair to meet, Jeanne hired a

prostitute to impersonate Marie

Antoinette and organized a

rendezvous in the gardens of the

Palace of Versailles. Having

gained his trust, Jeanne informed

de Rohan that the queen wanted to

buy the diamond necklace, but

could not be seen to do so at a time

when many people in Paris were

starving. De Rohan agreed to cover

the cost in instalments and the

jewellers handed over the necklace.

Fraud exposed

When de Rohan’s first payment was

insufficient, the jewellers protested

to Marie Antoinette, but she denied

requesting the necklace. De Rohan

was brought before the king and

queen to explain himself and the

swindle was finally exposed. The

prostitute and the de la Mottes

were convicted and Villette was

banished, but de Rohan was

acquitted. De la Motte was publicly

flogged and branded with a “V” for

voleuse (robber) and imprisoned but

escaped ten months later. Already

made a scapegoat for the country’s

financial plight, the trial destroyed

the queen’s fragile reputation.

Eight years later, she was executed

during the French Revolution. The

necklace was never found. ■

Preying on vulnerability

Jeanne de la Motte executed a

near-perfect confidence trick to

dupe Cardinal de Rohan, first

seducing him, then preying on

his desperation, vulnerability,

and vanity. She also waited until

she had earned his trust before

asking anything of him in return.

However, she did make one

potentially fatal error, signing the

notes from the queen with

“Marie Antoinette de France”. It

is possible that the cardinal was

not aware of the custom that

French queens signed with their

given names only, but it is

unlikely, given that he had

previously worked as the French

ambassador to the court of

Vienna and would have been

skilled in diplomatic protocol. It

is more likely that the cardinal

was blinded by de la Motte’s

power of persuasion. He was

brought back down to earth by

the king, furious that a high-

ranking noble could be duped by

such an obvious error. Although

he was lampooned as a fool, he

received popular support; his

acquittal was deemed a victory

over the unpopular royals.

This satirical engraving mocks

Cardinal de Rohan’s gullibility and

crookedness as he offers up the

necklace to de la Motte.

I can see I have been

cruelly deceived.

Cardinal Louis

de Rohan

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