You're welcome Mandy
The Diamond Necklace Affair.
The Cardinal de Rohan wished to improve his social status at Versailles, and a woman calling herself the Comtesse de La Motte offered to help him. Unfortunately for the cardinal, Jeanne de La Motte was not really a comtesse. She was a con artist. She hired a woman to dress like Marie Antoinette and meet the cardinal in the gardens of Versailles at night. The false queen gave the cardinal a rose and hurried away, leaving the cardinal under the illusion that he had met Marie Antoinette.
Next Mme La Motte told the cardinal that the queen wanted him to purchase a very expensive diamond necklace on her behalf. Obediently the cardinal obtained the necklace and gave it to Mme La Motte, expecting the queen to pay for it. Of course, Marie Antoinette never saw the necklace; Mme La Motte gave the diamonds to her husband, who took them to London and sold them. When the jewelers demanded payment, the Diamond Necklace Affair became public. The cardinal and Mme La Motte were arrested. The cardinal was tried and acquitted. Mme La Motte was imprisoned, publicly flogged, and branded. Eventually she escaped to London, where she spread malicious rumors about Marie Antoinette.
Although Marie Antoinette was innocent in the whole affair, it was widely believed that she had accepted the necklace and refused to pay for it. There were even rumors that she had had an affair with Mme La Motte! The Diamond Necklace Affair contributed greatly to Marie Antoinette's downfall.
Here a copy of the necklace diamonds! The original diamonds necklace were sold one by one in England by an accomplice of the contess de la Motte ![/quote/
I'm quoting here from Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette "It cannot be known for certain what happened to the stones. Some of them may have been acquired by the Duke of Dorset and remained in his family, according to tradition, in the form of a tasseled diadem. It used to be claimed that 22 of the most fabulous brilliants were made into a simple chain worn by the Duchess of Sutherland; this chain was exhibited in ther Versailles exhibition of 1955". Does anyone have photos of these 2 pieces?